Calvert Middle School Music

Blues on the Blog (8th grade)

2008-10-08T09:34:00.001-04:00

Took these shots of your incredible kids playing the blues. It my first post of video so I hope all functions and you can see and hear this.

Yesterday Part II

2008-10-08T09:29:00.002-04:00

Things were so busy yesterday that I didn't have time to finish my entries. The 10th age has begun working on, "A Grand Calvert Day," an original song for Grandparents Day. It may seem like we're rushing the season but I actually only have six, half-hour classes with these guys so we really needed to get a jump on things. The 10-A and 10-B girls classes are fabulous singers. And...we have some pretty cool choreography to go with this jazzy little tune. Looking forward to seeing all you grandparents on that special day. It will be "grand."

Skin and Bones

2008-10-07T13:47:00.003-04:00

The 6th grade just left and what a jam-packed class it was. First, we played an old Halloween favorite, "Skin and Bones" on the recorder. The beauty of this little tune is that it is a call and response song and the response uses the blues scale...(I am planting seeds here that will yeild much fruit next year). Then, we discussed jazz and improvisation and several students improvised the "call" section of the tune using notes from the E blues scale. It sounded like a jazz club in here...I felt right at home. We ended the class by going to our guitars and learning the harmonic accompaniment to the song which is only two chords; Em and Am.

Next class we'll have a lot to review (put the old skin back on the bones so to speak) but I hope to have them singing, playing guitar, and recorders at the same time. It should put everyone in a Halloween mood...Great job 6th graders!! BOO!

Focus Group or...slightly out of focus group

2008-10-07T09:07:00.005-04:00

In my other life I play the part of a jingle writer. Often we have to put our creations to the test in focus groups to see if they will be effective. This morning one of my students heard one of my jingles and asked me to explain how a singing commercial makes it to the airwaves. I enjoy sharing this part of my life with them. I think somehow, it shows them that music teachers don't just talk about music...we also play it. (and contrary to popular belief, we don't live at the school)

So...I'm currently working on a spot for a bicycle company and it hasn't been approved for broadcast. I told the students there are many careers in music other than playing an instrument. If you love music you can be a music producer, a record complany executive, a booking agent and yes...even a lowly jingle writer like me.

This is how the 7th grade became my focus group this morning and, according to them, my client should air this spot right away. I played the jingle for them first. We listened for the style of music, the instruments played, clarity of the lyrics (very important). I asked them to see if they could tell what or who the spot was for. They caught it quickly (a good thing in our biz). We then discussed how it gets to the radio or T.V. stations. Then I used a term they all understood...good old MP3. Yep...everything gets converted to an MP3 or Wav. file, and sent over the internet to another computer at the radio station...

I wish I had a teacher who told me all this when I was thirteen...It would have saved me some time and given me quite a head start.

It would make my teaching career complete to see one of these young folks become a jingle writer. And...advertising may be in one of these guys' future...who knows.

Lastly, we discovered that I only used two chords in my jingle...E and D...and that the style was rock and roll. We adjourned to the back of the room and they quickly performed my jingle with drums, bass, and guitars...maybe I should have called these guys to record for me...if they keep progressing this fast, one day I will.

Company is Coming

2008-10-06T15:09:00.004-04:00

7th grade
This morning the parents of some of our students stopped in for a visit. We wowed them with our rendition of "Winter Wonderland." Actually, it was a rather tough tune, and they really shined. Seldon, Georgio, Jimmy, Ike, Tracy, and Dale played guitar. Darien played bass and showed off some fancy new runs while Taylor kept the groove on the drums. I was really proud of the job they did and I'm sure the prospective parents were impressed.

8th grade
This eighth grade group blows me away. They are really becoming a band. Today we blazed through, "I'm a Believer, " "In the Jingle, " and a really hot blues thing. We are preparing for our upcoming assembly on the 14th of November.

5th grade
This afternoon the girls started working on backup parts to help out with our holiday musical. Anna sang the lead the the rest of the gang joined in with the choral parts. what a great group of singers they are. My plan is to work with the other half of their class in Ms. Babb's room in the morning or sometime during the day and have the entire 5th grade group perform together. It should encourage some of them to join the after-school chorus club on Wednesday.

A Circle of Friends

2008-10-03T07:35:00.002-04:00

One of my duties is to take the fifth and sixth grade out for recess. After lunch they wait for the ok to head outside for games of football, soccer, four-square, and sometimes just a gathering of a circle of friends. I took this picture with my i-phone and thought you would all enjoy. Sometimes you just have to lie on the asphalt, enjoy the beautiful fall day and chat with your classmates. I may try this sometime...it looks relaxing.

Here's shot of Anna, Nora, and Grace who asked to be photographed for the blog...

The Calvert Chorus ("Holiday Recipe")

2008-10-03T07:23:00.000-04:00

One of the nicest surprises of the year for me has been the girls who come every Wednesday afternoon to sing in the Calvert Chorus. We are small but mighty. The members of the chorus are:
Grace
Winslow
Isis
Unique
Anna
Eva

I wrote a little tune for them to sing for our holiday assembly called: "A Holiday Recipe." The girls are doing all their own choreography...and they are great! We are looking forward to performing for the middle school at the December holiday assembly. I give these girls a lot of credit. They obviously really want to sing and we hear more voices may join us in Spring.

Two Holiday Songs and "The Monkeys"

2008-10-02T09:20:00.000-04:00

This morning the seventh grade learned "Rudolph" and "Winter Wonderland." They are making great progress. The C major seventh chord sounds really cool on "Wonderland" and Darian's bass licks are adding a lot to the mix. Taylor is really making progress on the drums and keeps a mean rock shuffle behind both of our Holiday tunes.

We shifted gears near the end of the class and learned "I'm a Believer" by the Monkeys. These guys have made a believer out of me...they will be ready for "prime time" soon. It's quite an accomplishment to be able to play these tunes. The chords are complex and they have to strum in rhythm. I don't know too many teachers who can do this...any takers??

Hey! Hey! We''re the Monkeys!

The tenth age boys began learning a tune I wrote for the holidays called, "A Holiday Recipe." they said they liked it...that's a good start. The rest of the tenth age classes will learn the tune, as well and we will perform it at the end of their Thanksgiving play. These tenth agers have such great singing voices. I look forward to hearing all four classes singing the song together on stage. I'll keep you posted as to our progress.

The sixth grade is taking a little break from guitars to do some keyboard work. We will take a look at the C scale. The students will build a scale on C and find the primary chords...C, F, and G. We will then tranfer this knowedge to the keyboards and play "Twist and Shout." This should be lots of fun! I haven't done the twist in years.

The fifth grade will continue to work on their arrangements of "In the Hall of the Mountain King." What an exciting way to end our day!

Wednesday, October 1

2008-10-01T12:30:00.000-04:00

Today the fifth grade discussed Edvard Grieg, a Norwegian composer. We talked about how he incorporated folk songs of Norway into his compositions. We then listened to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from the Peer Gynt Suite and how Grieg used, changes in texture (layers of instruments), dynamics (loud and soft), pitch (high and low) and tempo (fast and slow) to create tension as Peer Gynt ran up the mountain to save the princess.

We have begun playing our own arrangement of "In the Hall" on the keyboards and are very excited about this. They each have printed music of a simple arrangement of the piece and are working on playing individual parts. It sounds spooky and is a wonderful prelude to Halloween.

Boo!

Seventh Grade: First Month Ends

2008-09-29T08:26:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that we have finished a month of school. It seems like yesterday that we were out on the lower school field on the first day of the school year. Time flies when you're having fun and we are having fun. This morning we are continuing our work on playing the blues. I am encouraging the group to count off and rehearse themselves as I sit here and listen. There is much stopping and starting and some discussion as to who is not following the chords. The chords are written on the front board and each student is contributing to the rehearsal. Seldon has emerged as the leader and is calling out chords.

All this is preparation for an assembly in late October. The group will perform their blues for the students body and Dale will play a blues solo using the blues scale. Today I will let them know that I put us on the schedule to perform.

Students:
By the way, if you follow this link www.all-guitar-chords.com/ you will find diagrams for all of the chords we are learning. This is a free site and contains songs you can learn. Have fun!

Friday, September 26, 2008

2008-09-26T07:56:00.000-04:00

Today the tenth age will be reviewing the notes B, A, G, C, and D on their recorders. We will use these notes to play, "Linus and Lucy" for "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

The sixth grade guitar class will be reviewing whole and half steps. Today we will build the C major scale and extract the three primary chords C, F, and G. We will discuss the circle of fifths and build a scale on G. After building the G, C, and D, chords, we will go back to our guitars and play these chords, then apply them to a familiar song.

The fifth grade is has been learning to use the Yamaha keyboards. Last class we discussed Johann Pachelbel and the "Canon in D." The girls then went to the keyboards and entered the individual string parts of the canon into the Keyboard and we played them back at the end of class. It was quite a concert. Our next goal is to learn "Joyful, Joyful", the theme from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

2008-09-25T09:46:00.001-04:00

Hello my Calvert Friends,
Welcome to our Calvert Middle School Music class blog. The purpose of this blog is to let you know what we are doing in music classes. At Calvert Middle School we offer a variety of music class options for fifth through eighth grade. In the fifth grade students will have music for one quarter of the year and will be treated to an introduction to music called "Exploring Music." This short exposure to the world of music will give students a bit of music theory, some time on digital keyboard, and a brief period on the guitar.

Students in the sixth grade get to choose between guitar or keyboard class. Seventh and eighth graders then break up into "bands" and some play bass, drums, keyboard or guitar.

On our blog you will see pictures of us in action. Enjoy!

Brent Hardesty
Director of Calvert Middle School Music