My wonderful students,

 I am so sad to say that this is my last year at Black Elementary. You all mean so much to me, and I will miss you terribly! Keep doing your BEST, in everything you do. Continue setting goals and working hard to achieve them. The hard work is worth it, I promise. Thank you for all the fun memories. I will never forget any of you! If you would like to keep in touch, I have created an e-mail address just for that! Feel free to update me on the awesome things going on in your life!

Mrs.Gibson123@yahoo.com

Talk to you soon...
Mrs. Gibson

Bearkat Singers

Choir members.... we have a week off from rehearsals, so below you will find a few of our songs that I'd like for you to work on between now and our next practice. There will NOT be choir rehearsal on Wednesday, April 3. Our next rehearsal will be Wednesday, April 10. See you then! :)

Our version of this song is slightly different, but the words are all the same, so you can practice with this video!



Music in March

The past few weeks we have been learning about note names on the treble clef staff. The first thing we discovered was that there are lines notes and space notes and they are equally important! The spaces of the treble clef staff are easy to remember, because they spell the word FACE!

 The lines are a little trickier... they don't spell a word, so we make up sentences using the letters of the line notes as the first letter of each word. For instance, I like "Every Good Boy Does Fine".

You could come up with your own, or use one of these silly ones:
Even George Bush Drives Ferraris!
Empty Garbage Before Dad Flips
Even Gorillas Buy Dog Food
Emily Gave Brian Delicious Fudge
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

You can make up your own silly way to remember. For me, I'll stick to Every Good Boy Does Fine! :)

The Kindergarteners and First Graders have been talking about Freddie the Frog this week. Freddie lives on Treble Clef Island with his pal Eli. Freddie lives at the top of the island, while Eli lives at the bottom. There are lots of fun things in between, like a Crocodile river, a Bridge and some beautiful Azaleas.


TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
Think of words you can write using only the letters of the musical alphabet. Now, compose a list of these words (using only A, B, C, D, E, F, and G), and bring it to Mrs. Gibson during your large group class. If you also put these letters on staf paper, I'll give you FIVE tickets!

Music Memory 2013

Here is the place for YOU to study your music memory composers! Use this information with these videos to study for your test! You will all do wonderful!

In The Hall of the Mountain King, written by Grieg
Edvard Grieg was a Romantic Era composer from Norway. He wrote the music for a play called "Peer Gynt" where Peer traveled to the four corners of the world. In this adventure, he is traveling to a castle where trolls live! Greig used tempo (it gets faster) and dynamics (it gets louder) to make this song seem like a chase. Edvard Grieg's mother taught him to play the piano. Thanks, mom!

La Canarie, written by Praetorius
Praetorius was a composer from the Renaissance Era, which is when the printing press was invented. He wrote this song for dancing, which is considered secular music (for entertainment), but he also wrote sacred music (for church). He uses a lute and tambourine in this piece, as well as dotted rhythms and a meter of 3.

Musette from Notebook for Anna Magdalena by Bach

Bach was born in Germany to a very musical family. He is known as the "Father of Classical Music" because he influenced so many composers that came after him. Bach wrote during the Baroque Era, and although he was good at many instruments, he was especially talented at the organ. Bach wrote this for his wife, Anna Magdalena, to play on her harpsichord.

"Overture" from The Magic Flute by Mozart

Mozart was a child prodigy becuase he was composing music by the age of 5! He composed during the Classical Era and was very famous throughout Europe... he even played for royalty! He wrote several operas, including The Magic Flute. The overture of an opera or ballet is the introduction, which is played before the performance begins.

Flight of the Bumblebee from Tsar Saltan by Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer from the Romantic Era. He was very patriotic and even wrote his first symphony while in the Navy, on a voyage at sea. He was part of "THE FIVE", which were five Russian composers who used Russian folk songs in their compositions. This opera comes from an old Russian legend where a prince turns into a bumblebee to save a princess who has turned into a swan. This song is recognized for its fast tempo and rapid sixteenth notes.

Carillon from L'Arlesienne, Suite No. 1 by Bizet

Bizet was born in France and even joined the Paris Conservatory of Music just before he turned 10. He wrote the music for L'Arlesienne which means "The girl from Arles". A suite is an instrumental piece that is made up of several smaller pieces which we call "movements". Carillon has 3 sections (ABA) as well as a 3 note ostinato. An ostinato is a repeated pattern. This ostinato sounds happy. Carillon was written in the Romantic Era.

Stars and Stripes Forever  by  Sousa

Sousa grew up hearing military music because his dad played trombone in the Marine Band. The Sousaphone is named after Sousa, but his favorite instrument was the violin. Sousa earned the nickname "The March King" because he wrote over 100 marches. Stars and Stripes is the official march of the U.S. and features a piccolo solo. This song is from the 20th century.

Short Ride in a Fast Machine  by   Adams

John Adams was born into a musical family. He began composing at 10 and his first orchestral pieces were performed as a teenager. This song is an example of the minimalistic style, which uses repitition of few musical ideas. This song is also from the 20th century, and feature the brass and percussion sections (listen for the woodblock!)

There they are! All eight composers! Your test is coming up, so start studying these composers. You all know this material, and I know you'll do great.