Orange Roots #7

NEED TO KNOW

Orange Roots #7: Your Orange Roots are becoming amazing musicians. They're fantastic! It's so fun watching them grasp and understand complex musical concepts. Reminder! The purpose of Let's Play Music (and Orange Roots specifically) is not mastery. It's an understanding. And all of your kids are definitely getting an understanding. They're totally awesome!

COMPOSITIONS: The best part of class this week was when kids shared snippets of their songs with the class. I loved having the other students clap and comment about how fun the songs all were. This is one reason I love having group classes for this age of kids! Their compositions are all taped into the front cover of their songbooks. Have your student show you! They look great! Go ahead and write any ideas or changes directly onto these papers. When we meet on Lesson #11, we'll finalize what they want their compositions to be!

SHOWTIME NEXT WEEK: Next week will be a Showtime for Cockles and Mussels. As always, this shouldn't be stressful, but more of a quick check to make sure the kids understand the concepts. As you can see in the chart in the back cover of their workbook, there are two specific skills for Cockles and Mussels. One is playing block chords (as written in the left hand). The other is playing broken chords (breaking the left hand block chords into broken chords). We went over this in class, and I know they can all do it. But if your kid is anxious, just have them focus on the Left Hand from the beginning through the lyrics "Sweet Molly Malone." Have them play the block chords as written, then play those chords broken and they're set!

REGISTRATION: Registration for 2026-2027 classes will open in March. That's next week! Your students are finishing the program and graduating from Let's Play Music. Among the options for what to do after this year is to retake 3rd Year. If you're planning on doing that, please let me know.

*I am planning on having 3rd year classes on Tuesdays, with one class from 2:00-3:00, one from 4:10-5:10, and one from 5:20-6:20.

*If you have a rising 1st Year student, you'll be able to register them as well! 1st Year classes will be on Tuesdays, with one class from 11:00-11:45, and another from 12:30-1:15.

*If you have friends who are interested in having their kids in LPM, that's awesome! Send them my contact, send me theirs, or send them the link to my introduction-to-LPM page on my website.

END-OF-YEAR RECITAL: Our End-of-Year Recital is going to be so much fun! This is a fun chance to show off the things your student has learned. We're not a performing group, but it is definitely a time to celebrate! In the past I've taken a poll and chosen a date from there. But over the years I realized I prefer having the End-of-Year Recital the weekend between Lessons #14 and #15 (the last of the semester). So this year there are no polls. The End-of-Year Recital will be Saturday, April 25th at 5pm. Get it on your calendar now! And if you already have plans and can't make it, it will be absolutely fine. Some years I have a second separate recital for 3rd Year graduates only. I'll ask about this at the next Parent Day on Lesson #9.

GOOD TO KNOW

DO IS HOME: Finding a pitch (out of thin air) through audiation isn't a new thing for our Let's Play Music students, but we are adding a new twist. Once we find DO-on-C, we have been singing to find "FA," then to make F do instead of C. Now we're making G do! We are always doing this relative to Middle C to continually reinforce the sound of Middle C and utilize relative pitch (being able to find additional pitches given a single pitch).

BLUE CHORD INVERSIONS: If your student is doing great with the C inversions, go on to doing the blue chord. Remember, the letter names stay the same; the order is just mixed up. Your student's practice list says, "Play the red chord inversions with each hand. If it's easy, start the blue with your RH." If your kid needs help with the concept, stay with the red chord inversions.

Skills video for C Major (Red Chord in C):

Skills video for F Major (Blue Chord in C):

FUN TO KNOW

Our Monsters puppet show is actually from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet ballet. Not monsters after all, just a clash of opposing families! Here is a video of an orchestra playing the piece. It is so interesting to see the instruments that make up the characters we love!

Orange Roots #6

NEED TO KNOW

Orange Roots #6: I love Composition Private Lesson Days! I had so much fun with your students! Everyone came to their private lesson with an idea of a story or motif, and they all developed it into a full A section! Many of them got a great start on a B section also! Every student felt successful and happy with what they had accomplished. (I hope! I sure felt successful and happy with what they had accomplished!)

COMPOSITIONS: Every student left with a copy of their composition. If they had their songbooks, we taped the composition into the front cover for easy access. I was so proud of what they created! They can play around with these and explore different ways to make it theirs.

HOMEWORK: I checked homework for Lesson #5 during private lessons. There IS another homework lesson and a new practice sheet for Lesson #6. I stickered and beaded most of your students, but I'm sure I forgot some! Just make sure your students check their books and move over to Lesson #6.

THIRD YEAR GOES FAST!: We cover a LOT of information in just a little bit of time. If you or your student feels overwhelmed, don't worry! The goal is to introduce them to different aspects of theory and playing concepts. Not perfection. They are doing great!

GOOD TO KNOW

COMPOSITION SOFTWARE: Some of you asked about how I put the music onto the computer. I use a program called Musescore to do my music notation projects. It is a free software download and works great. Like all software, there is a learning curve, but if you'd like to experiment with it, you can check it out here: Free music composition and notation software | MuseScore.

PRACTICE WALKTHROUGH: There is a new list of things to practice even without class! Most things we have done in class already, but here is a walkthrough of the practice this week from the virtual video classes if your student would like some guidance.

FROM THE NEW WORLD: From the New World is one of my favorites! During Part III, the 'blue chord' hand position at the top of the second page and the special 'bass C' position on the last line. We talked about it last week in class, but it can be tricky. Here's a video that can help!

FUN TO KNOW

I know some of your kids have been worried about the composition process. Hopefully they feel empowered and happy about things now!

Orange Roots #5

NEED TO KNOW

Orange Roots #5: Thank you for coming to class this week! It is seriously amazing how much your kids knos. I loved watching them jump into and totally rocking playing in G Major for the first time!

COMPOSITION TIME!: I am so excited about meeting with your kids next week for composition! There will be no regular class, but bring your students at their assigned times and we'll get to work! Please send your child with their Orange Roots Songbook and their Orange Roots Workbook. Have them come upstairs to the classroom and wait on the couch when they arrive. That will help keep me on schedule! If grownups want to come in also, you're totally welcome! But it's not necessary. Your student is ready to create. Here's the link to sign up and/or check the times for your Private Lesson.

FREE VIDEO: The Let's Play Music company is celebrating Valentine's Day by giving a free video to each family enrolled in LPM. Go to this link to choose the video, and use the code FREE VIDEO. You will have access to the video for four weeks. This is a great option to check out the videos and see what the setup is like.

TUITION: Thank you for paying tuition on time! If you didn't get it in, I'll send a request/reminder.

GOOD TO KNOW

COMPOSITION: The composition is a culminating project for your Let's Play Music student! We have been experiencing, internalizing, and now labeling many things over the past three years. Your student can use any or all of: major and minor, time signatures, chord uses and sounds, ABA song form, staccato and legato, theme and variation, block, broken, and marching chords, etc. It is so fun to have each student have a song that is uniquely their own! If your student has everything filled out and a motif idea written down, they're going to be great! If your student has nothing filled out and nothing written down, they're going to be great too! And if they're somewhere in the middle (most of them!), they're going to be great! I promise they're ready to write a song. If they (or you!) would feel better with some pre-private-lesson help, the LPM company has released the online video lessons of composition preparation. Check them out! 

Here is a link to the composition overview. (This is the entire virtual Lesson #6 available for everybody)

Here is a link to a video about composing starting with a melody.

Here is a link to a video about composing starting with rhythm. 

Here is a link to a video about composing starting with chords.

MAGIC KEYS: This song from Purple Magic semester has returned with more information! As we continue to sing (and play!) this song, we will further expand our understanding of key signatures and note relationships. This is the KEY to transposing music! The new verse allows us to understand and play in the key of G Major. It was so fun watching them play the G Major cadence with such flair! Here is a link to a parent help that dissects the lyrics of Magic Keys with visual examples and explanations to better help you understand the theory concepts we are learning in class.

NOTE NAMING: Note naming is a skill that takes time (years!) to fully develop, and we will work on them often. Some kids will thrive with timing, others will be paralyzed. So definitely include note naming activities in your weekly practices, but do so the way that helps your kid the best. If you time these at home, write the time in the practice book and I'll give a sticker for it. If you work with the flashcards or apps or the teeny tiny cards in the next link, write that down and I'll give a sticker for that too. We use notenaming skills all the time, so it's important to feel confident with them. Here is a great blogpost on different activities that can help reinforce this skill.  We passed out Itty Bitty flashcards during Purple Magic. If you need another set, let me know and I'll send some home with your student. As a reminder, I outlined my favorite notenaming apps on this post. 

FUN TO KNOW

Anything can be the inspiration of a composition! This is Jon Schmidt from The Piano Guys using the four digits from the time as the beginning motif of a piece. So cool!

Here is another video where the composition inspiration was birds sitting on a wire.

Orange Roots #4

NEED TO KNOW

Orange Roots #4: We're getting into real solid music theory now, folks! And your kids are sailing through!

RED CHORD INVERSIONS/MIXED PAINT: We started working on chord inversions this week. Your student has PostIt pieces on page 6 in their songbook to help them jump from inversion to inversion. We did this in class so they should be able to replicate the drill at home. We actually have been playing our yellow and blue chords in inversions (top heavy and bottom heavy... anything other than root position), so this concept is just the next step... taking one chord and moving it throughout all the inversions! Here is a skills video that will walk you through it. The workbook says "your red stickers will help you." PostIts are easier to to move on and off when you play Mixed Paint. They shouldn't need them for very long. 

FLASHCARDS: Now that we're past lesson #4, you can take the band off of all the orange flashcards. We didn't talk about the flashcards specifically in class, but we did talk about how to count the 8th notes and the 16th notes, so they should be ready!

PRIVATE COMPOSITION LESSON: On Orange Roots Lesson #6, which will be on February 11  17/18, there will be no group class. Instead, each student will come to a private lesson with me, and we'll finally put their composition together! Here is a link to sign up for a private lesson time. If your student (or you!) is anxious about this, you can watch the Composition portion of the online Lesson #6 class. The LPM company has made this free for everybody to get some inspiration for composition! And as always, if the video adds more stress then just skip it. I will help your student write something awesome at their private lesson during week #6!

NEXT WEEK: We're already to our next Parent Day! Time flies when you're having fun! Tuition is also due, so I'll send an invoice later this week. If you don't get one, it means you've already paid for this installment.

NEXT FALL: If you are considering having your student retake 3rd year, let me know so that I can plan for them when I schedule my classes. Read about this and some other post-LPM options at this blogpost. And if you or somebody you know has an upcoming LPM student who will be 4 by September, let me know so I can plan on them for Red Balloons!

GOOD TO KNOW

F SCALE: We learned the F scale! So exciting! The F scale needs a Bb. For the left hand, the fingering is exactly the same as a C scale. Just make sure finger #2 is on Bb and you're good to go! Phew! With the right hand, there is a change, and it's a fun one. Right hand F scale is all about FFFFabulous and FFFFunky FFFFours! Because of the Bb, we don't use FFFFancy FFFFive (pinky finger) at all, and the fingering is 1-2-3-4(with Funky4 on Bb)-POP-1(on C)-2-3-4(on F). Then come down starting with 4-3-2-1-POP-4(with Funky4 on Bb)-3-2-1. Here is a video to have a visual of the skill!

OUR BUGS ARE SO FUN... NEW VERSE!: A few of the songs from the Purple Magic semester have stuck around for Orange Roots and have gained new verses and lyrics. The new verse in "Our Bugs are So Fun" will help us learn to count those 'beamed' rhythms that include eighth notes and sixteenth notes. If you'd like more details about counting in this "real musician" way, here is a parent help document that dissects the lyrics with visual examples and explanations. 

COCKLES AND MUSSLES: In your practice outline, it says to play Cockles and Mussels with broken chords in the left hand. We did a quick overview in class, but if your student wants a reminder, the starting portion of this video does a great job modeling this skill. Start with just the left hand! If your student feels confident and wants to, they can try doing broken chords in the left hand along with the melody in the right, like the second portion of the video. This is very tricky! I don't expect them all to play it hands together! This is just for those students who are ready to stretch!

FUN TO KNOW

Molly Malone is another of the many folk songs we use in Let's Play Music. And like most folk songs, there is no proof that it ever actually happened. This song comes from Ireland and is so traditionally Irish that in 1998, the then-mayor of Dublin declared June 13 as "Molly Malone Day," and commissioned a statue that quickly became a tourist attraction. Many Irish musicians have covered the tune, including U2's Bono, Sinead O'Connor, and The Dubliners. The version done by Possibly Irish includes traditional Irish harmonization, costumes, instruments, and dances. I actually love how each of these musicians take a nationalist folk song, totally make it their own, but still include such a proud Irish feel!