Orange Roots #14

 

NEED TO KNOW

Orange Roots #14: Your students are phenominal!

THIRD-YEAR-ONLY RECITAL: I was so proud of the students who performed at the Third-Year-Only Recital this weekend. I was so impressed with how they each introduced and then presented their pieces!  

END-OF-YEAR RECITAL: Our End-of-Year Recital will be on April 12 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. 

CELEBRATION DAY:  Lesson #15 next week is Celebration Day! It's not a normal lesson, and is a whole bunch of fun! It IS a parent day, so come with your kids and celebrate everything you've done this year! It will be an open-house style setup, and you can of course come during your normal class time, or any time next Tuesday between 3:45-6 when I have 3rd Year classes. 

Bring your books and bags. Some of the activities will come out of there. Some of the games we do that day will stay in my classroom, but each student will get a bag with a few activities in it to take home. If your student can't be there, you can have a mini Celebration Day at your house! Let me know and I'll have an activity bag ready for you to pick up.

GOOD TO KNOW

COMPOSITIONS: The recital doesn't have to be the end of the composition. Keep sharing it and showing off your skills! Remember the 3-performances log. There is a treat next week at Celebration Day for all students who finish it!

FUN TO KNOW

It's no coincidence that the 6th and final semester of Let's Play Music is called Orange ROOTS. Not only do they know all about triads and the roots of chords, but we also have nurtured their musical theory roots and they are prepared to grow exponentially from here!

Here's a version of the Bamboo Story from an inspirational post. And here's an LPM-specific version of the story (they wrote the story for the beginning of the Orange Roots semester, hence the '75' classes... I like it better at the end of the semester... either way it's a great visual!). 

When bamboo grows from a seed, it stays visibly small for the first three or four years. When it finally starts to grow in the fourth or fifth year, it grows up to three feet in a single day! The rate of growth is absolutely phenomenal! Even though it wasn't visibly growing during those first few years, it was developing a root system strong enough to support its future outward growth. It is developing a strong foundation.

A strong musical foundation is what your students now have. Their roots are strong, and their understanding is solid. They have now had 89 classes, totaling 4,590 minutes of class. You, their parent and gardener, have found babysitters for siblings so you could be in class on for 36 different Parent Days over the three years. You've arranged schedules and mealtimes and errands so your child could get to classes. You set up a practice plan and played with your child and assisted in hours and hours of practice and you helped with homework. Check out their practice bead strings! And it's all coming to fruition. Your child has learned some serious music theory, is performing some fantastic songs, and is even composing and transcribing their own music! Your bamboo has sprouted! Now it's time to sit back and watch it grow.