Monday, March 30, 2015

March's Composer of the Month

 This month we dived head-first into the amazing world of jazz and the kids LOVED it! There are so many great jazz composers and musicians, but perhaps the most influential and talented one is this month's composer-Duke Ellington! Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer (1000+ pieces), pianist, and bandleader of jazz orchestras with a career spanning over 50 years. We enjoyed listening to and learning some of the major differences of jazz and other genres. Students even got to try improvising on instruments and scatting with some of the tracks!
Take the A Train (Billy Strayhorn collaboration)
C Jam Blues
 It Don't Mean a Thing

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Arr! 5th Grade's Program Was a Scurvy Good One!

  5th Grade was transformed into buccaneers in their fun music program, How to Be a Pirate in 7 Easy Songs. They learned how to talk and dress like a pirate, raise the Jolly Roger, follow a treasure map to find loot, and so much more! Both the kids and audience alike was full of pirate pride by the end of the program-check out our swashbuckling photos!