SJS Music

Recorders continue

• The 4th grade class had a great time at the Children's Symphony concert at the end of January!

• Following our trip to the symphony we have fallen into an unnatural and unplanned limbo of cancelled classes and substitutes due to sickness, field trips and scheduling conflicts, so we have only had 1 day on recorders since the end of January. That said, the day we did get to play was very productive! The class showed that they remembered what we have been learning, and were even able to learn more new material!

• We will continue to work at a steady pace until we feel that we have learned enough. At the end of our Recorder Unit (whenever it comes to a natural end) we will likely put on a small performance for you parents before beginning our final unit on the instruments of the Symphony Orchestra. 

Recorders!

• 2019 is upon us, and with the coming of the new year come Recorders!!

• We will be learning how to play recorders through the 3rd quarter, and maybe even into the 4th quarter! 

• Recorders and music are all being provided through the school, however, if you would like to purchase your own recorder you can find them at Morgenroth, the UofM bookstore, and even on Amazon! Student soprano recorders usually cost about $6

• Check out the links to the right -------> to find recorder information and songs to practice at home!

Florence Price

• Florence Beatrice Price

• (born Florence Beatrice Smith) born April 9, 1887  in Little Rock, Arkansas,– and died June 3, 1953 in Chicago Illinois)

• She is considered the first important African American woman composer. She was the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra.

• She was one of three children. Her father was a dentist and her mother was a piano teacher, and gave Florence her first few years of piano lessons.

• She had her first piano performance at the age of four and went on to have her first composition published at the age of 11.

• By the time she was 14, Florence had graduated from Capitol Hill High School and was Valedictorian of her graduating class!

• When she was 16 she enrolled in the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. She had 2 majors - Organ performance and piano teaching and graduated in 1906.

• Ms. Price taught in Arkansas briefly before moving to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1910, where she became the head of Clark Atlanta University's music department.

• In 1912, she married Thomas J. Price, a lawyer, and moved back to Little Rock, Arkansas, and later to Chicago.

• Financial struggles led to a divorce in 1931, and Florence became a single mother to her two daughters. To make ends meet, she worked as an organist for silent film screenings and composed songs for radio ads under a pen name.

• In 1932, Price submitted compositions for Wanamaker Foundation Awards. She won first prize with her Symphony in E minor, and third for her Piano Sonata, earning her a $500 prize.

• The world famous  Chicago Symphony Orchestra (made up of all white men), premiered her Symphony in E minor at the Chicago World’s fair  on June 15, 1933, making Price’s piece the first composition by an African-American woman to be played by a major orchestra!

• Price made considerable use of characteristic African American melodies and rhythms in many of her works.

• Price was inducted into the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers in 1940 for her work as a composer.

• She composed over 300 works by the time she retired from composing in 1949

On June 3, 1953, Price died from a stroke in Chicago, Illinois.

Christmas!

In the months of November and December, the fourth grade class has been preparing for the Christmas Concert! They are learning how to sing the song, "We Need a Little Christmas", and in honor of the 200th Anniversary of the song, they are learning how to sing "Silent Night" in the Native American language of Arapaho. They are also learning how to play the song "Joy to the World" on mallet instruments! They are very excited to share what they have learned for the Christmas Concert!

Rhythm

In the 3rd week of October the 4th grade class began their rhythm/composition unit. For the next several weeks the 4th graders will be learning how to read, recognize, clap and compose using quarter notes, eighth note pairs and sixteenth note sets. We are learning these rhythms by assigning each rhythm a Halloween theme.

Ghost = quarter note and gets 1 clap, Werewolf = eighth notes and gets 2 claps, and Jackolantern = sixteenth notes and gets 4 claps, and Vampire = eighth note/2 sixteeth note combo and gets 3 claps (count the syllables in each word to see how they line up!)

Students are working in groups of 4 to arrange their spooky rhythm cards into 4 beat patterns, and then performing their rhythms for the class.

By the end of the unit we will have combined each group's rhythms to create one giant class Rondo rhythm, and will maybe even add percussion instruments as well! 

I intend for this project to grow over several weeks, and we may even turn it into something exciting enough to perform at the Christmas concert!

Folk Dancing

In the folk dancing unit the  fourth graders will learn several dances from around the world, including two Native American dances. At the end of the unit we will combine our music and gym class periods for a week of Swing Dancing co-taught by Mrs. Greymorning and Mrs. Tirrell.