How Music Changes Meaning

In Grade 3, students have begun exploring just how powerful music can be. By using AUXY we have been developing music to convey specific emotions to better emphasize our artistic intent in areas such as Film and Advertising.

Below is a link to a clip from Pirates of The Caribbean which has been edited to include different sound tracks. While watching, ask yourself “How does the music change the mood of the scene?” and “Because of the music, what type of scene do you think is coming next?”.

Can you guess which is the original sound track?

Exploring Our Voice

In Grade 2 we have been exploring how songs, patterns and rhythms are created using our voice in our unit “Wordless Singing”. Students in both 2A and 2B were amazed and inspired by a talented man named Tom Thum who seems to have the ability to use his voice to replicate almost any sound.

I’ve included a link to the YouTube video for students to continue to exploring his music and perhaps develop new techniques themselves!

Enjoy.

Practicing at Home

In Grade 4, 5 and 6 we are beginning to use recorders in the classroom. It’s always very exciting to start on a new instrument but daily practice can sometimes feel like going in circles if you don’t know how to do it.

Here is a great article from NPR Music providing 10 tips on how to structure and improve your  practice routine.

10 Easy Pracitce Tips

Additionally, be sure to have a metronome App to help keep you in time!
Metronome for iPad

 

Happy Praciticing!

Music transformations

keyconcepts

In Grade 1 we have been using the key concepts of form, perspective and change to transform songs we knew to reflect our life in Qatar.

The students will be performing these songs during their end of unit presentation and at Qatar National Day. You can find the written pieces and a recording below. Have a look and a listen:

Here you can find the writte results of Grade 1A: Transformed songs.1A

And this is their recording: We are living in Qatar.1A

And this is Grade 1B’s piece: Transformed songs.1B

And the recording: Fish Fish.1B

I will publish Grade 1B’s pieces tomorrow

Music Composition

In Grades 3, 4 and 5 we’ve been exploring music composition for the quickly approaching Qatar National Day performance (Dec. 17).

If you do not have a keyboard at home, but want to be able to hear your notes, visit:

http://www.musictheory.net/piano

The notes we have been using are marked below (from left to right in order: Do, Re, Mi, So, La). Pentatonic

Also

I have a new favorite iPAD app. This tool, AUXY, lets you write and modify songs in minutes and literally EVERYONE can do it!

http://auxy.co/

 

 

Happy Composing!

Peter and the Wolf

Next week, on Thursday 14th of November, Grades 1 and 4 will visit Qatar Music Academy and Katara Concert Hall.

We will watch and listen to the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.

They will perform an adaptation of Prokofiev’s famous piece “Peter and the Wolf”.

Grade 1s watched the first of these videos in class today. You might want to watch it again with friends and family or maybe watch the other one below to see how different illustrators have created different drawings inspired by the story.

 

 

Welcome!

profile

Hello parents and students!

My name is Mr. Devin and I am a new music teacher in SEK Qatar. I will be working with grades Pre3, 2,3,4 & 5 to build upon the tremendous work and accomplishments of your children and Mr. Fernando from last year.

In our blog you will find information about songs and activities we have been doing at school, suggestions to expand your musical learning experiences and some interesting ideas to check out.

As always, everyone is welcome to post their comments and we will be delighted if you use this blog to share your own ideas and suggestions.

I am very excited to have the opportunity to teach music within the school and look forward to meeting you all throughout the year!

Some Music Apps for the Summer

ipad_together_music_fingers

Wow!!! I can’t believe the year is gone. It has been an exciting one, starting up a brand new school and creating this wonderful learning community. Thank you all for your efforts!!!

I just wanted to share some of the Applications we have used in music class. They might come handy to use during the long holidays to give your IPad, Tablet or Smartphone time an educational edge. Most of them are free or cheap enough to justify a small investment. I hope you enjoy them:

Monkey Drum: Play copy games with a cheeky monkey. The more you play the happier he gets and when he eats bananas you get coins to unlock more areas of the game. You can also create your own songs.

First Sounds (from myFirstApp): Everyday sounds. You can also record them yourself.

Carnival of the Animals (Naxos): Beautiful music and poetry with interactive displays.

A Jazzy Day: Nice interactive story to introduce kids to jazz.

Free Animal Sounds (from Boukhatem.com): Great selection of quality animal sounds.

Young Persons’ Guide to the Orchestra: Inspired in Benjamin Britten’s piece, it is a great introduction to the Symphony Orchestra.

My First Classical Music App (by Naxos): Another great introduction to the Symphony Orchestra.

MadPad: Turn everything around you into a musical instrument and enjoy creating Pads to play soundscapes. This is the one we used to create the Grade 3s’ piece for the End of Year Celebration.

GarageBand: Get the full version for a great experience creating and recording music.

There are plenty more but I think this is a great selection to start with.

Don’t forget to leave me a comment and let me know how you get on and also if you have any other good Apps we can all enjoy.

Happy Summer!!!

 

Landfill Harmonic

Here you can watch a beautiful video about a great project happening in Paraguay:

Poor children were given the opportunity to learn to play an instrument and use music as a way to express themselves and share nice moments with other children.  The project was so successful that they run out of instruments very quickly. Instruments are expensive and the children couldn’t afford to buy them. Someone thought that it could be nice to try and make instruments out of recycled materials. Do you think they managed to create an orchestra made out of rubbish? Watch and let me know your thoughts.