Jazz Appreciation Month: Scat Singing

As part of Jazz Appreciation Month, the younger grades got to read the book Freddie the Frog and the Flying Jazz Kitten.

In this story, Freddie the Frog and his best friend Eli the Elephant see a plane land on the other side of the Crocodile River. While exploring the plane that his friend was too big to board, Freddie the Frog accidentally flies away to a gig with five cool cats. The Flying Jazz Kitten helps him hold his own as she teaches him how to scat, though. Eventually he realizes that she disappeared during his performance, and he did just fine without her!

The students got to practice their own scat singing (musically making up their own nonsense syllables and sounding like instruments), and they got to hear other examples of scatting.

Here's a famous example of nonsense words, brought to you by The Muppets:

What about this famous scene between Baloo and King Louie?

Here's another example, from Ella Fitzgerald:

With some call and response added by Cab Calloway:

Appreciating Jazz at Special Loved Ones Day

This year at Lannoye, we organized our Special Loved Ones Day (formerly known as Grandparents Day) differently. Students got to spend time with their special loved ones at different stations throughout the school. They got to read, make crafts, go on a scavenger hunt, learn more about each other through interviews, and enjoy some time together. The day ended with an in-house performance by the Red Raider Jazz Combo from Pulaski High School. (Happy Jazz Appreciation Month!) Lannoye students and their families were able to get together and listen to some great music! Many thanks to Ms. Kayla Koch and the high school students and parents that were able to make this performance happen!

PHS Red Raider Combo performs at Lannoye's Special Loved Ones Day

Side view of the Red Raider Jazz Combo

Audience members got to get up and dance!

Another view of the dancing

"Cold Duck Time"

"Doxy"

April Fools!

I found this video tonight and thought some people might enjoy it... Here's the "Duetto buffo di due gatti."

Next, enjoy some sportscast commentary by Peter Schickele, also known as PDQ Bach. (I'm pretty sure my Music Theory IV professor introduced us to this my sophomore year of college, and we listened to the whole thing during class.)

For more comedic music, check out WQXR's April Fools article!

Kids in music: Louisville Leopard Percussionists

You may have seen this floating around the internet, but this particular video recently went viral after rocker Jimmy Page shared it on social media:

Led Zeppelin medley

The Louisville Leopard Percussionists are a group of 60+ kids, ages 7-14, from 48 different schools in and near Louisville, Kentucky. They're broken down into smaller ensembles, including a beginning group, an advanced group, and a steel drum ensemble (link to video below). The students play a variety of percussion instruments, including marimbas, vibraphones, xylophones, steel drums, drum set, and auxiliary percussion (maracas, vibraslap, etc.).

"Firework"

"Crazy Train"

Live for Music

Happy Music in Our Schools Month! Enjoy this song by Shaun Canon, featuring Lindsey Stirling and footage from Drum Corps International.

Music Notes: End of March 2015

Music Notes

End of March 2015

Hello, everyone!

In honor of 30 years of Music In Our Schools Month, let’s start some conversations at home! Students, here are some questions you can ask your family, friends, and teachers…see what you discover!

·        What did you learn in music class when you were my age?

·        Did you ever play an instrument? Which one? How long? Why’d you choose that one?

·        Were you ever in band? Jazz? Choir? Orchestra? Other ensembles?

·        If you were in any of those groups (or took lessons, etc.), what was your favorite part?

·        If you could play any instrument in the world, what would you choose? Why?

·        What’s your all-time favorite song, and why is it your favorite?

·        What’s your favorite song to belt in the car or the shower?

·        If you were in a rock band, what would your band’s name be?

·        What was the first concert you attended?

·        Have you ever met a famous musician?

·        If you could meet any musician, dead or alive, who would it be?

·        Fill in the blank: “Music makes me ______________.”

Did you learn anything you didn’t know about the people in your life? Share the neat things you learned – I’d love to hear them!

For more March MIOSM fun and information (and a musical Pi Day post that the math lovers out there will enjoy), check out our blog at:

http://lannoyemusic.blogspot.com

Still looking for donations: If you’ve got any empty small tissue boxes (not the long rectangular ones), I’ll take them from now until the end of the year! I’m planning ahead for a 3^rd grade rhythm activity next winter…

Here’s what we’ve been working on in March:

This month, the kindergarteners, 1^st graders, and 2^nd graders all learned the song “Here Comes a Bluebird.” They’ve enjoyed taking turns being the bluebird and coming up with different ways to show the steady beat with their partners and neighbors. In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, they all read the book There’s a Wocket in My Pocket and played egg shakers on all of the rhyming words. They also all learned “Rattlin’ Bog” to celebrate the springtime and St. Patrick’s Day. Kindergarten and 1^st grade also practiced their steady beat movements (with dancing) to Celtic Storm’s song “Beggarman.”

In addition to the abovementioned activities, the kindergarteners have continued practicing their leadership with the echo song and game “Charlie Over the Ocean.” They also kept practicing pointing to beat symbols in a left-to-right pattern. They learned the song “Bee, Bee, Bumblebee,” and showed the steady beat in the game.

The 1^st graders practiced clapping, speaking, reading, and writing the rhythms they know. Our rhythm dictation activities combine all four of those actions! They also got to write their own rhythm compositions. They’re currently in the process of learning their first solfege pitches, so and mi, through the song “Bee, Bee, Bumblebee.”

The 2^nd graders practiced clapping, speaking, reading, and writing their rhythms, using rhythm dictation activities and other games to practice their skills. They also got to write their own rhythm compositions. Now they’re reviewing their 1^st grade solfege pitches (so, mi, and la) and adding a new pitch to their toolbox (do). We’ve been singing and playing “Apple Tree” to help us prepare!

The 3^rd graders practiced clapping, speaking, reading, and writing their rhythms, and put them all together in rhythm compositions. They continued singing 3-part rounds and partner songs as well. They’re currently reviewing their solfege knowledge and adding high do to their pitch vocabulary via “Lil Liza Jane,” a song they used for learning ti-ta-ti and reviewing call and response.

The 4^th and 5^th graders finished their round of speed-reading treble clef tests. Congratulations are in order for the following students who passed the 30 second test on the given dates: Madison (5^th grade, 2/21), Jake (5^th grade, 2/21), Aaron (5^th grade, 3/3), Jack (5^th grade, 3/13), Will (4^th grade, 3/13), Austin (3/13)! Also, an extra congrats goes to Jake for passing the 20 second version on 3/13!! The 4^th and 5^th graders all survived their first recorder playing tests (4^th grade on B/A/G, 5^th grade on B/A/G/C’/D’) and learned a new note (4^th grade: C’; 5^th grade: F#). They’ve all been working on supplemental material, including the song “B-A-G Lady” by Jim Tinter, and stretching their brains by improvising over different accompaniment tracks. Please make sure your students are practicing their recorders – ask for an in-home performance! J

Upcoming performances in the area:

Thursday, April 9                 7:00 pm          PHS Guest Artist Jazz Concert

                                                                     PHS Ripley PAC

Sunday, April 12                   1:00 pm         Pulaski Area Community 
                                                                    Band/Choir Concert

                                                                     St. John’s Lutheran Church 
                                                                     in Morgan

Thursday, April 16               7:00 pm          Pulaski Area Community 
                                                                    Band/Choir Concert

                                                                     PHS Ripley PAC

April 17-19, 24-26               7:00 Fri/Sat,  PCMS Musical: Joseph and the 
                                             2:00 Sun        Amazing Technicolored

                                                                   Dreamcoat

                                                                   PCMS Auditorium

$8 tickets; $10 for 4/18 show, $15 for 4/18 show with spaghetti dinner – get your tickets now!

Thursday, April 23               7:00 pm          UW-Platteville Guest Concert

                                                                     PHS Ripley PAC

Monday, April 27                 6:30 pm          PHS Choir Honors Recital

                                                                     PHS Ripley PAC

Ms. Corinne Galligan                      
(920) 822-0433

cmgalligan@pulaskischools.org

lannoyemusic.blogspot.com                                                                                                      

Happy Pi Day!

From biznetis.net

Today is March 14, 2015, or 3-14-15. This is the perfect day for math lovers out there, because the digits of the day match up with the first few digits of pi. Pi is a mathematical concept that has to do with the relationship of the circumference of a circle (distance around the circle) to the diameter (distance across the center of the circle). We can use it to find the area of a circle.

A

=

π

r

2

From mathisfun.com

There isn't an end or a pattern to pi - the digits just keep going and going and going... Here are the first 10,001 digits of pi:

From johnparsons.net

Want to see the first million digits? Click here.

Now, what if someone were to make a musical composition based on the numbers in pi? That's what happens in this video!