Follow along with this video to learn how to play “Here Comes The Sun”. It works best as a play-along to the other video of the song that I posted down below. We’ll also explore what syncopation is, and how to play “on and off the beat”.
Category: Intermediate (Page 1 of 2)
School is almost over for the year, so what better way to start the summer than with this song! It’s one of my favourite songs by The Beatles, and I’ve put the words in the video so that you can follow along and learn to sing it too 🙂
Intermediates,
Here’s a chance for you to talk about one of your favourite songs! I’d love to hear what music inspires you, so this can be any song of your choice.
All of the details for the assignment are on the document. I’m looking forward to hearing your responses!
Hello intermediates!
Today’s assignment is to rewrite the words of a famous children’s song to describe your experience at home for the past month.
Some song options could be…
-Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
-Row, Row, Row Your Boat
-Happy Birthday
-or any other simple song that you know!
Once you’ve picked a song, now it’s time to change the original words to your new ones. You can write about anything that you’d like, including how you’ve been feeling, what you’ve been doing with your family, or a video game you’ve been playing. Make sure that the words still line up with the melody of the song, and if possible, try to keep the rhyme pattern the same as the original song.
There is an example on the assignment sheet. Once you’ve written your new song on the assignment sheet, please email it to me at derek.maroney@burnabyschools.ca by Friday May 8th.(Or even better, send a recording of you singing your new song, if you’d like!)
I can’t wait to hear what you create!
Quarantine Song Writing Challenge assignment sheet
The Burnaby music teachers put together a video of all of us singing or playing along to the Music Monday song from last year. See if you can spot me and Mr. Yanko in the video!
May The 4th be with you!
Happy Star Wars Day everyone, let’s learn how to play the theme on recorder!
(recommended for experienced recorder players, or beginners who want a challenge)
Happy Music Monday, everyone!
Every year, on the first Monday of May, students all across Canada come together to share songs with each other and to discuss what music means to everyone. It’s one of my favourite days of the school year, and I’m sad that we’re not able to celebrate it together in person this year.
That doesn’t mean that we can’t celebrate it online, though!
Here’s a video of me playing one of my favourite songs. I wanted to share this with you today, because not only do I love this song, but I think it also has a really important message about music. Even though it doesn’t have any words, it still tells a story and shares a message, which is different for everyone who hears it. I think that’s the beauty of music: it can connect to people without even needing to speak any words. The song is  “Words Unspoken”, by Steven Martin. I hope you enjoy it 🙂
I’d love to hear from students of all grades about why music is important to you. Do you have a favourite song? A favourite instrument? Does music help you when you’re feeling sad or stressed? Â You can share your thoughts in the comments, or send me an email at derek.maroney@burnabyschools.ca, I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
If you’ve never seen a symphony before, this is a great chance! The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is putting on live concerts almost every week, entirely free to watch online. The next concert is happening tonight (April 30th) at 7:30, and it’s a great chance to see these musicians perform live. Maybe you can even recognize some of the instruments!
Tonight’s concert includes compositions by Bach and Mozart, two of the most famous and important classical composers, so you won’t want to miss it 🙂
Today we’re going to learn how to write a very easy (and super serious) song using two different apps: Word Synth and Song Maker.
After you’ve watched the crash-course video, try making your own song! I’d love to see what you’re able to come up with, so feel free to post a link to your creation down in the comment section if you’d like to share it!
(This lesson is best for intermediates, but primaries are also more than welcome to follow along and make their own song)
Here’s a really simple app that lets you combine words with notes! It works pretty similarly to the Song Maker app, so it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out if you’ve already used that one. There’s also a really short tutorial that explains everything that you need to know about it.
See if you can write a short 5-word sentence (maybe about something that you did today?), and use those words to create a melody on the app. That’s all you have to do for now, and once you’re done, take a screenshot of your melody. You can post that in the comments if you’d like to share it, but you don’t have to. Hang onto your melody because we’ll be doing another project with it shortly. Have fun!