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An expert in teaching creative children and helping parents understand their creative child, Catherine coaches parents, and works with students of all ages, teaching music and the piano, along with several other instruments. Creative people see the world and every aspect of the world differently from other people. As children we don't know we are doing that. Unfortunately parents think that their child is just being difficult. It wasn't until Catherine was in her 40s that she realized she WAS creative and that that was why she never really 'fit' in with what everyone else was saying or thinking or feeling. Since then she has been taking her experiences and helping others to understand what they are going through.

Monday, July 26, 2010

The Elements of Music

In music there are 3 basic elements. They are melody, rhythm, and harmony.

The melody is that part of the song that people will usually sing. Some call it the tune or the song.

The melody needs the rhythm to be recognized. When you move to the music, you are moving to the beat, or rhythm of the song.

The harmony is all the musical notes that you are hearing around the melody. Sometimes this part is also sung.

All music regardless of the style is based on these three elements. Think about pop, rock, hip-hop, and heavy metal. What do they all have in common? They all have a melody, rhythm, and harmony. Listen to your favorite song. Hear where the three basic elements of music are found in that song.

Enjoy!!! *smiles*

If you have a question you would like me to answer about learning music please email me at Catherines.Music.Notes@gmail.com

Catherine
"Music lessons should be about the student. Each student learns in different ways, and at different speeds. Music is a journey, and on that journey, we will work and learn together." - Catherine

Books with CDs include:
Impressions Volume One and Two
Marches

CDs include:
Wedding Bells
Lullabies

http://sites.google.com/site/musicbycatherine
www.ShoutLife.com/ClassyKeys
http://catherinesmusicnotes.blogspot.com/


Monday, July 19, 2010


Questions and Answers


1. What do you think is important for music teachers to teach?
Whether it be in a classroom or in individual private lessons, it is important for the students to learn how to hear the music (ear training), see the music (learn to read music), and feel the music (dynamics) and compose music. It is also important to learn how to count the music, because without counting others will not recognize the song and also you can not play with a group. And correct fingering on any musical instrument gives control, easy movement, smoothness of sound, and confidence in the students playing of the musical instrument.

2. Where did country music come from, what started it?
Country Music came from what was called Old Time Music. Over 300 years ago, immigrants brought their musical instruments to the New World. The Irish brought their fiddles, the Germans the dulcimer, the Italians the mandolin, the Spanish the guitar, and the West Africans brought the banjo. These were the most common instruments in the original Old Time Music. Country Music is considered a southern music movement, but it was a combination musical traditions of all the different ethnic groups playing together.

Just a reminder that you are never too old to learn a musical instrument. Here is a blog about the Good Samaritan Handbell Choir that I teach:

Good Samaritan Handbell Choir Show
July 15, 2010.

What an awesome group of people that are learning to play the handbells! Eunice plays middle "C" with a lot of heart. She can even play it as she scratches her ankle. Wilma May works very hard making "D" ring loud an clear. Mrs C. plays "E". She speaks no English, yet she knows when it is her turn to play. Bessie plays "F". Bessie has always wanted to play music and learn to read music. The group agrees they should learn to read music, so they are learning the note names and the values of each note.

Katherine is our very solid "G". It is very important to her to be at every practice. She is very diligent. "A" is what Delia plays. She brings smiles with her to class. Erlene plays "B". She loves music, she loves learning, and she thinks being in the handbell choir is very interesting. Fay plays "C" or whatever other bell we need. She is our pinch hitter for the bell choir. Fred reminds me he is hard of hearing, but he never misses when it is time to play the high "D". Clem was born in Milan, Italy. He loves music. He plays high "E". Donald, who was not feeling well enough to perform is usually our high "F". Ada played the high "D" for the show. She is another one of our pinch hitters.

I am very proud of this group. The youngest is 67 years old and the oldest is 99 years old. Listen to a part of their show by clicking here. This show was called "America".

If you have a question you would like me to answer about learning music please email me at Catherines.Music.Notes@gmail.com or Music.By.Catherine@gmail.com

Have a Musical Day! *smiles*

Catherine

"Music lessons should be about the student. Each student learns in different ways, and at different speeds. Music is a journey, and on that journey, we will work and learn together." - Catherine

Books with CDs include:
Impressions Volume One and Two
Marches

CDs include:
Wedding Bells
Lullabies

http://sites.google.com/site/musicbycatherine
www.ShoutLife.com/ClassyKeys
http://catherinesmusicnotes.blogspot.com


Monday, July 12, 2010

Discovery Page:

A percussion instrument produces sound (music) when hit, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by an action which causes vibration.

Answer the Questions:

1. The word percussion comes from which language?
2. True or False. Percussion instruments were the first musical instruments.
3. Can percussion instruments have pitch?
4. Is the piano a percussion instrument?


More Discovery:
Name several percussion instruments. After you have done this, then draw pictures or craft percussion instruments. Another activity would be to write a poem that can be said to a rhythm.
Send your poems with rhythm, and your drawings to me at Music.By.Catherine@gmail.com
I'll put some of them on my blog.



Answers:
1. Latin. Percussio is to beat or strike to produce music.
2. False. The voice was the first musical instrument. The first hand-made musical instruments were probably percussion instruments.
3. Yes.
4. Yes, watch the action inside a piano. A hammer strikes the strings to produce the musical sounds.



If you have a question you would like me to answer about learning music please email me at Catherines.Music.Notes@gmail.com or Music.By.Catherine@gmail.com


Catherine
"Music lessons should be about the student. Each student learns in different ways, and at different speeds. Music is a journey, and on that journey, we will work and learn together." - Catherine


Books with CDs include:
Impressions Volume One and Two
Marches
CDs include:
Wedding Bells
Lullabies

http://sites.google.com/site/musicbycatherine
www.ShoutLife.com/ClassyKeys
http://catherinesmusicnotes.blogspot.com

Monday, July 5, 2010


Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers


"Music helps with self esteem and self discipline as well as school subjects."

Listen to music with your child everyday!!!

Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year, compared to children who do not receive musical training. Musically trained children performed better in a memory test that is correlated with general intelligence skills such as literacy, verbal memory, visiospatial processing, mathematics, and IQ. - Dr. Laurel Trarinor, Prof. of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behavior at McMaster University, 2006.

Playing a musical instrument significantly enhances the brain stem's sensitivity to speech sounds. This relates to encoding skills involved with music and language. Experience with music at a young age can "fine-tune" the brain's auditory system. - Nature Neuroscience, April 2007.

For musical activities to do with your young child go to my website, find the preschool page. http://sites.google.com/site/musicbycatherine

Don't forget about your pots and pans band. If your young one holds their ears and cries, it is probably hurting their ears. Many young children with a good ear for music do not like loud sounds.

If you have a question or questions you would like me to answer please email me at: Catherines.Music.Notes@gmail.com or Music.By.Catherine@gmail.com


Have a musical day!

Catherine
"Music lessons should be about the student. Each student learns in different ways, and at different speeds. Music is a journey, and on that journey, we will work and learn together." - Catherine

Books with CDs include:
Impressions Volume One and Two
Marches
CDs include:
Wedding Bells
Lullabies

http://sites.google.com/site/musicbycatherine
www.ShoutLife.com/ClassyKeys
http://catherinesmusicnotes.blogspot.com

Friday, July 2, 2010

The Woodwind Family

There are four families of instruments in the orchestra. Today we will talk about the woodwind family. This family includes the flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe and bassoon. Originally these instruments were made of wood. Today they are made of wood, plastic, or metal. You play them by blowing air through them. That is how the family got it's name, woodwind.
Woodwinds are either blown as flutes or reeds. With reeds when you blow air through the reed it vibrates, that starts the air in the instruments moving, which creates the sound. Flutes have a hole that the player blows across. The air inside the flute vibrating creates the sound.
Take time to listen to the instruments in this family and decide which sound you like the the best. Also, I have left out a few of the instruments in this family. Can you figure out which ones they are?

This is a bassoon.


If you have a question or questions you would like me to answer please email me at: Catherines.Music.Notes@gmail.com or Music.By.Catherine@gmail.com


Have a musical day! *smiles*

Catherine
"Music lessons should be about the student. Each student learns in different ways, and at different speeds. Music is a journey, and on that journey, we will work and learn together." - Catherine

Books with CDs include:
Impressions Volume One and Two
Marches

CDs include:
Wedding Bells
Lullabies

http://sites.google.com/site/musicbycatherine
www.ShoutLife.com/ClassyKeys
http://catherinesmusicnotes.blogspot.com