Blue Bugs #7

NEED TO KNOW

Blue Bugs #7: Thanks for coming to class this week!

PUPPET SHOW COLORING PAGES: We used the Puppet Show coloring pages as a puppet show activity in a came I call "One Color Character." Some of the students wanted to color the pages on their own with whatever colors they wanted. Here is a link to the printable pages if you'd like! And all the puppet show materials are always available on the 1st Year landing page of my website.

HOW TO SKIP: For extra help on playing this song on your bells, check out this clip from the virtual LPM lessons as a Skills Video!

REGISTRATION: Registration for fall will open in March. That's next week! I am planning on having 2nd year classes on Wednesdays, with one class from 2:00-2:50, and one from 4:10-5:00.

END OF YEAR RECITAL: Our End-of-Year Recital is going to be so much fun! This is a fun chance to show off the things your student has learned. In the past I've taken a poll and chosen a date from there. But over the years I realized I love having the End-of-Year Recital the weekend between Lessons #14 and #15 (the last of the semester). So this year, the End-of-Year Recital will be Saturday, April 25th at 5pm. Get it on your calendar now! And if you already have plans and can't make it, it will be absolutely fine.

GOOD TO KNOW

I'VE BEEN TO HARLEM: We use the DO-MI-SOL bells and play them at the same time to make a MAJOR red chord. The blue and yellow chords are also major. We call major the "happy" sound. If we change the middle bell, we can make the chord sound minor, or "sad." We are training the ears to recognize the difference between the two tonalities. This helps your student to recognize that music can express emotions and influence listeners. When we change the red chord to minor with the bells, I change the E to an Eb. You don't have an Eb with your bell set, but the D chord on your bells (D F A) is naturally minor. If your student wants to play a minor chord on the bells, use those!

DINOSAUR SONG: We introduced this song and traced the spikes on the dinosaur's back. The more senses we use in learning, the more our brains cement the concepts.

STAFF SKILLS: I always get a little amazed at this point in the semester at how much the kids have learned! They can totally read music on the staff and play it on the bells! Ahhhh! It's a miracle what can happen when small and simple things occur on a daily and weekly basis. Keep up the good work!

FUN TO KNOW

In the Parent Notes for Blue Bugs #2, the Fun to Know section has a video of a visual of what is happening on stage during the Triumphal March of Aida, our current puppet show. Here is a video showing a full orchestra playing the piece. It's so interesting to see which instruments make which sounds! Share it with your Blue Bug in a cuddle moment!

Blue Bugs #6

NEED TO KNOW

Blue Bugs #6: We had great classes this week! Your kids are so much fun!

REGISTRATION: Registration for fall will open in March. I am planning on having 2nd year classes on Wednesdays, with one class during the afternoon of the school day and one at 4:15ish. 

NEW FIRST YEARS: Let me know if you know anybody who wants their child in my 1st year classes in the fall. 

HOMEWORK HELP: The homework for this week is a puppet show map. Play the music for them so they can follow the map and tape/glue the characters where they belong. All the music is on the app, or you can download it yourself. If you have a Yoto player or a Tonie box or something else similar, you can absolutely play the music on those devices. Listening to the music (puppet show plus all the others!) is a way for your child's brain to review the things we have done in class and solidify the skills we've been working on!

PARENT WEEK: See you next week!

GOOD TO KNOW

EL GALLO: El Gallo means "The Rooster" in Spanish. We laughed and laughed about how serious and dramatic this song is, and we translated the words. "Cu-cu-ru-cu-ri" is what Spanish speakers use to describe a rooster crow. (The sounds that animals make is actually one of my favorite thing about languages!) We'll use the song to find harmonic rhythm.

FROG WENT A'HOPPIN': We introduced this song this week, and we will soon use it to read leaps on the staff and play leaps on the bells!

I'VE BEEN TO HARLEM: We showed in class that in order to change a chord from major to minor, we change the middle note. Hearing and identifying the difference between major and minor tonalities can help us recognize why music has such emotional power. Here's a skills video from LPM virtual classes.

FUN TO KNOW

Your student has been taking baby steps and skipping around in class. Now we get to take the concepts that they've been experiencing and start applying them to reading music on the staff! This approach to reading music is somewhat unique to Let's Play Music, and I think it's brilliant. You don't need to know note names to read from the staff! Read more details on how this effective method works. This is a GREAT overview of how incredibly awesome your kids will be at reading music!

And speaking of using different words to describe animal sounds...

Blue Bugs #5

NEED TO KNOW

Blue Bugs #5: Thanks for being such great supportive parents! Your students come to class ready to learn and have fun. They are just soaking up the musical concepts and skills presented in class. They couldn't do it without great parents like you, working right alongside them. Give yourselves a gold star and a donut 😉. Great work!

NEXT YEAR: 2nd Year classes for the 2026-2027 school year will be on Wednesdays. One will be at 2pm and the other at 4:10. Based on those who responded to my survey, I think we'll have a good balance of students interested in each class and we won't have to go too late into the evening. Phew! Registration for classes will be available in March. If you have scheduling input and haven't yet, please let me know your fall schedule so I can have classes at the best times for the majority of students.

FREE VIDEO: The Let's Play Music company is celebrating Valentine's Day by giving a free video to each family enrolled in LPM. Go to this link to choose the video, and use the code FREE VIDEO. You will have access to the video for four weeks. This is a great option to check out the videos and see what the setup is like.

TUITION: Thank you for getting tuition in on time! If I haven't gotten it, I'll send a request/reminder.

GOOD TO KNOW

HOW TO SKIP: The bells introduce piano skills because they are set up like the keys on the keyboard. As we learn to read skips and steps on the bells, it will transfer directly to the piano next year. We are teaching them to read music by first using "relationships" like steps and skips. It reduces the brain's processing time by not having to translate every note to their letter but just compares it to each other. The letter names of the notes are important too! We'll cover the names of the keys on the keyboard in 2nd year and the names of the notes on the staff in 3rd year.

RHYTHMIC NOTATION: We added another layer of knowledge to our bugs! We matched up the musical bugs with their musical rhythms!

FUN TO KNOW

Let's take a walk in the jungle! "Walking in the Jungle" uses full body movement (walking, stomping, jumping, skipping) with some creative play to practice a steady beat.

Blue Bugs #4

NEED TO KNOW

Blue Bugs #4: Your kids are doing so great! I love watching their little personalities come out in class! Thank you for sharing them with me <3

LPM APP/CD LISTENING: We are going to be learning a lot of new songs over the next few weeks. Make sure the music is being played in your home and car and wherever else works for you! Let me know if you need help with access to the app, or if you'd like a CD copy of the music.

SCHEDULE FOR NEXT YEAR: And be sure to fill out my scheduling questionnaire form for the fall! Thank you to those who have done this already! I'll have my schedule solidified soon. Second Year classes will be held on Wednesdays, and I'll set class times before next week's Parent Day.

T-SHIRT ORDER FORM: Thank you to those who have placed your shirt order! If you haven't yet, here is the link again so you can finish it up. Yay for shirts!

PARENT WEEK/TUITION DUE: Next week is Lesson #5, so parents get to come, and the next installment of tuition is due! I'll send an invoice this week. If you don't get one, it means you've paid for this portion already!

GOOD TO KNOW

JUNGLE RHYTHM: Our Jungle Rhythm song helps us move to a steady beat, divide and subdivide the beat, and do it all simultaneously! It's pretty cool to see how it all works together!

I'VE BEEN TO HARLEM: Learning to hear the difference between major ('happy') and minor ('sad') is the objective of this song and activity. We're experiencing first and labeling later... today we talked about how the words of both verses are the same but one is happy and one is sad. The music vocabulary is "major" and "minor." Understanding this concept can help build sensitive music listeners and caring, intuitive individuals. Yep, music can teach life lessons and build character. You can read more about identifying major and minor chords at this LPM blogpost. 

*You can also practice playing major and minor on the autoharp in the Let's Play Music app. From the landing screen, click on the two notes (it's a beetle!) in the bottom left corner. Select the Autoharp feature, and there will be a menu option in the top right corner. Select F Major/F Minor. Push the red or black triangle and strum the strings slowly from bottom to top. It works better on a bigger screen, but have fun either way! 

FUN TO KNOW

Here's a fun video highlighting major :) and minor :(

And for those who grew up in the Toys R Us generation, I love this minor adaptation from when they filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

Blue Bugs #3

NEED TO KNOW

Blue Bugs #3: Your kiddos are learning SOL ;) quickly now! I am thrilled with their progress!

BELLS REMINDER: Our 'sol-la-ti-do' pattern is played on the lowercase letter solfeg when playing on the bells (it's in the key of F). The 'sol' is the big red bell and then step up from there. All of the "Let's Play Music" song patterns will be with the lowercase bells, while "Old Paint" is with the CAPITAL LETTERS. You can tell because in your practice outline, it will say to play the "sol-la-ti-do" (in lowercase) or the DO-MI-SOL (in CAPITALS).

FALL ENROLLMENT: If you haven't yet, please fill out my fall schedule questionnaire at this link. I will be opening registration for fall classes in March, and need to know who will be available at what times of day for optimal class schedules. If you want your schedule to be considered, please let me know about it! Thank you to those who have already answered! It helps me so much!

T-SHIRTS: I buy Let's Play Music T-shirts for all of my 1st Year students. Fill out this form to place your order! We talked about this in class, but let me know if you have any questions about it!

GOOD TO KNOW

CAN'T BUG ME: It's fabulous how we are learning to read rhythms from the pictures. We mixed up the order of the bugs this week, and they still clapped them correctly! That means that they are internalizing the rhythm of each bug. Fantastic progress!

BILL GROGAN'S GOAT: This week in class we introduced a silly story about Bill Grogan's goat. Here is a version that tells a longer story about the goat, including where he goes when he rides on the train and what he gets to eat when he meets the queen! The words and melody here are a bit different than what we use, which is very common with folk songs.

FUN TO KNOW

Grab a basketball and use the Let's Play Music bugs to PLAY a game after you check out this fun STOMP and Harlem Globtrotters video!

Blue Bugs #2

NEED TO KNOW

Blue Bugs #2: Once again, we had a great week! Your kids are so much fun!

CLASSES FOR FALL: I know we just started Blue Bugs, but I'm planning ahead for what my fall class schedule will be. Here is a link to some questions about your student's schedule for the next school year.  Registration opens in March!

KEYBOARDS: During 2nd year (starting in the fall), your musician will need access to a keyboard. HOORAY! If you don't have a piano or keyboard already, here is a link to a blogpost about what you need to know when looking to buy a keyboard or a piano for your Let's Play Music student.

GOOD TO KNOW

BUG RHYTHMS: The song "Can't Bug Me" is our foundational song for counting rhythms. I love this approach to introducing musical notation to young musicians. You can read more about it at this blogpost.

ECHO ED: If your child isn't quite singing on pitch yet, don't despair! One of the best ways to get them to hear the pitch is to have them sing. That's why in class I keep inviting them to sing with me on Echo Ed and all the other songs. Even if they aren't right on pitch, they should sing, sing, sing! Singing out loud is one of the keys to hearing it inside. 

FUN TO KNOW

Our new puppet show, which we call "Triumphant March," is officially named "Triumphal March" from the opera Aida. It comes from the part of the story where Ramades, the captain of hte Egyptian guard, returns from a successful battle. Check out this clip of an actual production. It's so much fun seeing the costumes and sets. And animals!

Blue Bugs #1

NEED TO KNOW

Blue Bugs #1: It was so nice to have you and your students back after such a long break. Next week is students-only, so send them in with their new Blue Bugs Homework Booklet!

BLUE BUGS MUSIC: If you haven't yet, make sure that your Blue Bugs music is working! You should have access to it on the app. If you don't, contact the Let's Play Music office at 877.840.1969. You can also download them digitally directly to your computer at this link. I also have CDs for those who requested them (during the Parent Orientation last summer) but I totally forgot to hand them out. I'll get them to you next week.

TUITION: Thank you for getting tuition in on time! I really appreciate it. If you didn't get it in, I'll send a request/reminder.

GOOD TO KNOW

ONLINE CLASSES: The online video of the first class of each semester is available for free on YouTube. If you missed class this week or are interested in checking out what the "makeup videos" are like, check it out here!

NEW MELODIC PATTERN: We added "sol-la-ti-do" to our arsenal of cadence patterns. We did the hand signs and notated it on the staff and played it on the bells. We'll be hearing, singing, and signing this pattern a lot! 

NEW MUSIC: At the beginning of a semester, we have a bunch of new songs, and the Blue Bugs ones are great! This week we started Clickety Clickety Clack, Can't Bug Me, Old Paint, How to Skip, and the puppet show Triumphant March. Every activity has a music lesson hidden inside, and the exciting part is that it seems like we are just PLAYING!

OLD PAINT: This folk song is a powerful teaching tool and we'll revisit it every year in Let's Play Music. If you're interested, here's an official LPM blogpost on Old Paint and how we harness its power.

FUN TO KNOW

Our new puppet show is Triumphant March, and it comes from the opera Aida by Giuseppi Verdi. Here is a link to printable mini puppets and here is a link to a coloring page.