MEMO TO ALL PARENTS/GUARDIANS/STUDENTS

The purpose of teacher blogs is to inform students and their families of day-to-day learning and activities throughout the school year.  We will continue to communicate learning opportunities and will provide links to online learning resources through these blogs. 

Important information related to all school decisions will continue to be emailed to parents/guardians and can also be found on the CBE website (www.cbe.ab.ca).

Thank you for your understanding.

Guitar 7/8/9

All music students are encouraged to practice their instruments for 30 minutes each day. Guitar can be challenging, as school guitars are not permitted to go home. Many of you have your own guitars and therefore are encouraged to practice. The internet is a great and valuable resource for you! You can google search guitar TABS for your favourite songs and give them a go! You can also look up how to play chords and then seek out some CHORD CHARTS for your favourite songs.  My favourite website to search and learn new songs is https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ . I do encourage your to keep on practicing if you have a guitar at home.

No guitar at home? It's okay! You can keep on practicing your understanding of musical notation using this website: https://www.musictheory.net/

On the site you will find lessons that teach you more about reading musical notes and symbols, as well as some exercises to practice! It is very important that you keep practicing what you have learned so far, otherwise you may forget!

I have said it many times: learning to read music is like learning a whole new language. If you don't use it, you may lose it!

Have fun!

Band 7/8/9

All band students are encouraged to continue practicing their instruments as per usual. The recommendation for all band students is 30 minutes of focused practice every day! 

Grade 7s:

• Keep prepping for your playing test on Lesson 5, "The Gathering"
• Work on learning new notes - best ideas would be to focusing on the B-flat concert scale and E-flat concert scale notes (a quick search in google with the scale name and name of your instrument will help you find all of the notes - feel free to google the fingering chart for your instrument as well!)
• No instrument at home, no problem! Use this website to practice your note reading skills. Start by watching the lessons and then see if you can complete the exercises! 
• https://www.musictheory.net/

Grade 8s and 9s:

• Keep practicing all the pieces we have been working on this semester - in particular "...At Twilight", "All About that Bass", "Jurassic Park", and "Pirates of the Caribbean" as these are newer additions to our repertoire. 
• Continue practice major and minor scales. Remember, we are still working on completing our scales club! Here are some of the best scales to start with:
• B-flat concert
• E-flat concert
• F concert
• A-flat concert
• C major
• G minor concert
• C minor concert
• D minor concert
• F minor concert
• A minor concert
• No book at home to help you learn these scales? No problem! Go to google, type in the name of the scale along with what instrument you play and all the resources will pop up! You can also google fingering charts for notes that you don't know how to play!
• Check out this website for some great sight reading samples: you can access a bunch of them for FREE!!! 
• https://www.sightreadingfactory.com/mixer-instrument-family
• No instrument at home, no problem! Use this website to practice your note reading skills. Start by watching the lessons and then see if you can complete the exercises! There are more advanced lessons and exercises too! Improve your understanding of rhythm, time signatures, key signatures and so much more! See how far you can get!
• https://www.musictheory.net/

Grade 6 Band

Students have begun playing instruments and learning their first notes! What an exciting time to be in Grade 6 Band!

Learning new notes and how to read and play musical symbols with accuracy is our continued focus for this week. Students who have musical instruments at home can continue to practice these skills, as practice is the best method to learn and improve.

Students can also access the following website for lessons and exercises to practice their understanding of musical notation.

Students should watch the lessons before trying to complete the exercises. When accessing the exercises, there is a button in the top right hand corner that allows the customization of the activity. Play around with it and see what you can learn! Have fun!

https://www.musictheory.net/

Choral Music - Grades 6-9

We have been working hard to prep for a spring concert in May/June. This week, preparations should continue.

All choral grades can work on the following songs:

Seasons of Love (from the musical Rent)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT-bQ_1ptvI - accompaniment music only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbGfIocR4Ao - full choir performance

You're Welcome (from the Disney Film Moana)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBgTnX_nYig - full performance with lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIYURcd4WB4 - karaoke version with lyrics

Students are also encouraged to practice singing of scales (Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do), starting on various different pitches, going both as high and low as they can and working to expand their vocal range. They can use the following link for a virtual piano to assist with pitch matching:
https://www.onlinepianist.com/virtual-piano

Any students who were interested in auditioning for solos for the spring concert should continue rehearsing their chosen song as well.