Thursday Afternoon Music Class:

Please check back soon, as I will be posting songs and musical games from the class and updating you on our activities. I will post information about the additional small-group classes as well, once we have scheduled them.

Here is a copy of the welcome letter from the beginning of the semester:

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had a good summer and is easing back into the school year nicely. I am looking forward to teaching your children again this year and continuing to build on the foundations that we started last year.

We spent a lot of time last year on games and songs that help internalize differences in pitch—high and low. We will build on that this semester and start playing songs on pitched instruments. We will also continue using unpitched instruments like shakers and drums to develop a good rhythmic sense and to explore other contrasts, such as loud/soft, fast/slow, etc. I will also bring in various instruments to demonstrate and to let the class try.

Just like last year, there will be a focus on presenting a wide musical diversity. We will learn songs that use a variety of keys and scales, a wide variety of rhythmic patterns and songs from various cultures around the world. At this age, the children can really internalize music like a language, and it is important to expose them to a wide musical vocabulary.

Many of the songs that we will sing are also available in versions by the great masters of the various genres that they belong to. For example, “Salt Peanuts” is by Dizzy Gillespie and listening to the original Dizzy Gillespie/Charlie Parker version is an opportunity to start listening to some of the most talented musicians of the past century while feeling connected to the music. You can hear many of these versions on the ”Students” page of my website, www.oranetkin.com. Right now it has many of the songs that we sang last year, but I will continue to update the music on the web page as we learn new songs.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Please also make sure that you have given me your email and phone number in case of any emergency or last-minute changes.

Thanks,

Oran