FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2013

QUOTE:
"I adore art...when I am alone with my notes, my heart pounds and the tears stream from my eyes, 

  and my emotion and my joys are too much to bare.”

AUTHOR: Giuseppe Verdi

MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
“The emotion and joy felt from the act of creating art is totally 

  fulfilling.”

COMPOSER 

COPLAND

Themes from:
Our Town and The Red Pony

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xb4Gk_n4TM&feature=related

Our Town

The London Symphony Orchestra

Conducted by Aaron Copland

Our Town

Conducted by Aaron Copland

As used in the Spike Lee film "He Got Game" (1998)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVsvdP_5nes

Dream March and Circus Music 

from "The Red Pony" Suite 

Performed by the New Philharmonia Orchestra 

Conducted by Aaron Copland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc9G2ixwiAY

GRANADA ADV. STRINGS
1. E MAJOR SCALE
a.  Shifting on one string with the 1st finger
b.  Shifting with intervals of the scale on one string with the 1st finger

2.  FELIZ NAVIDAD
3.  JINGLE BELL ROCK

INTRO. TO INSTRUMENT
1.  KEYBOARDS
a.  PENTATONIC SONGS
1)  Songs played on the black keys only
2) First note is given the rest is determined by each student by ear
3)  This exercise is for training the ear and reviewing the sharps and flats

GRANADA BEG. STRINGS
1.  OPEN STRING MAJOR SCALES
a.  SCALES: G, D, A
b.  UH of bow
c.  Ascending and descending
d.  Descending scale played with a special rhythm can become the first part of a tune called "JOY TO THE WORLD"
2.  FINGERING
a.  1-4 and 2-4 each 8x on each string UH bow
3.  JINGLE BELLS
a.  Played entirely with accompaniment UH of bow by rote

HILLVIEW ORCHESTRA
1.  THEORY (10 minutes)
a.  Bass and treble clef note reading
2.  SECTIONALS (15 minutes)
a.  Strings and melody instruments practicing BELIEVE 
b.  Everyone else at keyboards
3.  FELIZ NAVIDAD
4.  PACHELBEL/JOLLY

THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2013

QUOTE:
"Music expresses that which cannot be said
  and on which it is impossible to be silent."

AUTHOR: Victor Hugo

MEANING OF THE QUOTE:

"Feelings can be communicated through music
  in a way that words can never express."

COMPOSER

TCHAIKOVSKY

Francesca da Rimini

Symphonic Fantasy After Dante, Op. 32

Charles Edward Halle - Paolo and Francesca

Conductor: Fedoseyev

 Francesca da Rimini
by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Paolo and Francesca da Rimini

Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatestascene

by Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres

Francesca da Rimini was an Italian noblewoman.
Unhappily married, she fell in love with her brother-in-law.
When her husband learned of the affair, he murdered his wife and brother,
a tragedy recounted in Dante's Inferno.

GENERAL MUSIC
PERIODS 1 and 2:
01. VIOLIN PARTS/DEMONSTRATION
.......a.  REVIEWED and QUIZZED PARTS OF THE INSTRUMENT
.......b.  DISCUSSED IMPORTANCE OF THE PROPER LEFT VIOLIN HOLD and SHOULDER REST  
.......c.  STUDENTS TRIED OUT HOLDING THE VIOLIN WITH and WITHOUT THE SHOULDER REST
PERIOD 3:

01.  COMPOSER HAYDN DISCUSSION and TIME FRAME OF HIS LIFE (WATCHED HAYDN VIDEOS ON MY        BLOG: http://missjacobsonsmusic.blogspot.com/2013/01/haydn-biography-and-information.html)

02.  COMPOSER WORKSHEET (50 OPEN BOOK FILL-IN and SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS)
........a.  STUDENTS TO READ HANDOUT INFORMATION ON THE COMPOSER JOSEPH HAYDN AND FIND              THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS ASKED ON THE LAST TWO PAGES (continued)

ADV. STRINGS
01.  PARADISE
02.  STARTED MY HEART GOES ON

BEG. STRINGS

01.  WARM-UP 

........a.  SHIFTING THE 1ST FINGER (FULL SHIFT MOVING FINGER and THUMB TOGETHER)

.............1)  UP: DO-RE-MI (0 1-1)

.............2)  DOWN: MI-RE-DO (1-1 0)

...................a)  FINGER NEVER LOSES CONTACT WITH THE STRING DURING THE SHIFT

...................b)  SHIFT SHOULD BE MADE SLOWLY HEARING ALL THE SOUNDS DURING THE SLIDE                               PROCESS (A "SLURPY" TYPE SOUND (AS THE SHIFTING SPEED LEARNS TO  BE                                   CONTROLLED THE "SLURPY" SOUND WILL NOT BE AS PRONOUNCED and  WILL BE                             ABLE TO BE CONTROLLED AS TO WHAT THE PLAYER MUSICALLY INTENDS) 

02.  SONG:  TWINKLE (BY ROTE)

........a.   PLAYED ON STRINGS D and A (BOW UH) and G and D (BOW LH)

03.  SONG: PARADISE (HARMONY)

........a.   DISCUSSED COUNTING WHOLE/HALF/DOTTED HALF NOTES

..............1) REVIEWED THE "RULE OF THE DOT TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF A NOTE":

                  "A dot is half the value of the note it sits on."

..............2)  REVIEWED TIED NOTES

.........b.  REVIEWED NOTE NAMES OF TREBLE and BASS CLEF

.........c.  PLAYED THROUGH THE SONG  WITH TEACHER TRACKING HELP

04.  SONG: SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW (MELODY)

WHAT WE DID TODAY #1-41: MONDAY; NOVEMBER 1, 2010

GENERAL MUSIC PERIODS 2,3,6
COMPOSER: PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY: SLEEPING BEAUTY WALTZ from the Sleeping Beauty Ballet
(AS MADE FAMOUS BY WALT DISNEY: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWjjDSXriDY&feature=related)

1. (1840-1893) Russian composer 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sU4mgkGtrs&feature=related) 

2. The story (http://www.balletmet.org/Notes/Sleeping.html) is the famous fairytale set to music and dance.
4. The original version of the tale on which the ballet is based was written and published by Charles Perrault:

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Perrault) under the name, "La Belle au bois dormant" (The Sleeping Beauty) in Paris, 1697.
OBJECTIVE: RECORDER NOTE READING
1. QUOTE AUTHOR: Nadia Boulanger 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eckHIRRY3RU&feature=fvw)

.....a. (1887–1979) French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.
.....b. One of her compositions is called "Three Pieces for Organ" transcribed for cello and piano 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1jDVYpPF78&feature=related)

1. RECORDER WARM-UP
.....a. Practiced the muscle movements (finger coordinations) needed to play the new song "Chanukah"
..........1)G-E
..........2)G-high C
..........3)A-F
..........4)F-D
..........5)F-B
..........6)B-G
..........7)B-high C
2. HOLIDAY SONG: CHANUKAH
.....a. I played the song for the class on my recorder.
.....b. The chart I made with the music on it has phrases of the notes in different colors and I asked the class to make an 
         educated guess on what the colors represent.
..........1)Students determined that the "black" note phrases were phrases that were exactly the same.
..........2)The "blue" notes had the same pattern as the "black" phrase notes except every note is one letter name lower (the 
             term used to describe this is called "sequencing").
..........3)The "red" note phrase is different than the other phrases.
.....c. Before playing, the class reviewed the recorder fingering
..........1)Students said the finger numbers as they moved their fingers silently.
.....d. I then played the keyboard accompaniment as a student pointed to the notes to help the others in the class with their 
         tracking.

MINI-KEYBOARD RECITAL IS SCHEDULED THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 8, 9, 10.

DECEMBER 9th is the holiday concert for chorus, band, and strings. Recorder students are invited to play their instruments ("recorder carolling") as the pre-concert activity outside of the gym. This is not mandatory; just a fun way to celebrate the holidays through music. We will play the holiday music learned in class. All students need to bring is their recorder; music and accompaniments will be already set-up. More details to follow as I get them.

BEGINNING VIOLIN PERIOD 5:
OBJECTIVE: PREPARATION FOR HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE ON DECEMBER 9th
1. TUNE
2. SHIFTING on a major scale one octave ascending
.....a. Shifting is when a single finger slides from one note to another without leaving contact with the string.
.........1)The shift we are using in this exercise has the left thumb and finger moving together while sliding.
.........2)The finger depresses the string to play a pitch and then the pressure is released but contact with the finger on the 
            string remains as the finger slides.
.........3)As the sliding finger approaches the next pitch, its sliding speed slows down while the finger pressure on the string 
            increases until the exact pitch is found (sort-of like the concept of a baseball player sliding into home plate).
.....b. We started on the open string (DO) and then we added the 1st finger (RE) then moved the 1st finger forward (toward the 
         bridge) without lifting it up, to the next pitch, and we repeated this movement up (ascending) the scale. (do:1, re:1, -mi: 
         1, -fa:1, -sol:1, -la:1, -ti:1, -do
3. HOLIDAY SONG: JINGLE BELL ROCK
.....a. Reviewed directions, note names, and fingerings.
.....b. As we listened to the music, students sang the note names (without playing the instrument)
.........1)Doing this helps students develop the mental concept first. (If you can't hear it in your head, you can't play it on your 
            instrument.)
.....c. We then sight read through this piece.

VIOLIN PERIOD 4:
OBJECTIVE: Preparation for: Holiday performance on December 9th
1. HOLIDAY SONG: GREENSLEEVES
.....a. Everyone worked on the harmony part first.
.....b. Started with keyboard harmony part.
.....c. Added cellos to keyboard part
.....d. Then we added the guitar part
.....e. Lastly, all violins came in with the harmony part.
.....f. After the harmony part became a little more secure, most of the violins changed to the melody part

Holiday Concert : Thursday, December 9th
18 rehearsal days left until the concert