Blissful E » music

Posts Tagged ‘music’

13 Aug, 2010

the ABC song: violin and drum duet

Posted by: blissfule In: Perth

In order to earn the privilege of choosing a book to take in to their beds with them at naptime, each child must have practiced his instrument sometime before lunch.

Both of them were already playing every day; I added the book incentive just to ensure that the main practice time where Mama needed to pay attention to notes and provide coaching happened before lunch rather than later in the afternoon when I have less time and energy. They LOVE taking a book to bed, so this has been hugely successful.

Nikki has been learning to read music as part of her violin lessons. She practices at home as well, primarily sightreading the notes A, B, and C, with a few D, E, and G thrown in. Nikki's practice times are eclectic and last anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. She may choose to name notes on the staff, practice "ti" "tun" "tah-un" and "great big whole notes", play several songs, or anything in between.

Michael will usually drum and sing worship songs (Tim Hughes' "The Highest and the Greatest" and Seeds Worship's "Sing for Joy [Psalm 95:1-4]" are his current favourites). After a while Michael will exclaim "I need to play A, B, C!" and then proceed to sing and smash his way through the alphabet. (He clearly believes that ABCs are what make practice time "official" and thus are critical to earning his naptime book. I only "enforce" Michael's "practices" out of respect for his clearly taking his instrument as seriously as Nikki takes hers.)

During one of these drumming ABC songs, Nikki joined Michael with her violin. The two young musicians graciously agreed to repeat the performance for the video camera. I noticed one slight alteration: Nikki sang the alphabet song rather than Michael.

4 Comments

Tags: drum, music, preschooler, toddler, video, violin

05 Aug, 2010

lunchtime learning with sandwiches

Posted by: blissfule In: Perth

As a beginning rhythm exercise in music class, the teacher put stuffed bears on a line and we clapped and said "bear" when she pointed to each bear. Students got to remove one bear at a time, and when the teacher pointed to that space, we held our palms up and whispered, "rest." So a typical rhythm would sound like this: "bear [clap], bear [clap], rest, bear [clap]."

When we got home and started eating sandwiches, Nikki ate one quarter of her sandwich, then excitedly told me that she had made a "rest." So we pointed and clapped for the four sections of her sandwich, "bear [clap], rest, bear [clap], bear [clap]." She has continued to do this for nearly every sandwich she's eaten at home since. Michael has gotten in on the action, and even Vi puts up her hands and says "yea!" when we all cheer a correct rhythm.

I have found it helps my children start the rhythm at the top left of the sandwich if I have them point to the sandwich pieces (or places where the sandwich pieces used to be) and count "1 - 2 - 3 - 4" going right to left, and top to bottom before we begin. It also sets the tempo for our simultaneous bears and rests.

This is one instance where playing with our food is a good thing.

3 Comments

Tags: food, homeschooling, music, preschooler, toddler

02 Aug, 2010

Nikki’s first performance

Posted by: blissfule In: Perth

Forte School of Music put on its second annual concert (actually 4 concerts in a row - I had no idea the music school was so large!) Saturday.

A couple photos while we waited to be shown to our seats:

the star herself

some adoring (and adorable) fans

The 90-minute show included some fantastic performances and a mixture of solos and group pieces. A true standout was the nearly flawless 8-year-old's performance of Für Elise.

We enjoyed the whole show, and the last act, Nikki's 'Music is Fun' class, was definitely worth waiting for - they played the piano and performed an action song. Baba took a video while I was just offstage with the other mums in case we were needed.

6 Comments

Tags: milestones, music, preschooler, video

21 Jul, 2010

bowing and bowing

Posted by: blissfule In: Perth

Sunday afternoon Ben stayed home so Michael and Vi could have a nap while Nikki and I walked into downtown Perth for a special concert featuring the string section of the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra and the Pinnacle String Quartet.

Again on my glamorous kick, I used a short wrap for the first time. For our 40-minute walk Nikki went on my back in a reinforced rucksack carry. I'm definitely going to be looking for more excuses to wear this double brushed Walter's Organic baby wrap in deep purple.

Hans Hug's concert selections were lovely and featured quite a few different soloists. Now that we have a violin student in the house, I paid special attention to the bowing. Nikki paid particular attention to the bowing (curtain call).

As we were leaving Perth Town Hall, a lady who had been selling drinks at the back offered Nikki an orange juice. Nikki said, "yes." We rounded out the afternoon sipping and people-watching in central Perth.

6 Comments

Tags: babywearing, music, preschooler

21 Jun, 2010

her name is Sakioroma

Posted by: blissfule In: Perth

Nikki had her second violin lesson today. At her first lesson, her teacher had asked if her 1/16 size violin had a name. This time, Nikki was prepared with an answer, "Sakioroma."

7 Comments

Tags: music, preschooler, video, violin

11 Jun, 2010

do not be anxious

Posted by: blissfule In: Perth

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
~Philippians 4:6-7

I have mentioned how we love Seeds music - scripture set to upbeat tunes that we just can't help but sing around the house.

I caught Nikki and Michael up on their hearth "stage" singing Philippians 4:6-7. You can listen to the official Seeds Family Worship version on YouTube here.

4 Comments

Tags: music, preschooler, toddler, video

14 May, 2010

Michael’s drum kit

Posted by: blissfule In: Perth

Michael arranged the stool, glockenspiel, and drum to create his own unique kit. Then, without fanfare, he established a beat and asked Nikki to clap along.

8 Comments

Tags: music, toddler, video

29 Apr, 2010

the conductor game

Posted by: blissfule In: Perth

A favourite recent imaginary game at our house: taking turns playing pretend string instruments and being the conductor. Nikki came up with the game, and it has proven highly popular. In fact, as I was taking laundry down at the end of the day recently, Nikki came up to me in astonishment, "Mama, we haven't played the conductor game today!"

The conductor taps the "baton" three times as demonstrated at the Babies Proms, then directs the music slow or fast, with much jumping and enthusiasm.