Mrs. Hamilton's and Mr. Galvez's Classes -- "T'zena, T'zena"

Hi again fifth graders -- as mentioned our last song will be "T'zena, T'zena" an Israeli folk tune made famous by the Weavers. You guys already sing this very well, but I didn't see any harm in posting some audio practice clips especially since I had a very good recording by a children's group from England. I am also posting a pronunciation clip. Work on the Hebrew words and remember that we are going to make a canon out of the English verse.

Mrs. Hamilton's and Mr. Galvez's Classes -- "A Change Is Gonna Come"

Hi Fifth Grade Home School -- "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cook is not usually thought of as a holiday tune, but the rule with music celebrating Kwanzaa is that any African or African-American song will do, and this is one of the all time great songs from civil right era.

We will be singing this in two parts, but since I have not decided which class will be doing which, please familiarize yourself with both.

Mr. Earl's and Mr. Oasay's Classes - "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"

Hi again, fifth grade -- since our first song presents so many challenges, I wanted to do something a little less complicated for our other number. That doesn't mean "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" won't take a little work to sing well. Pay particular attention to the sustained notes. Just like in instrumental music you need to maintain a steady flow of air in order to stay on pitch. There are also some cool examples of chromaticism (half steps) to test how well you hear those intervals. We'll work on all of it in class, but in the meantime practice will only make you sound better.

One small correction -- the sheet music has the line "from now on our troubles will be far away" so that's what would up in the recording. Please substitute the line "our troubles will be miles away" as it appears below.

Mr. Earl's and Mr. Oasay's Classes - "Huron Carol"

Hi Fifth Grade Magnet -- after a long delay (for which I apologize) here at least is the practice material for "Huron Carol," the famous Canadian Carol written by Jean de Brébeuf for the Huron Indians. You will find two audio files below the lyric sheet -- the upper one will take you through the pronunciation of the Wendat and French verses and the other is recording to the entire carol with the drone. We still have drums, xylophones and possibly recorders to add to our arrangement so please get to work on these vocals.

Mr. Austin's and Ms. Brier's Class -- "Zemir Atik"

Hi fourth grade home school -- by now you should have checked out the ukulele videos for Little Moses which were posted last week (and can still be found if you check the November archive to the left). Our other song, Zemir Atik (sometimes called Nigun Atik,) is one of the world's oldest songs. The name, fittingly, means "ancient melody."

The song uses the Egyptian scale and is in Hebrew, so you have your work cut out for you. Below are two audio files, one dedicated to the pronunciation of the words and the other to singing the melody. We will work on the instrumental accompaniment in class.

Ms. McLeod's and Ms. Zarakowski's Classes - "Peace Train"

Here's is our other song -- "Peace Train" by Cat Stevens. Remember that the key here is going to be to sing along with the Son Clave beat.

Ms. McLeod's and Ms. Zarakowski's Classes - "Pojdzmy Wszyscy Do Stajenki"

Hi Second Grade students -- our first of two tunes for the Holiday show is a Polish carol entitled "Pojdzmy Wszyscy Do Stajenki." There are many beautiful holiday songs that come from Poland, as does Ms. Zarakowski, but it is a challenging language to speak and to sing, so I've added a pronunciation track for you to practice with. I have a feeling you will recognize the instructors voice pretty quickly.

And below is the verse in Polish sung at normal speed. I have only included the Polish verse and the English verses are sun to the same melody and should give you no trouble. Note that I have also included the glockenspiel part.

Ms. Gary's, Ms. Robinson's and Ms. Sae-Tang Classes - "North Winds Blow"

Hello Again First Grade Students -- here is our other song composed by the famous music teacher Zoltan Kodaly and including the special lyrics that we wrote. This recording will help you learn the words. We can work on the body percussion parts in class.

Ms. Gary's, Ms. Robinson's and Ms. Sae-Tang Classes - "Jambo Bwana"

Hello First Grade Students -- our first song for the holiday show is Jambo Bwana, the famous East African tune where the expression Hakuna Matata comes from. Those words and all the others are in Swahili so you need to get to work memorizing them. And don't forget about our dance moves!

Mr. Ellis's and Ms. Ryan's Classes - "Happy Christmas/War is Over" Part 3

Wonderland Avenue Music - "Happy Christmas/War is Over" (in F) - Part 3 from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

And here is part 3.  If you want to come back from the break ready to rock out, who am I to stand in your way?  :)

Mr. Ellis's and Ms. Ryan's Classes - "Happy Christmas/War is Over" Part 2

Wonderland Avenue Music - "Happy Christmas/War is Over" (in F) - Part 2 from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Although we haven't covered it in class yet, I decided to go ahead and post part 2 and 3 of "Happy Christmas/War is Over" in case any of you are ready to move on over the Thanksgiving break.

Mr. Austin's and Ms. Brier's Classes - "Little Moses"

Wonderland Avenue Music - Ukes - "Little Moses" from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Hey Fourth Graders -- here is a video tutorial for "Little Moses" - one of our songs from the upcoming holiday show.  It is geared more toward the ukulele players, but you may all find it useful.  Hopefully you will come back from the Thanksgiving break singing and playing it with confidence.

Mr. Ellis's and Ms. Ryan's classes - "Happy Christmas/War is Over" - Part 1

Wonderland Avenue Music - "Happy Christmas/War Is Over" (in F) - Part 1 from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Hi Fourth Grade Magnet -- this video is more for the ukulele players.  It will teach you how to make the first three (of six) chords to play the song.  I will publish the rest of the chords and lyrics soon, but this should be enough to get you started.
 

Recorder Ensemble - "Zuni Song"

Three Minute Recorder - Zuni Song from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Hey Recorder Ensemble -- I didn't forget about you.  This video should help more of you learn to play the main part of "Zuni Song."  Hope you will working on this over the Thanksgiving break (which is, after all, an appropriate time of year to be playing Native American music).  And don't forget about "Water Come A Me Eye."  You can find a link to those video in the archive to the left.

Ms. Weiss's, Ms. Lamoureaux's and Ms. Epstein's classes - "Arabian Coffee" - Part 2

Three Minute Recorder - Arabian Coffee Part 2 from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.
Hi again third grade -- here's the second part of "Arabian Coffee," which I think most of you will find very easy to play -- if you know your notes from "Little Johnny Brown" (and I know you do) you are basically there.  Can't wait to here how the parts sound together!

Ms. Weiss's, Ms. Lamoureaux's and Ms. Epstein's classes - "Arabian Coffee" Part 1

Three Minute Recorder - Arabian Coffee Part 1 from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Hi Third Graders -- here is the song we began learn last week for the holiday show - "Arabian Coffee" -- the video above should be useful in learning how to play the song, one of my favorite parts of the "Nutcracker."  We have some xylophone and finger cymbal parts to learn, so get busy.  And when you are done with this, be sure and give part 2 a listen.

Ms. Toppino's and Ms. Salazar's Classes - "Tune of the Buffens"

Three Minute Recorder - "Tune of the Buffens" - Part 1 from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Hi Ms. Toppino's and Ms. Salazar's classes -- here is a tutorial video and the music for the song we learned today -- "Tune of the Buffens."  Don't forget about our other song "Come Let Us Gather" which you can locate in the blog archive on the left side of this web page.

Coyote String Band - "Distant Land to Roam" - Play Along/Sing Along

Coyote String Band - Distant Land to Roam from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Here's our third song, "Distant Land to Roam."

Remember, there is no substitute for practice when it comes to music.  How good we sound at our concerts depends entirely on how much work we put it in our practice sessions.  The good news is that once your skills develop you will always have them and can use them to play all kinds of songs.

So now y'all get busy!  :)

Coyote String Band - "Angel Band" - Sing Along/Play Along

Coyote String Band - Angel Band from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Hi Coyotes -- here's our second song "Angel Band."  Remember this song is in triple meter or, as I often say, "in 3."

This is also one of the songs we will sing at the Mulholland Tennis Club on Wednesday, December 10, so carollers also take note.

Coyote String Band - "Little Birdy" - Sing Along/Play Along

Coyote String Band - Little Birdy from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Hey Coyote String Band -- here's something knew I'm trying, that was suggested by Mr. Bonk.  He and I recorded all three of our Winter Concert pieces, so you could practice singing along and playing along as we do in class.  All the words to songs are embedded as subtitles.  All you need to do is sing along and play along.

The first song is "Little Birdy"  Hope this will keep you busy over the Thanksgiving break.

Ms. Toppino's and Ms. Salazar's Classes - "Come Let Us Gather"

Three Minute Recorder - Come Let Us Gather from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Hello students.   I delighted to start the posting of holiday show tutorials with your classes.  This video will show you how to play the first of our two songs for Winter Wonderland 2014.  Watching the video counts as your daily practice so what are you waiting for?

Recorder Ensemble - Water Come A Me Eye Part 2

Three MInute Recorder "Water Come A Me Eye" Part 2 from Richard Lawton on Vimeo.

Recorder ensemble members -- here is the harmony part for "Water Come A Me Eye."  Something for all of you to work on while I am away this week.  Remember -- watching the video counts toward your practice.