Music Newsletter
Lowell Elementary
Welcome to the Lowell Music Program!
Bandarama
All members of the 4th and 5th grade Band ensembles (woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments) will be taking part in this year's Bandarama performance on Tuesday, the 12th of March at 7pm in the Watertown Middle School gymnasium. This is a unique opportunity for all of the band instrumentalists, grades 4-12, to be together on one stage for a big performance. See attached flier for details.
String Spectacular
All members of the 4th and 5th grade String ensembles (violin, viola, cello, bass) will be taking part in this year's String Spectacular performance on Wednesday, the 27thth of March at 7pm in the Watertown Middle School gymnasium. This is a unique opportunity for all of the string instrumentalists, grades 4-12, to be together on one stage for a big performance. See attached flier for details.
MusicFest
Please join us this year on Friday, the 15th of March for our 11th annual MusicFest brought to you by our own Watertown Friends of Music. MusicFest is an opportunity for anyone in the Watertown community to perform enjoy music. The festival takes place across several hours at Watertown Middle School and features several performance stages, refreshments, and the ever-popular Instrument Petting Zoo for young and prospective musicians. Visit WatertownMusic.org for more information or to sign up to be a performer.
Musician of the Month for February: Cécile McLorin Salvant
Our musician of the month for February is Cécile McLorin Salvant. Cécile is a Hatian-American singer, songwriter, and visual artist who is known for her vocal virtuosity in multiple musical genres including jazz, classical, musical theatre, and pop.
West African Drumming: Kindergarten - grade 2
This month, our K-2 students will be starting a West African drumming unit. Each student will get their own djembe drum on which we will study beat, rhythm, and some authentic West African drum grooves.
Guitar: grades 3-5
This month, students in grades 3, 4, and 5 will be studying guitar. We first learn basic mechanics, guitar technique, and picking on the open strings. Later, we learn to create new sounds on the fret board. Finally, we study simple single note riffs and melodies using a guitar notation system called tablature.
Click here to view or download the song book we use in class.
Piano/Keyboard
Students in all grades have been studying the piano in class. The piano makes a great vehicle to teach basic musicianship, theory, and note reading.
In Kindergarten and grade 1, we start by simply exploring the keyboard experimenting with high and low, loud and soft, steps and skips between notes, and chromatic vs. diatonic patterns. Then, we'll be using a simpler finger-number notation system to play familiar melodies, first just using the black key groups, and ultimately, the white keys.
In grades 2 and 3, we spent several weeks learning "middle-C position" which centers both hands at middle C allowing us to begin reading and playing a variety of simple, single-note diatonic melodies. Over the next few weeks, we will be reading basic notation and practicing some of these simple songs. The packet we use in class is linked below.
In our older grades (4-5), we've been working through the same "Middle-C packet" as mentioned for grades 2 and 3 above. As the students have a bit more background reading and playing, they're given more open workshop time in class to work on songs in the packet of their choosing that match their ability level. This month, we've been holding informal "recitals" in each class where students can perform the song they've practiced either privately for me, or for the whole class.
Black key melodies - finger notation (Kindergarten and Grade 1)
Middle C packet - standard notation (Grades 2-5)
White Key melodies - finger notation
4th and 5th Grade Instruments
Macullen Byham (strings)
Maxwell Thew (winds, percussion)
Anthony Spano (winds, percussion)
Lowell Chorus
If your child is participating and you haven't yet officially signed them up, you can do so here.
So far in rehearsals we've been doing simple warmups using the major and minor scales and three songs which can be found here:
Two of Us by The Beatles: lyrics recording
Cybele's Reverie by Stereolab: lyrics recording
Round and Round the Earth is Turning: traditional round from Great Britain: lyrics recording
Songs we're Singing
Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
Rocketship Run - Laurie Birkner
A Tisket, A Tasket - Ella Fitzgerald
Follow the Drinking Gourd - traditional African-American code song
Abiyoyo - Book and song by Pete Seeger
We Shall Overcome - American folk song
Doggie Doggie, Where's Your Bone - Folk game/song
Ode to Joy - from Beethoven's Symphony #9, English translation
Mr. Sun - Raffi
If I Were a Tree - traditional
I Had a Little Rooster - traditional
Blackbird - The Beatles
Yellow Submarine - The Beatles
Kye Kye Cule - traditional, Ghana
My Aunt Came Back - traditional
Three Little Birds - Bob Marley
Down by the Bay - traditional
Skin and Bones - traditional
Pumpkin Bones - Quaver music
Round and Round the World is Turning - English folk song
A Ram Sam Sam - Moroccan folk song
Brown Bear, Brown Bear - singing game adapted from Eric Carle book