We learned A LOT week! 

• The yellow chord - - your kids are catching on to making the chord shapes with the correct fingering so quickly. I'm so impressed. 

• How to play a C Major Scale with the left hand - - I can't tell you how COOL it is that your 5, 6, or 7 year old is already learning how to play a Major Scale! They may still need some help with understanding how to pop their bubble including assistance to know which fingers hit which keys. Each kid only tried out the C Major scale once so use the Play at Home video to help guide your child as they play it home this week.

• The LH of the first line of Robin Hood!

Thanks for the effort you put into helping your child practice. Keep it up!! Put your yellow stickers on the Bass Clef Notes B, D, and G - - there's a video showing where to put them and the fingering for the yellow chord (as well as some other videos to help with the practicing this week).

Next week is parent day! It will be great to have our special grown-ups there and I will have a mini music store available.

C Position & Middle C Position

We learned where the RH and LH rest on the keyboard for both of these positions. With C Position the RH Thumb (Finger 1) is on Middle C and LH Pinky (Finger 5) is on Bass C. With Middle C Position both Thumbs (Fingers 1) share Middle C. We liken this position to a butterfly. The two thumbs resting on middle c together are the butterfly body and their hands are the wings. Are their soft wings (fingers) resting gently on the keys? 

A fun review is to chant each position, simply moving the LEFT HAND back and forth. Practice in the air, at the kitchen table, in the car running errands, and of course on the piano! 

C Major Scale

We learned how to play UP the C Major Scale (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do) with our LEFT HAND. We don’t have enough fingers to play this scale, so we learned how to POP our bubble hands and then reset them to complete the scale. Practice this SLOWLY to ensure that your child plays this correctly. 1) Play Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol with 5-4-3-2-1 fingers with a rounded bubble hand. 2) To play La, POP finger number 3 over the thumb. 3) Reset the BUBBLE and proceed to play La, Ti, Do with finger numbers 3-2-1.

I Am Robin Hood

Enjoy ‘drumming’ the slow slugs on the piano with the interval of a 5th using Left Hand Bass Clef fingers 5 and 1 when practicing this song. Sing the melody together while parents drum along on laps, the edge of the piano, clap along to keep a steady slug beat or drum with any can, canister, or container from around the home. Switch places so parents can play and kiddos can drum!

Do You Want to Build a YELLOW Snowman?

This bottom heavy snowman built with a 3rd on the bottom and a 4th on the top is melting from the YELLOW sun! We play this chord with fingers 5-3-1. Place Left Hand in C Position. SLIDE Finger 5 (pinky) and Finger 3 (middle finger) down one baby step while Finger 1 (thumb) stays put. Now time your musician for 30 seconds and count how many bass clef Yellow Chords they can play!

We call our new puppet show “The Pirate Ship” but the real title is Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms. The Hungarian Dances are a set of 21 lively dance tunes based mostly on Hungarian themes. They are among Brahms' most popular works, and were certainly the most profitable for him. Each dance has been arranged for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles. Brahms originally wrote the version for piano four-hands and later arranged the first 10 dances for solo piano. The most famous is HungarianDance No. 5. 

I value open and honest communication so please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, concerns, or comments.

Thank you!