A place for Mr. G's P.S./I.S.78Q students to get materials.
The pop hits of the future might be written not by human musicians, but by machine-learning algorithms that have learned the rules of catchy music, and apply them to create never-before-heard melodies. Those tunes may not even require human hands to be heard, because a growing army of musical robots, from bagpipes to xylophones, can already play themselves—even improvise too.
Proteins are the building blocks of life. They make up everything from cells and enzymes to skin, bones, and hair, to spider silk and conch shells.
But it’s notoriously difficult to understand the complex shapes and structures that give proteins their unique identities. So at MIT, researchers are unraveling the mysteries of proteins using a more intuitive language—music.
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is the main character in the opera. He is the type of person that will say or promise anything to get what he wants, but never keeps his promise. La Ci Darem La Mano is a duet, which means there are two singers. In it Don Giovanni is trying to get a woman named Zerlina to go for a walk with him and hold his hand, but she knows that he is not a nice person, so she doesn’t want to go at first. Eventually, he convinces her to go.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a musical genius. His music is not only beautiful, but he also had some really creative ideas that he used to make his music extra interesting and artistic. As you listen to this piece, notice that Mozart is illustrating the conversation using the singer’s vocal melodies. At first, Don Giovanni sings alone. Then Zerlina answers him and they sing back and forth to each other. When she agrees to go for a walk, they sing at together. It shows that the two characters have come together.
Watch below and look for the things I described.
Slower
Full Speed
One challenge is the notes with no finger numbers, so make sure you don’t skip any. Use your ears and your brain to make sure it sounds right.
Another challenge is how you have to switch back and forth between hands a lot, so don’t let it break up the phrases. Focus on making it smooth.
Take it slow and remember to break it up into phrases.
Don’t try the challenge version until you’ve mastered the standard version.
You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!
Brahms wrote this “cradle song” for his friend to celebrate her second son being born.
It is one of Johannes Brahms’ most popular pieces of music.
Full Speed
Slower
Another thing I highlighted was the ‘p’ in between the key signature and the time signature. That is short for an Italian word, “piano,” which means that means “softly”. Amazingly, that means that you should play this lullaby softly. Who would have thought?
Many students have found the switching between hands in this song tricky, mainly because you switch from left hand, finger 2 to right hand finger 2. Don’t forget to play all the notes, even the ones with no finger numbers!
Take it slow and remember to break it up into phrases.
If you get good at it, maybe you can play it for your little brother or sister at nap time, or maybe for your parents to help them relax after a long day.
You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!
Originally, the words were in German, but in the performance you’ll see below, the words are translated to English.
This scene is part of Act 1, which is at the beginning of the opera. Hansel and Gretel are at home, and Gretel is teaching her brother Hansel how to dance.
Full Speed
Slower
First, you have to figure out the hand position. The first note in the song is played by the right hand and it sits on the line that gives the G clef it’s name. Do you know what it is? That’s right. It’s my favorite note, G. Which finger is playing that note? We know it’s a different finger than usual because the finger number is circled.
Second, take a look at the first note the left hand plays. It’s circled, too. This note is a D. How do you need to move your hand so that your 1st finger plays that?
Hint: You can check yourself by watching the videos above.
Notice the staccato marks in measures 10 and 12.
Notice the C major scale played by the right hand at the end, starting in measure 14.
Take it slow and remember to break it up into phrases.
You can look up the ukulele chords and guitar chords and get help with reading tablature,
playing the recorder or rhythm (percussion) instruments right here on my website!
This is a video in which Maciek O’Shea, who is an opera singer tells you about and sings a whole bunch of operatic arias. Aria is what a song in an opera that is sung by one person is called. It’s a fun video and I hope you enjoy it. Opera is one of my favorite types of music.