Music Marathon

Music Classroom

We finished the first half of our violin programme at Holy Family Senior School today with a music marathon. -Well a half marathon with 13 items featuring all the things we have learned this term.  We  tried some games . It was amazing how good everyone was at the freeze game and there were some very scary rock star faces for 'Rock You' too scary to be recorded here

 Here is our programme

Vivaldi on G
Foxtrot
Wintertime Fast One Leg hop
Atacama Crossing

First Marathon Runner

Quiz Time

Roadies play time

 Toreadors March |Name the tune
Kilfenora Ceil Dancer  Clap and name the rhythm
Winter time in Rus sia
Old Mac Donld Quavers on D (3)
First Finger riff Drunken Sailor
Rock You
Down Up Bells
Two String Reggae
Ireland's Call
Quiz 

Quiz Time

Visiting Ms Foran and class

Efosa and Asrafal demonstrate third finger placement

Perfect position in Lesson 1

Rainy Reggae Day

Reggae fan, Mr Vaughan points to the Carribbean

Isobel and Ava hav a go at playing trumpet before helping to pack up

Today we worked on our string crossing and placing third finger on D strin g to make new note G . We had  a  musical quiz. We were delighted to welcome Mr Vaughan to Mr Connolly's class .  Mr Vaughan specially liked the reggae number today

We are drawing close to the end of the first half of our  string programme. We have covered many of the basics of violin playing and learned about  different instruments and styles. Next week , we will have a marathon play through of all our reperotire to date .

Two String Reggae     Gand D open strings
New note E Jazz Track   
Old MacDonald  quavers on G'
Cross Lake Blues        String crossing D to A
Atacama Crossing      String crosing D to A  win ter-time- in Rus-sia   **New this week

Quiz Ms Gill's class finished  the quiz in 5 minutes

Cross Lake Blues and Kilfenora Ceili Dancers

Performance by Ms Bridge's Class

Term resumed today and violin class was very busy as we learned to do some new steps. We took two new steps today. changing from D to A string and putting first second and third finger down on D string to make G' (high G). Remember  2 and 3 like to stick together.

Programme
1.New clapping rhythm KIl-fen-or-a Cei-li Danc-ers   quaver rhythm.
2 First finger riff  Revision
3 3rd finger down  on D string  new note G Old MacDonald  **NEW
4 Cross Lake Blues    **NEW
5 Now You Has Jazz Listening and responding.  Cole Porter

Thanks to my wonderful helpers Isobel, Ava and Erin. Nothing is too much trouble for these girls .
Leaders  James, Eyosa,  Bass Martin.

If you would like to have another listen to our listening track today , you can see the musicians in the video clip on the right. Louis Armstrong was a very famous jazz trumpeter and the singe is Bing Crosby who had a big hit with White Christmas

Bravo to Claudia who played Twinkle Twinkle for me today on her new violin. Wonderful Brava!

Debut Performance at Holy Family School Cafe

Ms Gill's Class

Trio Conga Bass Violin

Announcing a piece

All together Mr Connolly's class

Mr Connolly's Ensemble

Ms Bridge, Mr Connolly and Ms Gill's classes gave a stunning debut performance in the Holy Family School Cafe today.  There was only time for a very brief sound check before each class performed in turn for an invited audience . Here is the programme

Pizzicato
Toreador's March
Vivaldi in G
What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor
Foxtrot

****
Arco ( With Bow)

Rock You
Wintertime in Russia
   guest slot Cielito Lindo / Pizzicato Polka
Ireland's Call

It was a very exciting morning .  Finally the moment we have worked very hard for over the last eleven weeks arrived , our first performance for a live audience. Ms Bridge's class were first to perform.  A special thank you to Niall's dad who came in specially with Niall's banjo. Niall did a solo turn for the sea shanty What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor.  Well done to the students who intoduced the items .  We had several excellent  double bass players , Lee, Seosamh, Joseph. Our leaders Hayley, James , Ada , Ben, Claudia and Eyosa did a great job in keeping everyone on track .  Emmanuel in Mr Connolly's class and Dylan in second class added some percussion on conga and ocean drum .



Ms Darmody was in the audience  as our special guest today .

Be sure you get a copy of the end of term mega quiz from your teacher.

I am looking forward to seeing you all after half term when we will be learning lots of new things to do on the violin and bass.  Can't wait!

Week 7 Dress rehearsal

All classes had a dress rehearsal  today for their debut next week . Here is the programme for Tuesday.

Pizzicato Corner

Toreador's March
Vivaldi on G
Drunken Sailor
Foxtrot

With Bow
Rock You
Wintertime in Russia
Ireland's Call

Putting it all together. week 6

Leading the  ensemble

As we come to the end of half term, we rehearsed our repertoire ( a  posh word for everything that we can play easily) .All three classes did the programme below

Foxtrot    x3  (with dipping and sidestep )
Toreador's March  x2  dipping
First finger riff /Drunken Sailor
Irelands Call   Bow Side to Side/ Retakes/Tremelo 
Wintertime in Russia
Rock You    Ti Ti quavers on A   (Mr Connolly's class)

Super bow hands

Several students tried out our double bass Geraldo (Roisin, Seosamh , Lee  Eyosa ) Remember the open strings are the same as the violin .  Elephant, Alligator Donkey Goat but in reverse order.

The big bass

 We included our windscreen wiper manoevre in our Irelands Call  and a tremelo to finish

Ben leads the ensemble

Add caption

Sporting Windmills

First finger riff
New note E Backing Track 10
Wintertime in Russia Track 1
Ireland's Call

Guest instrument: Clarinet

EEEEEEEE OOOOOOOO EEEEEEEE OOOO E_ E_


We had a busy day today. We began by pressing hard with our first finger on D string to make new note E . We played our first finger riff and next week we will put some tunes with this. We played New Note E to a jazzy backing track.
Next we moved on to learning how to do windmill bows and played along to Ireland's Call . Remember you only sound on the first beat.
All classes worked on Wintertime in Russia bowing all of the rhythm .

***Don't forget , Right Hand on Bow , Fingers well over and thumb bent. Little finger in the circle.

Star Bow Hands Frankie and Sabrina
Leaders Hayley and James, Zusanne,

Elephant Alligator Donkey Goat

Today was a busy day with SAT tests and violin class to fit in .

All classes had a closer look at the largest member of the string family , the double bass . Remember you can still use  Great Day At Ennis but the other way round from violin.   Try these animal names as a way of remembering the strings. The biggest one begins with E . Nathan , Joseph and Gabriel had a go at playing it .


Joseph gets to grips with the bass


All classes today put in side step into the Foxtrot . Two steps over and two steps back .  X Factor here we come.

We did lots of work on bow hold today . Remember thumb bent underneath the frog. Wrap  your fingers over , those rabbit teeth have to come over the pencil not sit on top.

Ms Bridge and Ms Gill's class practiced making a siren sound  lifting and replacing their first finger on D to make new note E    E D E D E D nee naw nee naw nee naw.

We looked at some of the photos in the papers about musical events .

Leaders today Sonja (Ms G,) David ,(Ms B) and James and Tadhg , (Mr C) Bravo all of you?

Next week, (Windmill bows, Wintertime ,  Guest instrument - the viola )

Look at the music noticeboard and have read the pieces on the string instruments near the stairs

Gabriel and Geraldo



David leads the ensemble




Look Two Hands! New note E

Today's programme . 

Foxtrot
Toreador's March
Rock You D

Wintertime in Russia 
First Finger Riff  
Scary Tremelo

We began today by using one hand to place our violins in position because our right hands are busy  holding  the bow.  We revised our two note pizzicato tunes Foxtrot and Toreadors March .


Here are the notes for Toreadors' March 
 
DDD_  D D A_   x3

AAAA AAA D

Check out the You Tube clip of  Queen playing our groovy backing track We Will Rock You .

We did some work on bow hold . Here are three things to remember .

Bow Hold 
Thumb bent 
Fingers well over
Little finger in the circle
 D
All classes began working on first finger riff. We put first finger down on D string to make new note E

Here is the riff



E E E E E E E E D D D D D D D D  E E E E E E E E D D D D E_ E_

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1       0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0     11 1 1 1 1 1 1        0 0 0 0   1-1-

Finally we had a duet  of a lovely Mexican tune Cielito Lindo (Beautiful Sky)

Checking out the blog reports

Where can you see these in HFSS?

Mr Connolly's class learned how to conduct three beats in a bar .

Brass Band Day

Today all classes moved on to the bow hold.  We began by making a snail shape with our thumb and middle finger of our right hand  and practicing on a pencil We  made the shape of a rabbit face .   Here are the things to remember .

Thumb bent
Fingers well over to bite down on the 'carrot'

Little finger round and sitting in the circle .

We practiced the rhythm Win-ter time in Rus-sia  to our backing track .

Foxtrot
Wintertime in Russia

We took a closer look at some brass instruments. We talked about the Ennis Brass Band
 Can you answer these questions.

1 What is the highest pitched brasss instrument?. I showed it in class today
2 Name two ways the brass player can change the note  , L_ _ P _ _ _ __ __ __ __  and V _ _ _ _ _ _?
3 Saxophone is a member of the W__________________ family

3. In what way does a trombone differ from a trumpet.

We learned how to conduct two beats in a bar for a march tempo.

Finally Mr Connolly and I played the Pizzicato Polka  by  Johann Strauss on violin and  cello.

Blue Danube Day

Getting to grips with a cello

Getting ready to play a duet



Great concentration



An Excellent Assistant

The classes got off to a great start today. We started with some finger drills. We held our violins in rest and play position.  We played pizzicato on G to some Vivaldi. We played pizz. on D string  to a waltz and we played our groovy Foxtrot on D and A strings.

Foxtrot
 DDD _ AAA_ DDD_ AAA_            

DDD_ DDD_ AAA_ AADsh


Bravo to Ms Bridge and Mr Connnolly who joined me for a duet !

Next week  -bow hold -Wintertime in Russia -2 string reggae -  Bold  Brass

Quiz
1 What was the name of the waltz we played today ?
2 How many beats were in each group in the waltz. Was it 2,3 or 4 ?
3The composer was Johann Strauss . What countryt was he from
4 He had a nickname . Can you find out what it was


Follow on assignment. Can you find out more about the composer Johann Strauss Junior
Try this website
http://www.classicsforkids.com/

Teachers' Briefing Tuesday 2 days to go

Project Coordinator and Ms Clohessy getting some practice in

I am looking forward to working with Ms Bridge, Ms Clohessy , Mr Connelly and Ms Glynn and their 4th class.  Thanks to Ms Brody, Ms Vaughan and Mr Bell  and Mr Darmody for their participation during the pilot . I met with the  team today and we are all set to start on Thursday . Watch this space for updates .

2011 Official Launch September 2011

We are delighted with the progress of the students during the pilot sessions in last term in May and June. Principal Sarah Barnes and the Board of Management of Holy Family Senior School have approved the project and Holy Family Strings will officially launch in September 2011  with Violin Teacher Cathy Desmond and Project Director Jillian Bridge. Watch this space for updates !  I am looking forward to seeing every 4th class student for their music lessons soon.

Attention 4th class  students . Have a look back at the  posts . Can you remember all the things we learned before the holidays. See you soon!

STRINGSCHOOL Note for parents

STRINGSCHOOL  Note for parents   

The Holy Family String Project began with a number of introductory sessions covering violin hold , pizzicato on open strings  and a basic beginners bow hold.  In the course of the lessons we have been introduced to some aspects of music literacy including staff notation, terminology and some well known pieces from the repertoire . Given the pressure on the timetable of outdoor events and end of term activity, the last session in the introductory module will take place in September when it is intended the project will continue until May 2012. The classes have made a good start and have been a pleasure to teach.  You can review the activity on www.holyfamilystrings.blogspot.com where I have posted reports, photos and useful videos.   

The Holy Family String Project is an inclusive programme in line with the classroom music curriculum where all members of the class take part in an introduction to playing an instrument and is believed to be one of a few such projects around the country.

You can contact me with any queries on cdstringschool@gmail.com .  

 Project  Dedicated Website  www.holyfamilystrings.blogspot.com  

Here are some other useful websites

www.classicsforkids.com

www.violinist.com
www.coisnahabhna.ie

I look forward to seeing all my students again in September

Scary tremelo and playing with Vivaldi 10th June

Scary tremelo and playing with Vivaldi

There was a lot to pack in in our session today.    Everyone remembered the names of the strings and our two string Foxtrot tune.  Next we moved on to the bow hold with the pencil  before finally holding the bow .  We did some shadow bowing to Wintertime in Russia  and finally we learned how to do a shivery tremelo with our violins on the strings  and played along with some Vivaldi . There was a season in the name of the piece we played along to .  Can you remember which one ?

Bow hold

Right Hand /Thumb bent .

Fingers between knuckles

Music Words

Piano –soft

Forte- Loud

Tremelo – moving your bow very quickly over a string 

Listening piece Presto  from Summer   Vivaldi

Mr Darmody leads the way

Accordion group

Accordion practice

Beginner Bow Hold

Foxtrot and Beginning Bow Hold

Alan gets ready to lead

 

 Lots of good work this week . We moved on to our first two note tune . Foxtrot uses D and A, the two middle strings.  Here are the notes

Foxtrot 

DDD _ AAA_ DDD_ AAA_            

DDD_ DDD_ AAA_ AADsh

Here is our programme today

Vivaldi in G                       pizzicato on open G
 Twinkle                            pizz.       on open D
Toreadors March              pizzicato on open A

Foxtrot                              using D and A

New Words today  piano  soft 
                              forte  -loud

Bow Hold with a pencil  
Make a ring with thumb and middle finger Right Hand .
Slide the pencil in  making the rabbits' ears,
Bend your thumb

New Notes D and A

Today   there was Spanish flavour to the classes . We learned :

1 How many notes there are in the musical alphabet. Can you remember the number ?Answer at the end of the post.

2 We learned how to play pizzicato on the next two strings  D and A

3 We had a roll call clapping our names . Most names had how many sounds?

4 Everybody is really good at rest and playing position. There was a shoulder policeman in each class . What was his job?

We played pizzicato on G to Vivaldi in G ,  pizz. on D to Twinkle Twinkle and finally  to the Toreadors March.  Where would you find a Toreador? 

New Words: TEMPO    or speed
                     Fingerboard    Long black piece of wood under the strings.

Ms Vaughan's class heard me play a duet Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps with Aileen Sexton .   Hopefully we will have a visit from her again soon.

Some people made really good leaders. Lets see if I remember . Naomi, Seosamh and Ada were leaders today.


Getting the hang of it



What word would you use to descibe the  Tempo of the Toreadors March?

Ans 7 letters  A B C D E F G