Morning Music at Blue Green Café Sessons

Places Set All Ready

Finally, the morning of our debut concert arrived.  I am so proud of the players. You were terrific! Our audience were the third classes of Ms Vaughan, Ms Mulpeter and Ms Frawley . There were not just  one but two principals as  Ms Dilger from the Junior School joined Ms Barnes, Ms Darmody and Ms Whyatt to see the progress after ten weeks of  lessons.
I can't wait to work you all in the new year. Next class on 15th January. In the meantime have a look at the videos .

Introductions

Programme
pizz
   Vivaldi in G 
   Toreador's March 
   Drunken Sailor    soloist Killian Shannon
   Foxtrot
Arco
  Rock You
  Cross Lake Bliues/Ode to Joy 
        Ms Bridge on piano 
  Wintertime in Russia /Ree
Ireland's Call

Off We Go

And The Next Piece is 

Audience tackle  quiz questions 

A Quick Read of the Paper?

Announcers    Angel , Harry , Ava, Damilola, Nicola, Nikola ,Gloria, Marcel, Wiam
Bass              Thomas, Fabian, Vanessa Cello Grace Whitney,  Tamek
Leaders         Cormas, Ayomede, Joshua, Eugene and Anya
Percussion     Jashar,Adewale, Sarah

Well done to the violinists, announcers, leaders, bass and cello players, and percussionists . Thanks to Mr Shannon and Ms Bridge for accompanying on  banjo and piano  .  Bravo tutti!

The photos are alll of the first group but watch this blog and I will post more snaps as soon as I get them.  Teachers please email me your pics of the day .

I chatted to some of the participants in the yard after the concert

listen to ‘HF SS violin class’ on Audioboo

Quiz answers. see last post for questions 1 Violin Cello, Double Bass, Banjo 4 different instruments  2 Banjo because it doesn't use bow 3 Violinist is highest in pitch 4 Each has four strings. 5 Vivaldi was Italian 6The first backing track featured low notes on cello and bass. 7 Loud and full of energy. 8 A Sea Shanty 9 Mr Shannon played a reel 10 Rugby we added a conga drum .

Cafe Session Quiz

3^rd Class Music   Ten Questions   Café Concert  Quiz

1  How many different string instruments can you see in the café today 

_______________________________________________________________

Which one doesn't use a bow 

2 Which one plays the lowest notes

______________________________________________________________

3Which one plays the highest ___________________________________

4 How many strings do the instruments have _____________________

5 Piece One Where was Vivaldi from   _____________________________

6 In the backing track  for piece no 1  are the notes    high   or low    in pitch . Circle the one that fits 

.

7 In piece 2 What words best describe the Toreador’s march   Circle the ones that fit best

   Loud ,       Full of energy,       Dreamy,        Peaceful

8 The Drunken Sailor is a S_ _    S_ _ _ _ _  

#

9 What sort of Irish dance did the banjo play?   Jig ,  reel or Hornpipe  

Circle the right one

10  What sport is Irelands Call linked to ?  __________

What non stringed instrument was featured in this piece  ______________________________

  

10 Which piece did you like best ______________________________

Answers  on www.holyfamilystrings.blogspot.com

Dress Rehearsal for Cafe Concert

3rd class are invited to the 

  CAFÉ SESSIONS   at Holy Family Senior            School 

4th class students give a debut performance to mark the end of their first  term  

Tuesday  December 4th 2012 

Where -Holy Family School Café

Time   Three sets 11am -1pm 


***********************************
  
Great rehearsal  today everyone.   It was busy but we got through our programme. See you next  week in the Holy Family Café for our concert  to finish the activity for this term. Each class will perform in turn for an invited audience of 3rd class students . All groups are doing the same programme. See previous post for more details.
+-
Maths Moment 
Joshua (Ms Leahy's class  pointed out the mathematical relationship in the rhythm pattern of Vivaldi in G .
Here is the pattern
   G G zz  G G G z G G G G G G zz
    2             3          6

Can you spot it?

------- divided by ________  =________
Cool! Joshua
Concert Programme 
Pizzicato
     Vivaldi in G            open string Leader pizz on G 
     Toreador's March    open string pizz on D and A 
      Drunken Sailor       First finger down on D string new note E 
      Foxtrot                   Open string pizz on D and A 

Arco
   Rock You                Down Up Bows on A string 
   Cross lake Blues     Crossing from D to A 
   Wintertime in Russia   Boys Girls Duet 
   Ireland's Call          Balloon Bows on D  Tremolo  on final call Flag waving.

Leaders  & Deputies : Ayomide, Cormac, Joshua , Eugene , Anya , Sineid.

Announcers to be confirmed by Ms Loftus, Leahy and Mr Corbett 
 Cello Tamek,  Grace , Whitney 
 Bass   Thomas , Vanessa, Fabian
 Ostinato /Drums    Sarah , Adewale, Mariuz

Present Dami, Doreen, Ben, Brendan, Bruno, Hayley, Sophie, 
(Absent, James, Sophie, Emilia, Emmanuel, Claudia )

Repertoire tunes Twinkle OldMc , Frere Jacques
New tunes Silent Night Away in Manger   Christmas Carol Sheet 
          

Windy Day Rehearsal 2

Debut  Concert Programme    Holy Family Strings 

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

****
Arco ( With Bow)

Rock You
Cross Lake Blues   to Ode to Joy 
Wintertime in Russia
   guest slot  Reel  
Finale    Ireland's Call      



Today we welcomed Mr Corry and Ms Kyne .We made good progress on the concert  program and all groups practiced everything except  the last number . Cello and bass  featured today   Bass players were Cormac,  Eugene, a young lady name tbc 
Cello players included  Tamek,  Jane 

Leaders included Angel, Adewale, Anja  all beginning with A 

Next week we will add the introductions .

Improvers 
Dami , Doreen, Sophie, Hayley, Bruno, Emilia, James, Claudia, Ben, Brendan,  
Absent Emmanuel , 

Mentor   Hayley 
Programme, Twinkle , Old McDonald, Frere Jacques   

Elephant Alligator Donkey Goat: Good Vibrations

Debut Bass Player 

Lesson  8     Rehearsal 1  for Concert 4th Dec 
Here is today's programmes .

 Spotlight on double bass today
The strings are in the title of the post.

Pizz

1    Vivaldi in G         Open G    track 1

2,3 Foxtrot / Toreadors  Open D and A   Track 2

  Prelim exercise    E E E _ We three Kings Riff

4    First finger riff Drunken Sailor  1 down on D string to make new note E     
 Ms Leahy's class were excellent at this one 

  

Arco

   Tummy grip bow hands , Train Bow Hands

Rock You   Track 19    (a) open A   (b)  First finger on G to make  low A

Wintertime in Russia  track 3 _

Cross Lake Blues  Track 3

Activity  Find out more about Vivaldi . Try this link Vivaldi

Bass players Thomas, Eugene, Chris

Leaders   Jesus ,  Ayomide,  Nicola,  Mr Corbett  l
     *******************************
Level 2 Claudia, Ben, Brendan, Hayley, Ailsh , Dani, Emmanue.

Absent Sopie, Emilia, James Bruno, Doreen,
Programme  Twinkle, Old MacDonald, Frere Jacques, Leaving Lismore   Try London Bridge at home 

Mentor this week Hayley.

    

Cross Lake Blues and Drunken Sailor

  Entrance Music Jigs Fiddle 

Kilfenora Ceili Band 

1  Vivaldi in G  Track 1    Begin  by clapping rhythm  Hand clap rests  Work out the rests  What is the pattern   pizz on G    Well done everyone spotted the pattern 2 ,3 and 6 on open G   all classes 

2 Foxtrot                  Track 2    Dipping down  and Side step  Mr C and Ms Loftus 

3 Toreadors             Track 12  x2    Ms Griffin 

4 Drunken Sailor First finger down       Square fingers

        What Shall We Do wih a drunken Sailor  E E E E  D D D D  E E E E D D E E    all classes 

5 We will Rock You        Track 19        On open A string 

6 WT in Rus-sia   Track  31    on D   (Mr C ) 

7 Ireland’s Call    Retakes    Retakes on D   (Ms Griffin)  

8 **NEW Cross Lake Blues, string crossing   D  D z z    A A z z  Elbow down Elbow Up 

Mr Corbett's class played along with some reels played by Gerry O Connor 

Some super effort all round . 

Thanks Mr Corbett and class for packing up the class kit so efficiently 

Follow on activity Can you find out about our first composer today . Vivaldi Where was he from and when did he lived . He wrote mostly for which family of instruments?

Today was the last day for new material.  Next week we have the first of three rehearsals for our first term concert 

Ennis Trad Festival takes place  this weekend . People from all over the world will be in Ennis to hear the music

Improvers Group. Claudia, Bruno, Brendan, Emmanuel, Sophie, James , Ben
Absent Dami, Doreen, Ailish, Hayley, Emilia

3 tunes on sheet, Twinkle, Old MC, Frere Jacque , plus  Leaving Lismore 

Mid term review Five Musical Tasks

Banjo player Killian Shannon

Today we reviewed the work of the last five weeks . We were joined by a familiar special guest Mr Shannon on tenor  banjo so we had live accompaniment for all our tasks.   Here is today's  programme.

Old McDonald   pizz on G
Foxtrot
Drunken Sailor   (Sneak preview of next lesson , first finger down  on D string  to make E )
Balloon Bows to  Ireland's Call .
Down Up Bows    piano Mr Shannon improvised around our  Rock You down up  riff on A . Remember just a little bit of bow 


Mr Shannon told  us that the banjo is a distant cousin of the violin .It comes from Africa and also has strings GDAE . There now !

Leaders included Ciara, Eugene, Rohan,  David    Lots of people had our new special tokens for good effort.

After school group   Frere Jacque, Old McDonald , Twinkle and Leaving Lismore

Ben, Brendan, Doreen, Emmanuel, Hayley, Ailish Emilia, 

James , Sophie, Claudia

Sports Day Two Anthems

We are nearly half way through our first term . Here is what we did today.

     

1 Shoulder hold.   Putting our violins in rest position we used our left hand on the underneath shoulder to put our violins in play position.

      

2. Balloon Bows to Irelands Call .  We use Down Bow retakes on D for this popular rugby song. we added some flag waving and some tremelo for a bit of added spice .

   

   3. Toreadors March  Another D and A tune . We learned how to read these notes on the stave . The notes are below. Are the notes on lines or spaces?   

     

 4.  Mr Corbett's class did rocket bows this  week  (tip first and pointing skwards)

      5Ms Loftus  did a Rock You riff on A 

Next week Double Bass Notes and Ostinato

Oops ! What is wrong here 

                                                                                                 Thats better!

Excellent bow hand 

Banjo position pizz

Thumb pizz

Prog 16th Oct

Name this tune .

Improvers Group 
1 Ailish, Emmanuel, Claudia, Ben, Brendan, Hayley Leaving Lismore, Joy to the World
2 James, Sophie, Dami  Old Mc Donald , Twinkle , Triplets 

Brass Band Day and Kilfenora Ceili Dancers

Ennis Brass Band Enrolment for Beginners Class

 Wed 10th October 2012 7.30pm   at Ennis  Community College

            There is no charge for tuition or lessons
  Here is what we did today


We worked on a new rhythm today

   **NEW **Rhythm 2 

                                          Kil-     fen-      or--    a      Cei      li        Dan  -cer

These little notes are called quavers  not to be confused with these snacks

  

Notes D and
  Exercise    How many syllables in your name . Can you clap the rhythm of your name 

2 We worked on our bow holds .  Remember  Engine driver looking ahead .

3 We had fun with our rhythm  1 Win-ter-tim-in Rus-sia   We split into boys versus girls teams  . Mr Corbett's class were great at this   (Gloria, Olivia Ethan , Cody, Manek)


4 We played Foxtrot pizzicato

5 KNOW THE CODE We learned how to recognise D and A on the stave

6 We listened to a march played by the Ennis Brass Band and conducted it  (Down Up)


Nicola was our leader from Ms Griffin/ Leahy's class. We welcomed Ms Regan today

We looked at the trumpet. How many valves (buttons) does a trumpet have?   Can you remember the other instruments we named all members of the brass family . Which one didn't have any valves (Hint -slide)

   

Foxtrot and Tremolo

 We learned how to play scary tremolos and our first two not tune Foxtrot . Check out the video of the Kilfenora Ceili Band as we will be talking about trad in the next few weeks .

NEW** Foxtrot  Pizzicato  

DDD _AAA_  DDD_ AAA_             

DDD_ DDD_   AAA_ AAD sh   

1 Bow Hold with pencil  see last week's post 

Bow Hold with Bow  Tremolo Bowing and Game


  ''Shivery bows'


Rhythm 1 V V  l  l   Wintertime in Russia
                               Ti Ti Ti Ti      Ta  Ta

Rhythm 2  l l L       Ta Ta Ta-aa

One of our excellent leaders Rhythm 2                

Mr Corbett's class get  ready to play Foxtrot 

   ***********************************************************


5th class Improvers Group  

Group 1 Bruno,Brandon, Claudia, Sophie, Dami Doreen, Emilia

             Practice  Twinkle , Old Mc Donald     

   Down Up Bows  Practice doing small down up bows on D  to track 5 (Chopstix  

Old McDonald      G G G D E E D_ B B A A G_ _   x2            Line 1 twice 
ddG G G dd G G G_ GG G GG G GGGG G G Line 2 
                                                                          Play Line 1 again

Fox Trot Strong bows near the bridge .    

Twinkle 

Group 2 Brendan, Ben, Emmanuel, Hayley, Ailish 

New things to practice this week   Leaving Lismore  Notes from Mr Connolly

Batman C natural   AA  BB  CC  BB   AA BB CC BB  AA _ AA_  

   De de de de de de de de Bat Man! Bat Man    Down Bow Retakes on Batman 

NEW TUNE  French Folk Song 

D'D'D  C# C# C# B C#D A __ __
3  3  3   2   2    2    1  2  3 0                G G G F# F# F# E E E  D_ _

A________________________          D______________________

Rabbits and SnailsWeek 2

Today we practiced holding our violins in rest and play positions . We played pizzicato  on G and D . Ms Loftus and her class moved on to A . We played short and long notes for Twinkle Twinkle .  Can you remember what words had long notes .

**New today**  Carrot pencils and bunny rabbit hands. Using our right hands we practiced making snail shapes and bunny rabbit hands before biting down on our carrot pencils.

            Things to remember  Bend your thumb
            Fingers well over the pencil to make those bunny rabbit teeth

New Today  Our First Rhythm Win ter Time In  Rus -Sia

V  V  l  l  

An Excellent Leader

Bunny rabbit hands

Three great bow hands 

                                We had some very good leaders today including Wiame ( Mr C)  Damilola (Ms Leahy) and Cormac (Ms Loftus)

Next week  Bow hold and our first two note tune and a guest artist . Looking forward to it already !

Improvers Group
Group 1 Twinkle and Old macDonald   Bruno, Brandon , Dami , Doreen, Sophie, Emilia,
Group 2 Leaving Lismore Band tune  Ben, Brendan, Emmanuel, Claudia, Hayley, Ailish

 

Away We Go : Rest and Play

Great Day At Ennis 

We had a very exciting day at Holy Family Senior School Ennis  as all the 4th classes began the HFSS String  2012 programme .    Well done to the classes of Mr Griffin,, Mr Corbett and Ms Loftus .  Super attention and concentration in the first class today!

We learned the name of all four strings today.

We learned how to hold the violin in rest and play position .

Thank you to Preincipal, Ms Barnes', who called in to wish us well.

Demonstrating the Double Bass

Away We Go in Rest Position

*Mr Corbett's class  met all three members of the bowed string family.  can you remember what they were  (C_ _ _ _ . D_ _ _ _ _ _B _ _ _) ?

*We learned about low pitched and high pitch . What  is the lowest pitched string  on the violin. ?

*We learned to hold our violins in two positions ,  (a) rest and (b) play position.

We played pizzicato ( plucking the string on  lowest string G to Old McDonald track 18)

*We learned the names of all four violin strings (see above)

*We practiced a bow . 

BRAVO TUTTI !

Improvers' Group

10 students

1 Ben, Dami, Doreen, Brandon

2, Claudia, Emmanuel, Brendan, Ailish, Hayley, Emilia

Revision of Tunes 

Old MacDonald and Twinkle 

New Note C natural  (2nd finger back on A string) 1^2 

Exercise 'Jaws' Start with 1st finger on A . Place your 2nd finger next to it to make C natural . Repeat to make the 'Jaws' theme 

1---^2   1---^2   1^2 1^2 1^2

Make sure your second finger is touching the first.

Slurring  two notes in one bow 

Holy Family Strings Year 2

****Announcing 

Holy Family Strings 2011 -2012

Principal Sarah Barnes and the Board of Management of Holy Family Senior School announce the continuation of the Violin For All Programme for all incoming 4th class students as part of the Holy Family 4th  class  school curriculum .

Classes begin next week Tuesday 18th September and will continue weekly.

An optional  Play On  improvers group drawn from last years 4th class  will meet also on Tuesday. 

Graduation Day

 Congratulations to the 4th class students at Holy Family School who took the improvers' course  over the last six weeks. I can't make up my mind which picture is best so I am posting both. Here is the group with their completion certs.

Following on from the beginners programme where every 4th class student had a weekly lesson, the group of sixteen players had  optional weekly lessons as part of the continuation of the Holy Family String Project . Each each player had an instrument on loan to take home for practice .  I am delighted with the degree of enthusiasm shown by the students and I am very proud of the progress you have made.

  Sophie said. 'I love playing the violin. I really want to be in the band and learn more tunes'

Emelia said ' I love playing the violin. 'Twinkle Twinkle is my favourite'

Quack Quack Here !

Programme Today

 1  Scale on D    Rhythm    Wintertime in Russia

 2  Twinkle Twinkle    remember   2 and 3 close together

 3   Blues

  4  Rhythm   Bow River       5  Hopping and Skipping

New Today

6  Old McDonald    2 strings 3 fingers

Line 1  3       3   3     D(0)    1  1  0__    1 1 0 0  3_____

       Old Mc   Donald  had a farm      E I E I  O    
Line 2  repeat  

Line 3        3  _____________________________________
       Quack  Quack Here   Quack Quack There

        Here-a quack  There-a-quack Every where a quack quack
Line 4 same as Line 1 and 2

No time today for the two other rhythms and Beguine
                                           
Absent Sineid, James

New Note F # ( F sharp  2nd finger down on D)

Work this week

Scale on D

Blues
Twinkle
 Bow River Rhythm

First part of Frere Jacque  D E F# D
                                       0 1  2   0


For Sophie
Bridal March

D G G ____ D A G___ D G B D B G E G A F#
0 3  3           0  0  3      0 3   1  3   1 3 1 3 0  2____

Bits in Blue are on A String

Super Waltzers

Boil em Cabbabge 

Both groups on our Bow River rhythm  

Long -----Short short 

We worked on a new tune with this rhythm 

Boil em Cabbabge 

Here are the fingers on the D string 

2  22    2    22   3  33 3  33  2   22  2   22  1  11   1   11

2  22    2    22    3 33  3  33 2   22  1   11   0  00  0   00

'Beguine' Again On to the next level

Welcome to the 16 students taking the improvers module . We had our first small group class today.

Super Waltzers 
    Ben , Efosa, Emmanuel, Brendan, Claudia, Sophie, Rayanne, Ailish 


Polka Pirates 
    James, Brandon, Bruno, Dami, Doreen, Hayley, Sineid, Emilia
   **********************************************
Work for this week 


1   Open String Rhythms  Try these on your D string . 
Remember  bow near the bridge short and long bows 
Thumb Bent /Fingers well over 


   Rhythm 1 Wintertime in Russsia 


                       Slow Track   29 
                       Fast  Track   30 
      &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&


 2     Scale on D    Track 25


 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&


 3 ***NEW TUNE   see top    Beguine Track 11   We learned how ton read these noteds on the stave today . Were they all on lines or spaces ?. 


     Practice the last bar separately . Play arco and pizz


      GGGG DDDD AAAA EEEE AAAA DDDD GGGG G D A D 


4 Twinkle Twinkle     Track 26 /27    

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Line 1
D D   A  A     B  B    A_  
0  0     0 0       1  1     0 
G G   F# F#   E  E    D _ 
3   3    2  2     1    1     0

Line 2 
A A   G G   F# F#  E_
0  0    3  3    2   2    1
A A   G G   F# F#  E_
0  0    3 3      2  2    1_


DD    A A   B B   A _
G G  F# F# E  E   D _ 

     
Listen to your CD .  Can you play along with the tracks . All your old favourites are there 

Holy Family Senior School win Walton's Music Competition

Twinkling Stars Holy Family String Graduation concert



Chamber Choir  and 4th class string group (seated )  and audience :Excellent Playing and Listening

listen to ‘Holy Family violin students before their 1st concert’ on Audioboo



Ben announces 

Back Row

Principal Barnes addresses the audience 

It was a wonderful occasion at Holy Family School Hall today as all the members of 4th class group gave a graduation performance in the school hall.  We all  enjoyed it very much and I was so proud of how well everyone played  but also how courteous the groups were when listening both to the choir and the other violin group. We had a very a busy morning as we had a dress rehearsal before the main event. The concert was closed by the Holy Family  School Choir. There wasn't a dry eye in the house as they sang 'One Small Voice ' .

Bows aloft!

  We wish them well in representing the school in the Walton's Music in School's Celebration concert at the National Concert Hall. Holy Family Senior School have been nominated in as one of six finalists .
 We bid farewell to Abbie in Ms Gills class who is leaving Holy Family to attend Stone Hall School
I enjoyed very much meeting many of the parents at the coffee and biscuits reception. How wonderful to meet Hannah's Nana !  Hannah's Nana told me that she has been attending events at Holy Family School for 40 years  both with her own children and now her grandchildren. Wow !  Honoured to have you with us Hannnah's Nana. What a lot of events you must have seen over all those years.

Bravo tutti

Niall on Banjo 

Holy Family Senior School  proudly presents
Holy Family  4^th class String Ensemble 2012  with the Holy Family Chamber Choir 

A matinée recital  at the Hall  on Thursday 29^th  December  11.30pm. Ms Gill , Mr Connolly and Ms Bridge with their classes present some of the repertoire we have worked during the project.

Programme

Group 1

Vivaldi in G   pizzicato   Vivaldi

 Blues             pizz           Martin

 ***************

Foxtrot         arco             Martin

****************

Scale on D      Fingers down  arco

We Will Rock You            Queen                                                                 

Aaron with programme

Group 2

Toreadors March                Bizet

Drunken Sailor /

  First finger riff                trad

Scale on A       

Mozart Melody      

       

Finale               with reeds  

La Cumparsita    Rodriguez  

One Small Voice Will Teach the World a Song  The Holy Family School Choir

                                     

Part Two 

This is to certify                             

_Mr Connolly, Ms Bridge and Ms Gill's 4th yr classes

Participated in the Holy Family String Project at

                    Holy Family Senior School 2011/2012

and has  successfully completed

Level 1 of  the Stringschool Programme

Signed ___________________          Director CD Stringschool

Date ____________________

Cathy Desmond ( Teacher)  BA HDip LTCL     www.holyfamilystrings.blogspot.com  

                                                        Email: cdstringschool@gmail.co