Week of Sept. 19, 2011

GET ANY TICKET FOR THE INDIANAPOLIS SYMPHONY FOR $28 - until Friday only at the website: www.indianapolissymphony.org

Video of the Week - Yay Cellos!
Click here.

6th Grade
Book Practice pg. 2-3
Twinkle & Boil em Cabbages (notes in post below)
Review Hot Cross Buns on all strings

In your words: How to Learn New Music
Clap the rhythm
Pluck the notes
Say the note names and finger numbers
Practice slowly then faster
Airbow

7th Grade
Purple Book pg 8-12
Speed up Campfire
Tune and polish bowings for Wild Western and Sonata

8th Grade
Green book pg 4-6
Toccatina - ending, watch Bflats!
Jericho - 44-end
Fiddlers Stew

Alpaca Pictures: No coat this weekend! It was toasty enough to have Dark Star show his beautiful dark brown color.


Peek-a-boo! Happy Practicing students!

Week of Sept. 12

6th grade:
You need your Essential Elements Book 1 for next week! Please purchase from JW Pepper or me. It costs $9.
Note names for songs:
Twinkle:
D D A A B B A -
G G F#F# E E D -
A A G G F#F# E-
A A G G F#F# E-
D D A A B B A -
G G F#F# E E D -

Boil them Cabbages
F#F#F#F# G - G -
F#F#F#F# E - E -
F#F#F#F# G G G G
F#F# E E D- D -
(Also play with double stops and "Down Kitty Up Kitty" rhythm)

7th grade:
Refine old pieces - TUNE! TUNE! TUNE!
Begin "Campfire"
*Pizzicato
*Play slowly at the balance point
*Practice spiccato on open strings
*Practice song up to tempo with spiccato at the balance point

8th grade:
Finish learning Toccatina - the key signature STILL has one flat on page 2!
Refine Jericho - TUNE! TUNE! TUNE!
New piece - Fiddler's Stew - learn notes and rhythms. How much can YOU figure out?

Alpaca picture of the week:
To make sure a cria is thriving, you have to weigh it every day. It should gain between .3-.7 pounds in a day. Dark Star has been alive for 8 days. He started at 20.3 pounds and now weighs 24.8 pounds. Is he doing OK? (Write your answer on a piece of paper and put it in the practice card box! Don't forget your name!)

Dark Star has to hang in the scale. Neither he nor his mom like that too much. Lots of humming during this time of night!

Here's mom getting some grass. Dark Star looks lost...

(Did mom sign my practice card this week?? I did practice humming a lot!!)

Don't forget to turn in practice cards on Monday! 6th Graders, we will get our practice card this coming week!

Short Week 9/6/11 - and a surprise!

Hope everyone's Labor Day was wonderful! 7th & 8th graders - please turn in practice cards Tuesday and Wednesday this week!

6th grade:
Click on your "Beginning Instrument" link on the right to get a list of posture tips and notes for beginning songs.
Bow exercises on OPEN STRINGS only.
Plucking songs that require fingers.
Assignments given on paper throughout week.

7th grade:
Click on "Metronome" on the right and then on "A440." You will hear an "A" that you can tune to. You can use the metronome to check if you are practicing your pieces with a steady beat.
TUNE!
C, G, and D Scales for warmup - also pgs. 2-6 in Purple book.
Fine tune Wild Western Frontier
Work out the middle and end of Sonata Vivant. 37-end.

8th grade:
Click on "Metronome" on the right and then on "A440." You will hear an "A" that you can tune to. You can use the metronome to check if you are practicing your pieces with a steady beat.
TUNE!
Green book pgs. 2-5 for shifting
Scales and exercises for Toccatina
Toccatina - tuning
Jericho - tuning

And... as many of you know, my husband and I have a small alpaca farm. Yesterday, we had our first birth on the farm - a little boy cria named Dark Star. Cria is the word for "baby alpaca." As promised, here is the picture. He has to wear the little coat to keep warm. Alpaca crias cannot regulate their body temperature for the first few days of life. More pictures next week... Stay tuned (Get it? Tuned?) for more pictures and updates next week!

Welcome back!

It's time to play in Orchestra again - HOORAY! I am reviving this blog to help keep you abreast of what is going on in our classroom and what your student should be PRACTICING!

Also this week - Back to School Night is Tuesday, August 30 from 7-9. Come meet all of your student's teachers!

Just a little reminder:
7th and 8th grade practice cards are due TODAY or TOMORROW. (And every Monday or Tuesday.)
They should show 4 days of practicing for 30 minutes each day.
Please have a parent or guardian sign before turning in!
Let's start the semester out with an A+!

Practice assignments: 6th Grade
An assignment will be given daily in the form of a hand out.
Students should take their instruments home 2-3 times this week INCLUDING Friday.
Students who still don't have instruments and accessories: please take care of this detail this week.

6th grade Orchestra IB students and families communicate: please call Mrs. Ohly-Davis with any questions or concerns.

7th Grade
"Purple Books" (Essential Elements 2000, book 2) are available at JW Pepper or from me. Bring $8 to class.
Your practice routine should look like this:
TUNE!!! That's right, with your fine tuners.
Scales - D, G, and C
Purple Book Review pgs. 2-7
Sonata Vivant
Wild Western Frontier
Record your practicing on your practice card.

7th grade Orchestra IB students inquire: What is a FRONTIER? How will we perform the piece based on our knowledge of what a frontier is?

8th Grade
"Green Books" (Essential Techniques) are available at JW Pepper or from me. Bring $5.50 to class.
Your practice routine should look like this:
TUNE!!! With fine tuners, double stops, and harmonics
Green Book, pg 2-5
Toccatina Learning Concepts, especially the D melodic minor scale
Toccatina
G melodic minor scale
Jericho

8th grade Orchestra IB students are KNOWLEDGABLE: What is a key signature? What is the order of the sharps and flats?

SOLO & ENSEMBLE, Part 2

Solo and Ensemble is still happening at Westfield on Saturday. Students who left instruments at school may pick them up today. Mrs. Levenhagen is working today and can open Door 1 for you and summon a custodian to open the Orchestra room door. I will be at school between 2-3:15 as well. My apologies for unanswered emails. My school account only sends blank emails from home...

On Saturday: Make sure to arrive 30 minutes prior to your performance time. Meet me, Ms. Bell and your group in the warm-up room. You will report to the performance room 5-10 minutes before you play to check in with the door monitor. Soloists, I have your judge's copies of your scores. You cannot play for the judge without them. Please make sure to see me or Ms. Bell before you play, otherwise you will receive a lower rating. Can't wait to see all of you tomorrow!

SOLO & ENSEMBLE UPDATE!!

As of the time of this posting, Solo & Ensemble is still going to happen on Saturday at Westfield Middle School. I will post updates here as I receive them. I will post further information about when students who forgot their instruments can pick them up tomorrow, Friday, February 4. At the latest, the next post will be up at 9:00 AM Friday morning. Hope everyone had a restful week!

Thank you for a great year!

Thank you for a great year this year. A big thanks to the 8th graders for your thoughtful bouquet (see picture) and your "dropped instrument payment" of many more candy bars than I could ever eat! Come back and visit; surely there will be some left over!

I will checking my school email weekly over the summer if you have any questions or need your instrument tuned.

And don't forget: SUMMER ORCHESTRA AT NCHS is right around the corner.

New 9-12th graders: July 12-16, 1-4PM
New 7th and 8th graders: July 19-23, 8-4PM

Let me know via email if you forgot to sign up and would like to join us. We are accepting campers until the first day of camp. See you then!

HAPPY MUSICAL SUMMER TO ALL!