4th-5th Music

Chorus students have some new songs:

The Holly and The Ivy

We Will Jingle

Celebramos Juntos

Glo-glo-glorious

A Hawaiian Christmas

Will You Be Here

You can purchase The Holly and The Ivy for $.99 at KidTunes.
You can purchase Glo-glo-glorious for $.99 at KidTunes.

Tuesday, September 20 is Instrument Night. Join us at 7pm in the South Hills High School Theater to learn about renting a band instrument. High school and college musicians will demonstrate instruments so you can hear each one played before you rent one. Local music stores will be on site to rent instruments and sell supplies. Music teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools will be available to answer questions. Email Mr. Selak for more information.

The key to being successful in band is consistent practice. Keep these things in mind as you practice your instrument:

1) Practice good posture.

Sit on the edge of seat. Keep your feet flat on the floor. Keep your shoulders up, like there’s a balloon pulling your head up. If you have good posture, your instrument will be more in tune, and the tone will improve.

2) Practice good rhythm.

Rhythm is when you play the note. It’s when you start the note and when end the note. Use a metronome to keep the tempo steady. Either buy a metronome, or use the free one at http://webmetronome.com/. Rhythm is the most important part of music!

Practice every day for at least 20 minutes. Beginning band students should be working on page 6 in the book Accent on Achievement. Have fun!

Fifth grade students are responsible for learning all four instrument families. Here are the four families with examples from each family.

1. Percussion family
hit, shake, strike
snare drum
bass drum
cymbals
timpani

2. String family (high <->low)
violin (high)
cello (mid)
double bass (low)

3. Brass family (high <->low)
trumpet (high)
trombone (mid)
tuba (low)
french horn (muffled)

4. Woodwinds
flute
clarinet
oboe
bassoon

The San Francisco Kids Symphony website has an interactive page with all the instruments listed above. It is an amazing tool for learning instruments of the orchestra.