Term one 2009 - music at Balmoral School

Hi everyone,
We have started the year off well at Balmoral in the music classes having fun and learning lots of cool things.
The Year 3 and 4 children have been continuing to use the time blocks from last year with some great results in understanding time values and music symbols. We have learnt a variety of games using this equipment so that now the classes can be split into groups to work independently on each one. I can then go around to each group and assist those that are needing help. The favourite game so far seems to have been playing Shop with the time blocks. We are also continuing to use the Music Room resource to learn about other music concepts.
The Year 5 and 6 classes have been learning to accompany the song Junkanoo using a variety of tuned and untuned percussion instruments. It is great to see the stundents learning to cooperate in groups to produce a cohesive group performance. The addition of ukuleles to the school instrument selection has been a source of fun and new learning for the Year 5 to 8 students. Many have picked up the basic skills of ukulele playing very fast and it will be exciting to see how far they will go in learning this rewarding instrument. Here is a link to a very cool ukulele solo on the jazz standared tune All Of Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISj9LVIZbEY

Here's another - While My Guitar Gently Weeps

...and here is a good site for basic ukulele chords and strumming from
Hawaiian music supply on you tube

Have fun!!

The new hall building is in progress and should be up around the last term of school. This will be great for the music classes because we will finally have a music classroom and practice studios.
All in all we have had a great start to the year and I look forward to continuing to participate in the children's discovery in the coming terms.