Sneak a Peak in our Music Class!

6/21/2011

All my sunny wishes for a wonderful summer!

Let's start our summer vacations with a smile! Mr. Bean goes to the simming pool!

Winners of the music poster competition: "Everything I know about music" :

Grade 1: Posters were graded by Ms. Wood and me in the below subjects:

Music Math, Latin Letters, Sharps and Flats, Note Values, Rests, Neatness and Presentation

The winners (highest score out of 10) are:

Ayane ( 9/10)

Mami ( 9/10)

Grade 2: Posters were graded by Mr. Anderson and me in the below subjects:

Music Math, Latin Letters, Sharps, Flats and Naturals, Note Values, Rests, Neatness and Presentation

The winners (highest score out of 10) are:

Emily (10/10)

Jacob (10/10)

Ashley (10/10)

Grade 3:  Posters were graded by Ms. Crous and me in the below subjects:

Music Math, Latin Letters, Sharps, Flats and Naturals, Note Values, Rests, Major Scale Type, Intervals, Neatness and Presentation

The winners (highest score out of 10) are:

Yehna (10/10)

Teressa (10/10)

Sharon (10/10)

Jonathan (10/10)

Congratulations to Leo too! ( 9.7/10)

All the winners won a slurpee during recess time on Tuesday, June 21st.

6/14/2011

MUSIC DAY

I would like to say a big "THANK YOU" to all of you, students and parents for participating with such a positive energy to our HIS Music Day.

It wouldn't have been so good and so fun without all of you !

Next year it will be even bigger and more interesting - and a big surprise is waiting :)

Here are some links on you tube with some of the parts of our music event:

IU: Good Day

Grade 1: I just can't wait to be king

Grade 1 and 2 : Heal the world

Grade 3 : Hakuna Matata

Grade 3: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius

Grade 4: Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Suo Gan by Recorder Club

Pink Panther's theme - HIS Orchestra

Star Wars Theme - HIS Orchestra

Secrets by Mimic Spiders and HIS Orchestra featuring: Jonathan Wu

5/19/2011

Masks: Our progress

First lesson with the masks of feelings and everybody were thrilled to learn and know some interesting things about masks.

Mr. Jim, showed us masks and explained different techniques from:

Ancient Greece: Tragedy and Comedy masks, where feelings were solid and absolute

African masks: How masks worked for spiritual purposes

The first mask ever found (neolithic age):

Chinese masks : the purpose of intense colour

Japanese (Kabuki) masks:

Then we saw how masks are working in comics and bands:

The Residents: A band that its members have never showed to the public their faces...

Comic (and movie) hero: Vendetta

Phantom of the Opera

Then we learned how to draw feelings on a mask and we learned everything about a colour wheel:

and these are the first samples of our masks:

Recorder Club: Rehearsing for Music Day

4/26/2011

Videos from your homeworks

Some of the links you are sending me are pretty interesting, so I thought it would be a good idea if I share them with you!

Click the link next to each name to see the video:

Ayumi, 4th grade: Meade Lux Lewis - Boogie Woogie

Eva, 5th grade:   Ragtime Banjo : GUS CANNON . " Hollywood rag " (1928)
     Chuck Berry & Etta James - Rock and Roll Music (1986)

Alkmini, 4th grade: Boogie Woogie Piano Tommy Johnson
   Jerry Lee Lewis - The Wild One

Lawrence, 4th grade: TOMMY DORSEY & ORCHESTRA : WOOGIE BOOGIE

Adam, 4th grade: Boogie Woogie Piano

Michelle, 5th grade: Johan Blohm from The Refreshments plays boogie woogie

Angel Huang, 5th grade: John Arpin plays Bohemia Rag at the Bohem Festival
   End of the Road - Jerry Lee Lewis

Henry, 6th grade: "Lewis Boogie" - Jerry Lee Lewis

   History of Boogie Woogie Documentary 1985 - part 3
   Very interesting!

   Stravinsky plays Strvinsky Rag Music

Orfeas, 5th grade: Ragtime life

   Danny Boy - J.L.Lewis

   Let it rock - Chuck Berry

Sydney, 5th grade: Jerry Lee Lewis - Crazy Arms

   Eric Clapton, Chuck Berry & Keith Richards " WE WE HOURS "

Philip, 5th grade: Star Wars | "Cantina Band" | Ragtime Piano Duet

     RARE: The Beatles singing Johnny B. Goode

Michael, 6th grade:   Holiday, Green Day ragtime version

     Guitar Boogie Woogie

   Green Day live: J.B.Goode cover

4/25/2011

HISTORY OF MUSIC: The evolution of music part 1 (4th, 5th and 6th grade)

Hi everybody!

As I promised, we are going to split the lesson for the music history in 2 parts: Classical and Modern.

Which were the steps music did in order you to listen to your favourite music today?
Which was the route for its evolution?

We will try to follow this path step by step...

- Ragtime (peak popularity years : 1897 - 1918) Ragtime music was born in N. Orleans and it was original played by black bands. It became very famous in the whole world as a combination of ragtime and classical European music as : the Cakewalk dance. Famous classical composers back at that time, like Debussy, created music based on ragtime.
One of the most famous composers of ragtime was Scott Joplin (Entertainer, Maple Leaf Rag etc)
Here below you can listen to some of ragtime music videos:

Please, click the link at the right to see the video:

The Entertainer (1902)

The Maple Leaf Rag (animated piano)

Debussy plays Debussy Golliwogg's Cakewalk (1913)

After Ragtime, our next stop is at 1928: The year, Boogie Woogie was born. The ancestor of upbeat music was a short strange music composition called: "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie":

Neville Dickie playing Pinetops Boogie Woogie

Boogie Woogie was instantly accepted and loved and it got more and more fans all over the planet.
The origin of the term was unknown for many years, however , one of the most interesting linguistic suggestions is Dr J. Tennison's who said that Boog and Booga in many African Dialects means Beat as in beating the drum. In West African the word "Bogi" means: Dance.

Boogie Woogie got so famous, that in 1948 Walt Disney created the animated film Melody Line including the Boogie Woogie variation of Rimsky Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee", performed by Freddy Martin and his orchestra:

Disney and Freddy Martin - Bumble Boogie, 1948

This song is still one of the most famous Boogie Woogie music ever performed. Listen to this video with a modern version performance:

Boogie Woogie : Jools Holland - "Bumble Boogie"

The period 1948 - 1950 is the time we had a new transition- a new evolution in the Music History.
Boogie Woogie, evoluted into Rock ' n ' Roll.

Chuck Berry, is considered one of the pioneers of Rock 'n ' Roll music.
With songs such as: Maybellene, Roll over Beethoven and Johny B. Goode, he introduced the new beat, Rock 'n' Roll to the whole world:

Chuck Berry - Maybellene (live 1958)

Roll Over Beethoven - Chuck Berry

Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry

Johny B. Goode has been covered by many famous artists, some among them are John Lennon, Eric Clapton, ACDC, Guns 'n ' Roses, Green Days etc - also included in the movie "Back to the Future".

Marty McFly with the Starlighters "Johnny B. Goode"

Green Day "Johnny B Goode" cover

In 1986, Chuck Berry was inducted into the Rock ' n ' Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1999, "Johny B Goode" was inducted into the "Grammy Hall of Fame" for its influence as a rock ' n ' roll single.
In 2008, the magazine "Rolling Stone" placed it at #1 on their list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time"

Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode w/ Bruce Springsteen and the the E Street Band - Concert in Hall of Fame

One of the most famous early pioneers of Rock ' n ' Roll Music is, Jerry Lee Lewis AKA: "The Killer". He was the first performer inducted into the Hall of Fame. His song: "Great Balls of Fire" considered an epic composition:

Jerry Lee Lewis Great Balls of Fire

Great Balls of Fire - the movie

As a pianist, "The Killer" Jerry Lee Lewis always complained because he had to sit down during his shows.
Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash suggested him to stand up. Jerry Lee accepted their advice.
So he started to kick the chairs, to go up on the keyboards and even to burn pianos...

Jerry Lee Lewis - Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On (1957)

HOMEWORK:

1 link for Ragtime music
1 link for Boogie Woogie music
1 link for a song from C. B or J.L.L
1 link for a cover from one of the above rock ' n ' roll composers