fun with short and long notes!

At our piano camp today we talked about how some notes are short and others are LONG. We had some fun playing some short-sounding rhythm instruments (like drums and rhythm sticks) and some LONG instrument sounds (like a rain stick!), and also playing short and long on the piano.

I love the little song in Faber's My First Piano Adventures Lesson Book 1 called "Will You Play?" - students get to sit down at the piano and improvise a super fun duet with the teacher, following directions such as "will you play some white keys softly please?", "will you play some long sounds now with me?" and "will you play some short sounds now with me?" The kids loved playing this fun song, and did so well playing long sounds and short sounds!

And because there is not much that is more fun for kids than a bottle of Elmer's glue and a whole bunch of craft supplies (seriously, they were in heaven!) we then moved to the table where we learned about Beethoven's Symphony #5, and the kids got to pick short things and long things to "notate" the theme of the symphony! Pom poms, marshmallows, and googly eyes are perfect for short notes, while popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners and pasta are great long notes! We sang along as we listened to the music - "short-short-short-LOOOONG...." and I think the kids enjoyed learning that Beethoven started piano lessons when he was four years old - just like many of them!



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You'll have to excuse me...

...if my posts get fewer and further between over the next little while! My summer is getting a bit crazy with preparations for baby, family medical things, teaching piano, recruiting new students for fall, finishing up planning/teaching a preschool piano camp, and life in general. But hopefully I'll still be around every so often to share some things...we shall see! Happy summer teaching!