Hello Lowell Community. If we haven't met, I'm Anthony Spano and I've taught music here at Lowell for over 17 years. I hope to be preparing these newsletters on a regular basis to update you on what we've done, are doing, and will be doing in your child's music classes. Please feel free to email me with any questions or comments:

anthony.spano@watertown.k12.ma.us

Please join us this year on Friday, the 15th of March for our 11th annual MusicFest brought to you by our own Watertown Friends of Music. MusicFest is an opportunity for anyone in the Watertown community to perform enjoy music. The festival takes place across several hours at Watertown Middle School and features several performance stages, refreshments, and the ever-popular Instrument Petting Zoo for young and prospective musicians. Visit WatertownMusic.org for more information or to sign up to be a performer.

Our musician of the month for January is Iam Tongi. Iam is a Hawaiian-born singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist who first came to fame last year when he won American Idol at the young age of 18.

Students in all grades have been studying the piano in class. The piano makes a great vehicle to teach basic musicianship, theory, and note reading.

In Kindergarten and grade 1, we start by simply exploring the keyboard experimenting with high and low, loud and soft, steps and skips between notes, and chromatic vs. diatonic patterns. Then, we'll be using a simpler finger-number notation system to play familiar melodies, first just using the black key groups, and ultimately, the white keys.

In grades 2 and 3, we spent several weeks learning "middle-C position" which centers both hands at middle C allowing us to begin reading and playing a variety of simple, single-note diatonic melodies. Over the next few weeks, we will be reading basic notation and practicing some of these simple songs. The packet we use in class is linked below.

In our older grades (4-5), we've been working through the same "Middle-C packet" as mentioned for grades 2 and 3 above. As the students have a bit more background reading and playing, they're given more open workshop time in class to work on songs in the packet of their choosing that match their ability level. This month, we've been holding informal "recitals" in each class where students can perform the song they've practiced either privately for me, or for the whole class.

Black key melodies - finger notation (Kindergarten and Grade 1)

Middle C packet - standard notation (Grades 2-5)

White Key melodies - finger notation

Scales and Triads

Our instrument program has been very successful thus far this year. We have excellent participation from many of our 4th and 5th grade students and we're hoping to have some creative performance opportunities later in the school year. If you have any questions regarding your child's instrument lessons, feel free to email their instrument teacher at any time:

Macullen Byham (strings)

Maxwell Thew (winds, percussion)

Anthony Spano (winds, percussion)

Students in grades 4 and 5 can participate in our Lowell chorus. In chorus, we focus on diaphragmatic breathing, balance, diction/enunciation, and rudimentary harmony including part singing, round, and 2-part harmony.

If your child is participating and you haven't yet officially signed them up, you can do so here.

So far in rehearsals we've been doing simple warmups using the major and minor scales and three songs which can be found here:

Two of Us by The Beatles: lyrics recording

Cybele's Reverie by Stereolab: lyrics recording

Round and Round the Earth is Turning: traditional round from Great Britain: lyrics recording

Singing is central to our music curriculum at all age levels. As I tell the students, your voice is the "oldest instrument in the world" and we carry it around with us everywhere we go. Below are just a few of the songs we've been singing in class this month:

Follow the Drinking Gourd - traditional African-American code song

Abiyoyo - Book and song by Pete Seeger

We Shall Overcome - American folk song

Doggie Doggie, Where's Your Bone - Folk game/song

Ode to Joy - from Beethoven's Symphony #9, English translation

Mr. Sun - Raffi

If I Were a Tree - traditional

I Had a Little Rooster - traditional

Blackbird - The Beatles

Yellow Submarine - The Beatles

Kye Kye Cule - traditional, Ghana

My Aunt Came Back - traditional

Three Little Birds - Bob Marley

Down by the Bay - traditional

Skin and Bones - traditional

Pumpkin Bones - Quaver music

Round and Round the World is Turning - English folk song

A Ram Sam Sam - Moroccan folk song

Brown Bear, Brown Bear - singing game adapted from Eric Carle book