Buker Music News
March 2020 5th Grade and 4th Grade – In fourth and fifth grade, we have continued to work on and develop our ukulele skills. However, we are now taking songs we have played on the ukulele and applying them to the xylophones. For example, we have been strumming and singing along to the song “Wavin’ Flag”. Last week, we learned how to play this song on the xylophones, and we had a chance to perform it for our classmates. Next week, we will be keeping the same idea in mind when we work on performing “Riptide” on the xylophones. These have been great songs to practice because most of the kids really like them. 3rd Grade – We are continuing to advance our recorder skills! As of the beginning of the month, we have made it to the third belt (orange) and are working on the notes G, A, and B. Next week we will be adding on D. Last week, we tried to play our recorder songs as duets which brought on a whole new challenge. Playing together at the same tempo (speed) is something we will be continuously working on. Even in just a short number of weeks, it has been great to see improvement in the students’ playing! 2nd Grade – In second grade this month, we will be preparing some songs for Grandfriend’s Day. It will be exciting to sing for all of our Grandfriend’s and I know many of the students are excited for the performance. Some of the songs we will be singing are the famous Beatle’s tune “Yellow Submarine” and “This Land is Your Land”. Other than rehearsing for this concert, we have been enjoying some time on the xylophones. It has been a while since we used them, so we talked about how to appropriately use this instrument (or any instrument) as we practiced. We will continue to develop these skills over the next couple weeks! Kindergarten/1st Grade – Kindergarten and 1st grade will also be working on rehearsing a few songs for Grandfriend’s Day. We will be singing some songs such as “Oh, Susana” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag”. Like 2nd grade, we are continuing to develop our skills on the xylophones. We are practicing repeating back spoken or performed rhythms on specific pitches on our instrument. Some of us even got to try the bass xylophone which was a lot of fun. In addition to this, we have been doing a lot of singing with our circle games and will continue to practice singing as a group and as a soloist! If you have any questions or concerns, always feel free to reach out and email me at [email protected]. Thank you! Mike Buker Music News
February 2020 5th Grade and 4th Grade – In fourth and fifth grade, we have continued to work on and develop our ukulele skills. We have added a few new songs including, “Surfin’ U.S.A.”, “Wavin’ Flag”, and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. These songs have been a lot of fun to both strum to and sing along with. The plan is to keep adding in more songs and build our repertoire as the year goes on! We have been having fun incorporating the boomwhackers into our weekly classes as well. They are a great way to further develop steady beat. 3rd Grade – The last few weeks, we have been getting into our recorder program. I am impressed with how well the students have done so far! Last week, the students had the opportunity to get their “white belt” by performing “Hot Cross Buns”. The belts will follow the order of karate belts and each song will get a bit more advanced than the last. This week, we will be starting our “yellow belt” song “Fais Do Do”. 2nd Grade – In second grade this month, we will be learning a couple new songs and review some old ones. Last week, we sang a song called “A Sailor Went to Sea” which incorporates hand motions. After we practiced the song, the students had an opportunity to perform it in front of the class. We also learned how to play the well-known song “Oh, Susana” on the boomwhackers. Next week, we will be learning the popular Beatles song “Yellow Submarine”. Kindergarten/1st Grade – Kindergarten and 1st grade have been learning some fun activities and songs over the last couple weeks. This week, we will be singing along to “Oh, Susana”. Like second grade, we will try to play the song on the boomwhackers after we have learned it. Last week, we learned a song called “Ants Go Marching”. This is a great song because the students are able to get up and move around the room while singing. In the coming weeks, we will continue to build on our repertoire of songs! If you have any questions or concerns, always feel free to reach out and email me at [email protected]. Thank you! Mike Buker Music News
January 2020 Welcome back! I hope everyone had a restful break. 5th Grade and 4th Grade – In fourth and fifth grade, we will be picking up ukulele again and both review old chords and learn new ones. We are also spending a couple weeks doing an activity called “Mystery Message”. This is a great game for practicing hearing sequences of pitches and rhythms. It is similar to hangman, however, with a musical twist. Students try to identify and match a sequence of pitches played on the piano to the written form. This takes some practice, but it has become much easier. 3rd Grade – This month in third grade, we will be starting our recorder unit! The recorder is a great instrument to start with because it provides a solid foundation for any other instruments in the future. Next year, students will have the opportunity to learn their first band instrument, so recorder is a great way to prepare for that. We will be using a program called “Recorder Karate” in which students will try to earn “belts” for their recorder by performing the songs provided in the recorder unit. We start with the white belt and will progress all the way to black belt by the end of the year. 2nd Grade – In second grade, we have continued to learn new songs every week. Last week, we learned a song called “January”. This week, we will be learning one of my favorites called “Follow the Drinking Gourd”. This song tells the tale of the Underground Railroad and it is a catchy tune that students have loved to sing in the past. In addition, it is a great way to connect what the students are learning in their classroom to music class. Kindergarten/1st Grade – Kindergarten and 1st grade will be doing an activity this week that connects both art and music. We will be listening to a piece of classical music and students will be asked to draw or write what they think of or what comes to mind while they listen. I am always interested to see what they students hear in each piece that makes them draw or think of certain things. At the end of the activity, we will share our ideas with the whole class. If you have any questions or concerns, always feel free to reach out and email me at [email protected]. Thank you! Mike Buker Music News
December 2019 December is an exciting time for music class because we all get to sing and enjoy some of our favorite holiday songs. From Hanukkah to Christmas, we have been singing along to some of our favorites in order to get ready for our upcoming holiday concert! All of the students in every grade have been working hard at memorizing and rehearsing their grade’s song so we can put on the best performance come concert time. We hope to see you there! Other than our holiday concert practice, the older students be learning to play some winter classics on the xylophones. Next week, we will be learning “Carol of the Bells”. This is a great song to play solo and with a friend! We are playing the same songs on our BoomWhackers and hand bells for some variety. In the younger grades, we will be continuing to practice and develop our basic understanding of pitch and rhythm using the xylophones and call and response activities. These activities help develop the ability to hear a rhythmic pattern and then repeat it back. This is not easy but we are getting more proficient every time we practice! Happy Holidays and I hope to see you at our Winter Concert, on the 20th, at 1:45 pm, in the Buker auditorium! If you have any questions or concerns, always feel free to reach out and email me at [email protected]. Thank you! Mike Buker Music News
November 2019 5th Grade and 4th Grade – In fourth and fifth grade, we have been taking a break from our ukulele unit to pursue other instruments, such as our xylophones. We have been learning to play “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars and this week we will be starting “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter and “Main Theme” from Star Wars. It has been great to see the students work independently with their partners to learn these songs based on the information I give them. At the end of the time they are given, there is a chance for the students to perform what they learned in front of the class and this has been very successful. I am looking forward to continuing to see progress in the future! 3rd Grade – In third grade, just like the older students, have been working on the xylophones. We are working on similar songs but at a little bit slower of a pace. We will also be learning an activity called “Mystery Message”. This is similar to hangman but with rhythms and it helps students develop the skill to see a melody on a paper and be able to recognize when it sounds high and low. With December right around the corner, we will be starting our Winter Song very soon! 2nd Grade – In second grade, we have been continuing with our singing circle games, but we have also been singing through many songs and having a chance to perform them for the class. Last week, we sang “You’re a Grand Old Flag” for Veterans’ Day and it was great to see the enthusiasm from the students when they sang it in front of their peers. We have been learning to play hand bells, which are similar to Boomwhackers. These provide a fun way to practice both notation and rhythm/steady beat. Kindergarten/1st Grade – Kindergarten and 1st grade have been singing many similar songs as 2nd Grade. We have continued to learn new singing games and we even got a chance to play on the xylophones! We learned the appropriate way to play them and have been developing a basic understanding of rhythm with these instruments. Like 2nd Grade, we have been using the hand bells which has been a lot of fun. This week, we will be starting our Winter Song! If you have any questions or concerns, always feel free to reach out and email me at [email protected]. Thank you! Mike Buker Music News
October 2019 5th Grade and 4th Grade – In fourth and fifth grade, we have been continuing to progress with our ukulele unit. We have added in a few new chords and have tried playing new songs such as “Riptide” and “I’m Yours”. We have also enjoyed singing along to songs such as “Count on Me” and “Lava”. In the coming weeks, we will continue to develop our skills and progress to even more difficult songs. The great thing about the four chords we have been mainly practicing is that it opens a door to hundreds of pop songs that students hear on the radio every day. Besides ukulele we have been using our hands drums and working on steady beat through our Boomwhackers. 3rd Grade – In third grade, we are taking a break from all the note reading to further develop steady beat and pitch. We learned to sing a song called “Alfred the Alligator” as a group and individually. We have been performing “Move-It” activities which provide a fun and engaging way for students to develop steady beat. Here is a link to an example of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKarzUS0X78 We assign different hand movements or instruments to each symbol as we play along. It has been a lot of fun! 2nd Grade – In second grade, we have been continuing with our singing circle games, but we have also been developing our steady beat through “Move-It” activities just like 3rd grade. We learned to sing a song called “Fall” and, after singing it, we transferred it over to our xylophones. It was a great experience to be able to play a song on the xylophones that we also knew how to sing. After we learned the song on the xylophones, we added in extra instruments, such as the rain stick, to create our own arrangement. This was a great way to take a pre-existing song and make it our own. Kindergarten/1st Grade – Kindergarten and 1st grade are continuing to develop all of the basic foundation skills that are going to be needed as they get older. We have progressed onto more difficult circle games and have even started working on steady beat through the use of our Boomwhackers. We learned a singing game called “Peg Leg the Pirate” which was a great way to practice our singing as a group. These singing games are so great because they create a stress-free environment to sing. When students see their friends singing, it can help encourage others to sing. In addition to this, those students who do not like singing individually will feel more inclined to sing if there is a game that goes along with it. If you have any questions or concerns, always feel free to reach out and email me at [email protected]. Thank you! Mike Buker Music News
September 2019 Welcome Back – I hope everyone had a great summer! The school year has begun and I am looking forward to another great year at Buker. We are doing some exciting things in music class and a preview of our September activities for each grade level can be seen below! 5th Grade – Towards the end of last year, we spent a large chunk of time learning ukulele. In September, we are working towards regaining that knowledge by playing through popular songs such as “Best Day of My Life” and “I’m Yours”. We are starting to remember previously learned chords and I am looking forward to adding both new songs and chords into the mix as we keep progressing! In addition to this, any 5th grade student who took group instrumental lessons is welcome to sign-up for band this year! The sign-ups will open in a couple of weeks and I am happy to have anyone that would like to be a part of the ensemble. 5th grade students are also eligible to begin learning an instrument this year. It is never too late! 4th Grade – Like 5th grade, we have been learning ukulele, however, this is our first experience with this instrument for most of us, so we are starting from the beginning. Last week, we started by learning the chords “C” and “F”. The great thing about this is that many pop songs can be played with just these two chords! We started off by playing along to the song “Best Day of My Life” and will be adding more songs and chords in the near future. In addition to this, 4th grade is an exciting time because students are able to pick up a band instrument if they are interested. The instruments offered by our district are trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet, saxophone, and percussion. Both myself and the other instrumental instructors will be doing a live demonstration for the kids on September 18th if students are unsure about which instrument they might be interested in. 3rd Grade – Before I even tell the students, most of them know that 3rd grade is the year for recorder. For many students, this is their first real instrumental experience which is very exciting! Before we jump into recorder in a few months, we need to make sure that our note reading is ready to go. We have been doing many activities that challenge and develop our ability to read notes on the staff. I am looking forward to making some more progress in the coming weeks so that our experience with the recorder is the best it can be! 2nd Grade – At the beginning of 2nd grade, we spend a large portion of our time reviewing activities from 1st grade. We are doing many circle games which encourage students to both sing with the rest of the class as well as individually with little pressure. We are practicing our instrumental abilities on a brand-new instrument this year, the steel drum. This is a lot of fun to play and it also gives students a taste of a difference culture at the same time. In the coming weeks, we will be continuing these activities to strengthen our musical foundation which will become important in later years. Kindergarten/1st Grade – Kindergarten and 1st grade are both working on developing basic musical skills in all areas of the subject. We have been exploring pitch through the use of a slide whistle. After I play a series of notes on it, the students try to sing back as accurate as they can. Like 2nd grade, we have started circle games. Circle games are a great way to get the entire group singing because it creates a low-pressured environment in which students do not need to feel embarrassed about joining in with the rest of the class. We have started to explore instruments, such as drums, to introduce rhythm. We have been developing our sense of steady beat by tapping along to popular songs such as “Happy”. I am looking forward to pursuing these activities in greater depth over the next few weeks! If you have any questions or concerns, always feel free to reach out and email me at [email protected]. Thank you! Mike Welcome back everybody and I hope you had a great holiday season! I am looking forward to a great rest of the school year in 2019.
In Grade 5 this week, we practiced our ukulele skills. It has been a long time since we last played, so we tried to remind ourselves of all of the chords we learned (C, F, Am, G). We then applied the chords to songs such as, "Best Day of My Life", and "Can't Stop the Feeling". In Grades 3 and 4, we started off with a song called "January". We first learned how to sing it and then we tried to sing it in a round. Students also had a chance to come and sing in front of the class as either a duet or trio. In Grades K-2, we started off with a song called "Ants Marching". This is a great song that gets all the students up and moving while singing. At the end of class, we had a chance to play our hand drums. -Mr. Ferreira In 5th grade, we are continuing to hone our ukulele skills. As of the past couple classes, we have added a couple new songs such as "Can't Stop the Feeling", and "All of Me". It has been a lot of fun seeing the students get more advanced at this instrument as the weeks have gone on!
In 3rd and 4th grade, we have been working on different rhythm activities that utilize both quarter notes and eighth notes. This week, we discussed how many beats each rhythm gets and practiced playing them on our drums. In 1st and 2nd grade, we have been doing a variety of different singing, movement, and rhythm activities. We have gotten the chance to perform songs both as solos and with friends. This week we interpreted the piece "Aquarium", from "Carnival of the Animals", through movement. In kindergarten, we have been doing similar activities as 1st and 2nd grade but on a more fundamental level. We have gotten the chance to use both the xylophones and the hand drums which has been a lot of fun! Next week, we will most likely be starting and preparing our Winter Concert songs! -Mr. Ferreira In 5th grade, we have been continuing our ukulele journey. We have been practicing the chords: C. F, G/G7 and Am. In order to practice these chords, we have been playing songs such as, "Best Day of My Life," "I'm Yours," and "Riptide." I am looking forward to seeing continued progress as the year goes on!
In 3rd and 4th grade, we are making our own Orff arrangements of a song called, "The Sun is Rising." First, we learn the song, and then we took the same song over to our xylophones. After we finished on the xylophones, we added new instruments, such as hand drums and the rainstick, to complete our arrangement. In Kindergarten through 2nd grade, we have been doing a variety of activities, such as movement games, circle games and pitch exploration. At the end of class, we have been exploring the hand drums and the xylophones through different activities, such as "Poison Rhythm." -Mr. Ferreira |
Mr. FerreiraK-5 General Music |