Lesson #8

Parents come next week & tuition is due!

As we continue through the rest of this year, here are some skills that I'm hoping to be seeing that will indicate that they're ready for 2nd year:

1. Can sing and sign solfege at the same time.
2. Knows the solfege signs.
3. Understands the concepts of a step, skip, and a leap.
4. Their claps match the syllables of the bug names.
5. Are able to stay engaged through the class activities and follow the studio rules.

If you notice that your child is missing 3 or more of these skills, we might need to make an action plan to help them get ready. Please let me know if you have any concerns.If you notice that your child is missing 3 or more of these skills (first of all, don't stress...), we might need to make an action plan to help them get ready. Please let me know if you have any concerns.

Are You Sleeping?

This song reinforces the solfege hand signs. Very soon we’ll sing in a round, letting us hear multiple layers of music. Hearing music in our head and being able to stay on the part we are singing is a great skill for musicians to learn.

B-I-N-G-O

Good old BINGO! Who knew that dog could teach us so much? When we sing it, we feel the quiet internal beats and learn to anticipate when to clap. It's full of rich musical concepts.

Chords in Pieces - auditation (hear in your head)

As we sang “Chords in Pieces” we left out some of the chords and auditated them in our heads instead of singing them aloud. Again, much of the learning in 1st year is subconscious and unseen. The musical development that is happening to your little musician right now won't be seen by the naked eye, but will be harvested down the road!

Bug Rhythms

We mixed up the order of the bugs and with no verbal cues we sang and clapped the bug rhythms. Your amazing kiddos were able to do “Can’t Bug Me” perfectly! Wow, they are learning so quickly.

It is easy to underestimate the significance of solfege. It helps us label something abstract like notes, uses whole body involvement, helps us understand scales and key signatures, aids in learning about intervals, helps us sight read/sing music, and so much more! Click here to read about the many reasons why we use solfege in Let's Play Music!