Orange Roots #12

 

NEED TO KNOW

Orange Roots #12: I am so proud of your kids. They are becoming fantastic musicians!

PARENT WEEK/TUITION DUE: Next week is Parent Week, and the last tuition payment is due. I'll send out invoices this week, and I'll see you in class with your students next week!

END-OF-YEAR RECITAL: Our End-of-Year Recital will be on Saturday, April 25 at 5:00 at the church at 5900 Castle Drive. Your 3rd Year students will wear dressy/Sunday-best, and will introduce and then play their compositions. 

I am hoping to have a second 3rd-Year-Only recital on Saturday, April 18. Watch for a quick survey about that.

At the End-of-Year Recital, your students will be introducing their composition, and then playing it. They should practice introducing it (their name and song title, then choose a statement or two from the rest of the Lesson #11 assignment) each time they practice their composition. If playing their whole piece is overwhelming, they can invite you, me, or another family member to play one hand of the piece and allow your student to focus on one hand. It's not a problem. These students understand enough about music to write pieces above their current ability to play. That's pretty impressive!

If you can't be there, know it will be okay! The purpose of Let's Play Music happens in class, and the recital is a bonus.

SHOWTIMES: The Showtime to Russian Sailor Dance is scheduled for next week. I know the kids are all ready (because it's mostly showing me hand positions and only playing if they really want to). As always, I don't want this to be stressful. Kids can play if they want to, but the skills I'm checking for are time signature/form that can be shown by singing and following along in the music.

GOOD TO KNOW

COMPOSITIONS: Your student should have the final draft of their composition taped in the front of their songbook. If there are any changes, please let me know! I'm going to be combining them all into a booklet for each student, so I'll need any changes by classtime next week (parent week) at the latest.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT SPRING: This time of year is BUSY with sports and holidays and trips and school. Sometimes music gets last place. And that's okay. Your student has learned so much over the past three years and I want to spend the last of the semester celebrating what they know. If practice time is going great, then that's fantastic! If it's fallen by the wayside, that's fine too! They're smart and understanding musicians and I'm proud of them. During practice time, please start with their composition. If they practice only one thing, make it their composition! This is what they'll be playing at the End-of-Year Recital, and I want them to feel confident and prepared.

FUN TO KNOW

We are getting so good at playing scales and cadences in C Major, F Major, G Major, and a minor. Check out this fun video to see what it would look like to play scales with your feet!