Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Kinetic Choir: Week 2

Great to see the kids back this week! I had such a good time with them.

Today's class:

Breathing exercises. Deep breathing, and a game called Zoom. Ask your kids about it!

Vocal Warm-ups. We played a game to help them visualize what it means to have higher notes and lower notes. In this game one person (first me, then all the kids had a turn) puts her hand out in front of her, and gives us a starting note. Then the leader raises or lowers her hand, sometimes quite drastically, sometimes more slowly, sometimes in jerks and skips, and the group follows by raising or lowering the pitch they're signing. This was fun! Lots of giggles, but a good way to start thinking about relative pitch, intervals, and good watching practice.

Composition. Several children had written verses to the song "You Are My Sunshine" and we had a great time listening and singing those gems.

Form: We practiced "Rocky Road to Dublin."

Interval Training: We reviewed "Bought Me a Cat" and learned "Little Bird, Little Bird." One has a major third and one has a minor third. We learned the songs thoroughly, and then practiced hearing intervals on the piano and deciding whether it was a "Bought Me a Cat" or a "Chipsy Chopsy" or a "Little Bird." They were really good at it! We'll work more on thirds next week. The goal is that they'll be able to identify major and minor thirds, and also sing them when asked.

Parts Singing: We practiced "My Paddle Clean and Bright" and "Rose Rose Rose Red."

Thank you choir! You had a great day!

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