Divisions 4, 5 and 6

April 12, 2021

Here is a great tutorial on how to get started playing the ukulele.

June 24, 2020

Summer break is finally here and I don’t know about you all, but I am excited for long, hot, relaxing Summer days. This Summer, I want you to think of one song each day that makes you happy and of course I want you to enjoy yourselves this Summer.

Now I will leave you with the song “Summertime”, by American composer George Gershwin from the opera “Porgy and Bess”. This version is sung by two of the most famous jazz musicians to ever have lived, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Louis Armstrong was an American trumpeter, composer, vocalist, and actor who was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and he was known around the world for his Trumpet playing and unique vocal singing technique.  Often referred to as the Queen of Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century and even made history by becoming the first African American woman to ever win a Grammy award in 1958.

I hope you have a fantastic Summer break and I am looking forward to seeing you all in September!

June 17, 2020

Wow, I can’t believe that the last week of school is already here! It has been so great to see you all through emails and posts since we left school (and some of you even in class!) For this last lesson, we are going to do bucket drumming with items you can find at home. You can of course use a bucket, or the bottom of a garbage can, large Tupperware container or even a cardboard box and for mallets, you can use drum sticks, wooden spoons or any sort of long wooden item. Please get parent permission first, before using any of these items. Play along with the following videos and feel free to send me a picture or a short video of you playing your bucket drum by email if you wish. Have fun!

June 1, 2020

This weeks music activity has been posted on your class TEAMS under “Assignments”.

May 19, 2020

Welcome to week 7 of online learning. I can’t wait to see you all in a few weeks when we’re back in school! Here’s your activity for the week.

Anything Can Be Music

Directions:

Walk around your home and find objects that you know will make noise and create three different instruments out of those. Choose each of your three instruments so that it plays at a different dynamic level (pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte or fortissimo) and/or create your instruments so that they are powered in different ways (e.g. wind, string vibration, hitting, etc). If you would prefer to create a more complex instrument (i.e. an instrument that took time to make that you’ve glued, cut, screwed together, etc-with parent supervision of course) you may choose to only make one or two instruments for your composition instead of three.  Make sure you ask adults for permission to use these items. Easy ideas:

  • Items from the recycle bin
  • Rubber bands stretched across a box
  • Beans or rice in a container
  • Paper tubes
  • Crinkly paper/plastic
  • Flower pots, kitchen items

Ideas for more complex instruments here https://redtri.com/homemade-instruments/slide/19

Create a 30 second composition for your instrument- you can include vocals as well. Practice it until you have it memorized or write it down in notation that works for you. Perform it for someone in your family or record it and send it to you grandparents, aunts and uncles or friends. If you have a younger or older sibling, work on your composition together with them, as they will be making instruments for music class this week as well.

Criteria:

  • Set up a “stage” space for your performance. Make sure you announce your piece and bow at the end!
  • Give your piece a title. Why did you decide on that name for your composition?
  • Use different mallets or beaters to hit your instrument or move further away or closer when you play it. How did that change the tone? How many different tones can you get on one instrument? Use these different tones in your composition.

May 11, 2020

This week, I’ve posted the piano piece “Fur Elise” by Ludwig Van Beethoven on Chrome Music lab.

Listen to the original here (it is very short): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mVW8tgGY_w

“Fur Elise” is a piece of piano music written by the German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven (alive 1770-1827). A composer is someone who writes music.Beethoven is considered to be one of the most famous composers to ever live. He composed Classical music for the piano, orchestra and many other instruments. When he was a young man, he was a talented and popular pianist. However, in 1801, when he was only 31 years old, he began to lost his hearing and by 1817, he was completely deaf! Despite being deaf and unable to play in concerts, he continued to compose music and during this time he composed some of his most famous works. In fact, “Fur Elise” was written in 1810, when he was already partially deaf.

This week, your assignment is to remix “Fur Elise” on Chrome Music Lab here: https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Song-Maker/song/6138918811467776?fbclid=IwAR2LhMnHTFIbrSP_I-LjjUh5HCH5Pw6IW4HaJcj_FgHzrvwJGhBgqk5LxNk

You can add percussion, change the instruments, add harmony, change the melody a little, whatever. When you like what you’ve created, save it and send Ms. Olsen the link through email (calena.olsen@burnabyschools.ca). If you totally mess it up, just close it and click on the link again. Have fun and I look forward to hearing what you create!

 

 

May 4, 2020

May the fourth be with you! I’ve really enjoyed watching all of your Quarentunes this week and last week, excellent job! Today is Music Monday. Music Monday has happened every year across Canada since 2004 and it is a time when musicians from across Canada get together to sing a song together. Music Monday goes live today at 9:30am and repeats throughout the day.  The song this year is “Hymn To Freedom” . Here is a link to watch Music Monday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ww79FJaCXg&feature=youtu.be

This week, please do the short listening activity posted in your TEAMS under assignments called “May the Fourth Be With You”. 

 

April 20,2020

Hi everyone,

Welcome to week 3 of online learning. For this week’s Quarentune activity, you will have two weeks to work on it.  This activity is for both music class and language arts, so please be sure to hand it in to both Ms. Olsen and your classroom teacher. Below, I have posted a written copy of the activity, as well as a video of me explaining the activity. Make sure you watch to the end of the video so you can see my own example of the activity so you can get a better understanding of what I am looking for. Finally, I have included some more examples from YouTube below as well. Have fun and please email me if you have any questions!

Quarentune Activity

Quaren-tune Parody – Link to a written copy of the activity

Video instructions of the activity, including my own example at the end of the video:

 

 

 

April 14, 2020

Hi everyone, welcome back to week 2 of online learning. I hope you all had a restful long weekend and spent time doing fun activities with your families.

This week’s challenge:

Your challenge is this: Create the melody of the song “Hot Crossed Buns”, using water in three glasses (or glass jars) and tapping (GENTLY) with a metal spoon. (See Ms. Olsen’s video below for more information)

Here’s a tip– The level of the water will affect the pitch that you want to play.

You must submit a video of the finished product by saving it to your onedrive and emailing the link to calena.olsen@burnabyschools.ca (please make sure you include your name and division number in the subject line of the email). Thank you moms, dads, siblings or guardians for helping take the video!

Your video should include:

  • You playing the song “Hot Cross Buns” on glasses filled with water using a metal spoon or knife to tap GENTLY
  • You saying the answers to the following questions:
    1. Does the pitch (note) sound higher or lower when you add more water to the glass?
    2. Does using different types or shapes of glasses produce different pitches? Explain
    3. What happens when you change the object that you are tapping the glass with (i.e. metal spoon vs. wooden spoon vs. spatula)?

 

April 6, 2020

Here are some activities that you can do at home:

1. Write about one of your favourite songs and why it’s one of your favourite songs. Talk about elements of music such as pitch (high/low), tempo (fast/slow), dynamics (loud/soft), and what message the song writer has tried to express through the song. Email to Ms. Olsen (calena.olsen@burnabyschools.ca )

2. Create a rhythm or song with household items. Be sure to include eighth notes, quarter notes, half notes and quarter rests in your rhythms and feel free to use more rhythms than those if you wish. Write down the rhythms and email to Ms. Olsen (calena.olsen@burnabyschools.ca) or take a video of your song and email to Ms. Olsen.

3. Teach someone in your family about body percussion. Write down a body percussion rhythm (using eighth notes, quarter notes, rests, half notes, etc) and teach a family member how to perform this rhythm and present it to your family.

 

Bonus (Grade 3 students only):Can you sing at least three of the Primary Days of Music songs unaccompanied and without seeing the words?

New activities will be added weekly. I look forward to hearing from you all soon!