Greetings from the K-2 Music Room!

Greetings from the K-2 Music Room!
Posted on 04/04/2016
Please mark your calendars for the upcoming musical events at the Peabody:

Wednesday, April 13 | 9:15AM | 5th Grade Instrumental Concert & Early Bird Singers Concert

Wednesday, May 11 | 9:15AM | Grades 1-4 Spring Concert
Students will wear traditional concert attire of white tops and black bottoms.

Date TBD | Family Folk Dance
Stay tuned!

June 17 | Kindergarten Graduation Concert
Time: TBD. A fun event! Please come see how they have grown!

As we head out of the March Madness Reading competitions and into National Poetry Month for April, I have taken some time to reflect about the symbiotic relationship of text and music.

The first and second graders are beginning to study the song The Crocodile as we begin to work on the repertoire for the Spring Concert. The Crocodile is based on the Lewis Carroll poem featured in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!

According to Martin Gardiner’s book, The Annotated Alice: “How Doth the Little Crocodile is a parody of the moralistic poem Against Idleness and Mischief by Isaac Watts, which is what Alice was originally trying to recite. Watts' poem begins How doth the little busy bee ... and uses the bee as a model of hard work. In Carroll's parody, the crocodile's corresponding virtues are deception and predation, themes which recur throughout Alice's adventures in both books, and especially in the poems.”

In the Kindergarten we will be exploring the relationship between nursery rhymes and songs. The Kindergarteners will be singing several songs based on nursery rhymes such as Sing A Song of Sixpence. This particular nursery rhyme was first published in 1744 and we believe originated in the 18th century. It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index #13191. The melody came later from a book called “The Only True Mother Goose Melodies” published in Boston by Munroe & Francis in 1833.

I often discuss this with all my students that often a composer will choose a poem or a rhyme to create a melody for. These are some wonderful examples of how this has happened throughout history. Even the beloved tune Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star was a first a nursery rhyme and then was set to a tune of a French melody called Ah! vous dirai-je, maman published in 1761 and later arranged by several composers including W.A. Mozart.

In addition to these wonderful nursery rhymes and folk songs there are some wonderful song books that your children may enjoying checking out of the library this month. Some we may have in house and some you can borrow from the public library.

Music Book List
“Where Go the Boats” play-poems of Robert Louis Stevenson, Pictures by Max Grover; ISBN 0-15-2017119
“There Was a Man and He Was Mad” Adapted by John Fiereabend; ISBN 978-1-57999-681-9
“Inch by Inch: The Garden Song” by David Mallett, pictures by Ora Eitan; ISBN: 0-06-443481-8
“Goin’ to Boston” by H. Ellen Margolin, illustrated by Emily Bolam; ISBN: 1-929766-45-9
“Go Tell Aunt Rhody” Illustrated by Aliki; ISBN: 0-02-711920-3
“Abiyoyo” by Pete Seeger, illustrations by Michael Hays; ISBN: 0-590-42720-2
“Frog Went A-Courtin” by John Langstaff, pictures by Feodor Rojankovsky; ISBN: 0-15-230214-x
“Over in the Meadow” illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats; ISBN: 0-670-88344-1

On another note...
As we head into allergy season, I am relying on the kindness of parents to donate to our growing need for tissues and hand sanitizer in the music room. We are done to our last box of tissues! It has been a tough year with colds and viruses and the supplies in the music room have been hit hard. If you are able to make a small donation to keep us healthy and our noses from running both the students and myself would greatly appreciate it. And wonderful thank you to the tissue fairies who have already dropped a few boxes off. We are so grateful! Thank you and Happy Spring!

Musically Yours,

Ms. Bach
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