Grades 3-5 Music Class updates
Happy winter break, everyone! Our music classes have been very busy this part of the trimester - our recorders and ukuleles arrived a little over a month ago, and the students have been very busy learning the basics of playing both.
3rd graders worked on their first recorder karate belt (white), and I am happy to report that all students who tested passed! Our white belt test was performing "Hot Cross Buns," which used the notes B, A, and G, and also tested the students' rhythmic accuracy of quarter notes and eighth notes. When we return from break, we will add the note high C and begin working towards our yellow belts!
4th and 5th graders are doing outstanding work on the ukuleles. They have the mechanics of strumming down, and we continue to work on healthy and proper left hand position. We have learned the C7 and C major chords, and our biggest accomplishment was strumming along with "Chain of Fools" since it only uses those two chords (C7 on the verses and C on the chorus). We also talked about pop music structure, and students were introduced to the famous singer Aretha Franklin.
A huge shout out to all of the students in choir - the 4th and 5th grade performance at the Downtown Culver City Tree Lighting on December 5th was superb, and every school site had a successful concert the following week. Music is thriving in CCUSD and I am honored to be part of the team!
Have a wonderful break, and I look forward to making music with your students when we return in January!
