Week of April 29th, 2012
The fifth grade classes have been learning about 20th century music. We learned about the composer John Cage who was well know for his chance music. We watched two popular pieces by Cage. 4'33" and Landscape for 12 Radios. Both were very interesting pieces. The students then had the opportunity to compose their own piece of chance music. The students flipped coins to determine where sounds would go in out piece. It was a lot of fun!
Week of April 2nd, 2012
The fifth grade classes were working on expression in music and songs in a meter of 3. We read the story Grandfather Twilight and discussed the mood of the story. The students then added an instrumental accompaniment and learned how to conduct in three. We worked on cueing the instruments when it was there turn to play and demonstrating legato with our hand gestures.
Week of March 5th, 2012
We are working on Theme and Variations this week. The students listed to Variations on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and identified what changed in the Variations. This week the students will be taking a song we did in January and creating variations. I look forward to sharing some of the variations with you on the blog!
Week of January 29th, 2012
The fifth grade students have been working on form and improvisation in music. They performed a piece in ABACADA form. The students played the A section together and then small groups improvised during the other sections. Enjoy the work of 5B!
Week of January 23rd, 2012
The fifth grade classes are working on singing in four part harmony. In the song you will hear them sing in four parts and play in four parts. We began this by working with the pitches do-re-mi-fa-so. The students then determined the actual notes on the song and practiced playing it on the Orff instruments. Enjoy!
We are beginning our work for the 5th grade concert! Each student will be singing, dancing, playing and instrument and speaking. We have been working on "Four White Horses" and a drumming piece this week. Here is a sneak peek!!
Week 3:
The fifth grade classes have been working on the piece "Out Goes the Rat." We worked on mallet technique, harmonic structure (V-I) and ABA' form. Ask your child if they can explain each of those to you! The students did a very nice job, especially for so early in the year.
Thanks to 5V for their great work!
It's time for chorus!
Students can sign up for chrous begining this week! Chorus will meet on Tuesday mornings beginning September 20th. There is a permission slip on the right hand side of the blog. Chorus will not interfere with band or orchestra. They will meet on different days. I hope to see many 5th graders there!
Week 2:
We are off to a great start. The students will be working on mallet technique with the poem "Out Goes the Rat." The students will also be deciding on the form, or the pattern, of the piece. Each class will have a unique interpretation! Stay tuned for more videos of our work!
I have included an overview of the music curriculum so that you may see what the students will be working on throughout the year.
Rhythm: subdivision of notes, accurate counting of all past notes
Melody: treble clef, treble clef staff's lines and spaces, sharp, flat, natural, solfege: major and minor scales with hand signs
Harmony, Tone Color and Texture: 4 part canon, grouping of voices and instruments to create ensembles, identification of all instrument families and their characteristics
Form: theme and variation, coda, D.S. al coda, D.C. al fine
Expression: ff, f, mf, mp, p, pp, phrasing, tempo terminology, music can communicate mood
History and Culture: music as it relates to the world around us, audience behavior, performing responsibilities
The fifth grade classes have been working on the song "Good Morning" as a warm up. It is a great way to get us up and singing early in the morning!
Thank you 5S for great work!
Welcome back! I hope you have all had a great summer. I look forward to seeing many of you again and meeting new students as well.
We will be starting off the year with some mixer dances and then we'll be starting work on our concert! Our mixers will allow us to get to know each other a little better through music.
The 5th grade concert is on Wednesday, December 7th at 7:00. There will be many more details to come!
