Purple Magic #6

NEED TO KNOW

Purple Magic #6: It is so much fun watching your Purple Magic kids soak up new information! They are building a solid musical foundation!

SHOWTIME: We had our first Showtime! They all played Bounce and Roll, and everybody was able to play staccato and legato, and everybody got a sticker in their songbook. They're totally getting it! We won't play that song again in class, but they can play it at home any time they want to!

SONGBOOK MARKING: We wrote in our songbooks again! On the song "Alouette," we talked about how the first two lines are similar, but the next two lines are something different. We labeled them A and B, and now have a repertoire song that is ABA form, just like our puppet show! Here's what it should look like now. 

INSTAGRAM: If you Instagram, be sure and follow @letsplaymusic_official. They have great tips and motivations, along with regular freebies and giveaways.

CDs: I finally got the CDs ready! If you requested one in the Parent Orientation form, I gave it to your student today. If you didn't get one and want one, let me know!

HALLOWEEN NIGHT PRACTICE HELP: The practice guide says to "learn the right hand line by line." I feel this is so lacking in options! And totally drops the ball on the c minor cadence skill! We started last week with playing the left hand chords while singing. Here are some options for playing this song.
* Play the song with the left hand playing chords as written, and sing the melody.
* If they want, they can play it with the right hand playing the c minor cadence chords, and sing the melody. And then play the chords with both hands at the same time! 
* If they never want to play the melody, that's okay! They can use this song to understand the c minor cadence, reading the music and playing the chords as written, keeping the 3/4 time rhythm, playing with a steady beat, etc!
* To learn the melody in the right hand, start with the last line. We actually played the last line in class and everybody did it. From here, they can either add the left hand chords with the right hand melody on the last line, or they can use note reading with skips and steps to learn the third line of the melody, then the second, and the first.

Know that it's okay if they never play the melody of the right hand, or never move past the last line. Some students' brains are not physiologically ready yet to do a whole page of note reading. But they're still getting the chord structure, playing with a steady beat, keeping the 3/4 feel of the song, c minor cadence chords, etc. They are doing a LOT!

HOMEWORK HELP: C MINOR CHORDS: This week's theory assignment involves coloring in the c minor cadence chords on a keyboard chart. Some purple Magicians were having some trouble remembering the c minor blue chord, so here are some visuals to help. There is also a great diagram on page #68 of your student's workbook. Remember you can scan the QR code on the back of your workbook (or click this link) to get to the answer key and get help that way too. Here is a link for pictures of the entire c minor cadence. As a reminder, these pictures are always available in the "Learning Helps" portion of the 3rd Year page on the website.

GOOD TO KNOW

ODE TO JOY: Last year we worked on hearing downbeats. Now we're listening for the upbeats! This song helps us feel the upbeat with our bodies, and helps us get to know Ludwig van Beethoven along the way! You can learn more about Beethoven at this link. 

MAGIC KEYS: We've been slowly introducing the Magic Keys song. Next week they'll be playing in F Major and they'll totally be ready for it!

FUN TO KNOW

I love how your Purple Magicians are such flexible thinkers. Each week we do the puppet show, we change up some of the plot points. Sometimes the dragon is the bad guy, sometimes there is no bad guy, but the dragon is a prince that got magically turned into a dragon, and sometimes the knight is the bad guy and the dragon is the hero, like in this comic!