Music and Art


"Listening Map" for Tchaikovsky's "Trepak" from "The Nutcracker" and the opening number.  We'll view these tomorrow!
December 18, 2014















Posted November 13, 2014
This song on our Green Sheet today.  Do you know what a verse is?






Posted November 13, 2014
We'll also dance to this to "warm up" for our Project Cornerstone lesson today.




Posted October 30, 2014
Art in Action





Posted October 26, 2014
Art in Action




Posted March 26, 2014

Ok, it's time to "feel the music" and "bust a move."  Let's be HAPPY!







"Listening Map" for Tchaikovsky's "Trepak" from "The Nutcracker" and the opening number.  We'll view these tomorrow!
December 19, 2013










Posted December 12, 2013

Siberian Ice Drummers use frozen Lake Baikal as a beautiful musical instrument.  It is -20 degrees Celcius.
Perhaps we could make music out of our frozen puddles in the track?




"Art in Action:  Vincent Van Gogh"
November 14, 2013

Here are two videos that I will share as part of our art activity.  The students will paint "Starry Starry Night" today.






"Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"
October 31, 2013

At the request of the students of Pier 14, here is their current favorite spooky piece with an added bonus, a "listening map."  

We will also use a listening map when we study the music of Aaron Copland in November.

FYI: Bach composed during the "Baroque Period" with strict rules governing the progression and resolution of chords.  Beethoven composed during the "Classical Period."





October 30, 2013
By popular demand, "Fifty Nifty United States."






October 18, 2013
You will play this song this year.  Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" as performed by a flash mob.






https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10151303876267352



March 16, 2013
 I thought you might enjoy this music machine.  We will begin our science unit on "Matter and Energy."  This video demonstrates the transfer of motion energy to sound/vibration energy in an intriguing way!




February 27, 2013
 We started learning recorder this week.  Today was our second day and we learned our third note.  Below is our first piece using two notes.

During the last 5 minutes of school, we learned our third note "G."  Here is our first attempt at "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  You CAN hear it, yes?

 

 


Some fun music videos
December 1, 2012









Art in Action: Albert Bierstadt
November 30, 2012

Here's a video that I will share next week, after our Art in Action lesson.  Albert Bierstadt painted the great American frontier.

Project Cornerstone
November 15, 2012

Here's the video that Mrs. Testa introduced to us to "warm up" for our lesson today.




"Art in Action:  Vincent Van Gogh"
November 2, 2012

Here are two videos that I will share as part of our art activity.  The students will paint "Starry Starry Night" today.





"Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"
October 29, 2012

At the request of the students of Pier 14, here is their current favorite spooky piece with an added bonus, a "listening map."  

We will also use a listening map when we study the music of Aaron Copland in November.

FYI: Bach composed during the "Baroque Period" with strict rules governing the progression and resolution of chords.  Beethoven composed during the "Classical Period."




"A Subject, a Predicate"
Sung to the tune of "A Tisket, a Tasket, a Green and Yellow Basket"
October 11, 2012

Today we learned a song to enhance our grammar skills.  We first sang the American traditional song (from the 1800's), titled "A Tisket, A Tasket," and we talked about the rules for this playyard game (similar to "Duck, Duck, Goose").   Next, we learned some NEW lyrics to support what we are learning in Language Arts.  Subjects AND predicates are VERY important in 3rd Grade!!!


A subject, a predicate-
These are quite important!
Combine the two, and you will see
That you have formed a sentence.
The subject, the subject
Is a noun or a pronoun.
Who or what it usually tells,
And that is how you'll find it.
The predicate, the predicate
It tells about the subject,
What it is or what it does,
A verb and all its helpers.
The subject, the predicate
Together form a sentence.
Write them both then punctuate
VOILA! You have a sentence.
To conclude our lesson, I asked, "What music was created in our country and then SPREAD to the rest of the world?"  The first answer was "Native American music."  Yes, that could possibly be the first music created in our country.  However, it could not SPREAD because there was no way to globally SHARE the sounds and sights of the music at that time.
The next answer was "Jazz." 
In the 1900's, the introduction of vinyl recordings and film with sound allowed jazz music to spread throughout the world.   
"A Tisket, A Tasket"  was a nursery rhyme that was created in the late 1800's.  In 1938, the song became popular throughout the world by Ella Fitzgerald, who later became known as the "Queen of Jazz."  
 Below is a video of Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) singing her rendition of "A Tisket, a Tasket."




Steady Beat vs. non-Steady Beat
October 6, 2012

During the month of September, we learned that music has a steady beat.  We have conducted America (My Country Tis of Thee) by making triangles in the air and "catching the note" at the end.  We have experienced the feeling of the steady beat while "hammering" as we sing "I've Been Working on the Railroad."  We have become aware of the steady beat that is in our body, our heartbeat, and have discussed the effect that music has on our heart and our mind.  Music that is slower than our heartbeat relaxes us; music that is faster than our heartbeat energizes us.  As a culmination to our study on "Steady Beat" we listened to two examples from the 1960's.

Below is keyboardist Herbie Hancock playing his jazz standard "Watermelon Man," which was first released in 1962.  

What do you hear or feel?   A steady beat or NOT a steady beat?



In contrast to the previous song, here is an excerpt from a Morton Subotnick piece titled "Silver Apples of the Moon"  recorded in 1967.  Mr. Subotnick was one of the pioneers in the development of electronic music.  


What do you hear or feel?   A steady beat or NOT a steady beat?







Here are some educational links.
Art and Music Games

We're Going on a Bear Hunt