Grade 3 Music

In Grade 3 music class, we have been doing many great things with the recorder! The students have been learning all about how to read music and how to produce the best possible sound on the instrument. As a class, we’ve started out by going through the exercise book and have had fun playing as a group, in small ensembles, and individually. The students also have access to their own recorder at the school, so I encourage them to take the recorder home and practice. I hope the students are having as much fun classes I am. Let’s keep up the great work!

Grade 2 Music

In Grade 2 music class, we have been doing many great things! As you can see in the video, the students have been learning a warm-up song which they sing at the beginning of every class to get them in music mode. We have also been learning all about different kinds of instruments, some common and others less-so. As a class, we’ve been looking at identifying instruments, how to play the instruments, how the instruments produce sound, and other unique qualities about each of them. We’ve also been having a lot of fun and doing many games along the way. I hope the students are having as much fun classes I am. Let’s keep up the great work!

Check out the singing! Grade 2

Grade 1 music

In Grade 1 music class, we have been doing many great things! As you can see in the video, the students have been learning a warm-up song which they sing at the beginning of every class to get them in music mode. We have also been learning all about different kinds of instruments, some common and others less-so. As a class, we’ve been looking at identifying instruments, how to play the instruments, how the instruments produce sound, and other unique qualities about each of them. We’ve also been having a lot of fun and doing many games along the way. I hope the students are having as much fun classes I am. Let’s keep up the great work!

Check out the singing! Grade 1

Music up til now….

Hi everyone:

 

Up til now all classes, yes including kindergarten, have been learning to read and clap rhythms… we’ve gotten up to 8th notes and who knows how far we can go?

Any student wanting to download a page of rhythm studies can now download it off my blog.

As far as music videos we’ve watched Paco de Lucia, the great flamenco guitarist, and videos of my student Mia Kelly, a phenomenally talented 15 year old. Also we’ve watched the Master Drummers of Burundi, and from my series of great Canadian musicians, we saw Glenn Gould playing playing excerpts from the Gold berg variations. I’ll also have a series on great Jewish musicians coming soon…

I’m entertaining the possibility of inviting my guitar elective class out to my recording studio in Aylmer to see how a song is produced in a professional setting… will confirm that soon…

That’s all for now!

Please allow me to introduce myself!

Hello all parents, students and faculty of the OJCS!

I wanted to take this moment to introduce myself  to everyone and let you all know how excited I am to take over the music program at this wonderful school. To find out more about my biography in detail you can click on Biography to the left of this page. Right now I would just like to express the 3 goals  I hope to achieve this year.

My primary goal is to simply expose all the children I come into contact with to as wide a sampling of musical styles as possible. We will be playing, listening, dancing and talking about classical , jazz, folk , world music, in English, French, Hebrew, and, who knows, maybe even Esperanto! My secondary goal is to develop the singing skills in children from kindergarten to grade 3 and the guitar skills from grade 4-8. My final goal would be to encourage any of the students who have exceptional abilities in music to take their talents to a higher level with extra work, or help finding a suitable private teacher.

I look forward to hearing from everyone their opinions, ideas and any suggestions that would help us enjoy this musical journey to its fullest!

Musically yours, Rene

Music Elective Class

In the music elective class, we have been doing many great things! Students began by being introduced to the fundamentals of guitar playing, including proper playing technique, sound production, and chord knowledge. The students have been working on a project of playing a musical piece in front of their peers either as a group or individually. They have all been working well in class and exploring various ways to develop their own musicianship. I hope the students are having as much fun classes I am. Let’s keep up the great work!