It's almost Halloween!!

I love Halloween!  Last year we learned about Danny Elfman.  He is a movie composer who writes some pretty creapy music!  We watched this video last year in class.  And, I have had several requests for it this year.  So, check it out!!

Music Makes You Smarter!

Ever wonder why we play recorders?

How playing an instrument benefits your brain:

Alan Menken

The Musician of the Month for October has been 

Alan Menken.

Alan Menken is a movie composer who has written the music for lots of movies.  Here are a few videos that we have watched in class about Alan Menken.

Alan Menken intro video:

The Best of Alan Menken:

The King of New York from Newsies!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to DES!  I'm glad to be back and am excited about another great year in MUSIC!!  

This week we are going over rules and then singing some fun songs using the beanie babies!

Click HERE to watch the rules video.

Click below to watch the Frozen Best Day of My Life video:

Mozart

The Musician of the Month for February has been Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Mozart is one of the most well known Classical Composers of all time!  He was a child prodigy that wrote his first music at the age of 5!  Here is a short BIO about him!

This week we have been learning about his operas!  Here are a couple of videos we watched in class.

We have participated in many activities using his music (playing instruments, EATING COOKIES!!, and waving streamers!

Recorder Karate!

We are also beginning Recorder Karate with 4th and 5th grades.  We are working hard to make it to black belt!  

In the Recorder Karate program, there are 9 songs that represent the 9 belts.  Students work together in groups to play and test on each song.  When they have "mastered" the song, they test.  If they pass the test (play the song - notes and rhythms - correctly with good tone), they earn their belt.  The receive a colored strong to tie around their recorder and they get to "announce it to the world" by signing the poster in the hall!  This is a great program that my students love.  Some of them get very competitive.  

Elvis Month

Well, its been a while!  I'm sorry that I haven't updated recently!  

This month is Elvis month at DES.  Everyone around here knows how much Mrs. Stahl loves Elvis Presley.  And, he is our Musician of the Month for January.  You can see some videos on the Elvis tab at the top of the page.