MATB Book 1 – Mr. G's Music Stuff

November 28, 2021November 28, 2021

Introduction

This is a traditional round from England. It is sung in 3 parts.

A little translation for you from the original English.

A bottle of pop is a bottle of soda.

To chuck muck is to throw garbage.

Fish and chips is a traditional dish in England of fried fish and french fries, which are called chips in England. In England, most people eat fish and chips with vinegar.

Cheerio, chaps.

Video

The Lesson

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

At The Piano

Sheet Music

Piano

Piano Challenge Version

Ukulele

Guitar

Recorder

Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

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!

Digging Deeper

March 30, 2021April 6, 2021

Introduction

Isn’t the ocean special? One of my favorite things in the world is to be near or on the water. There is a rhythm in the waves that harmonizes with all of nature. The sounds and the sights are the most beautiful on earth.

The rhythms repeat in a perfect pattern over and over. It’s the rhythm of life!

This song is based on the pentatonic scale. “Penta” means 5 and whenever you see a word that begins with “penta” it means there is a 5 in the idea. For example, the pentatonic scale has 5 notes in it and any of them can give the scale its name.

“There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.”
– Sun Tzu

Listen

The Lesson

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

Piano

Piano Challenge Version

Ukulele

Guitar

Recorder

Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

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!

Enrichment

January 23, 2021June 6, 2021

Happy Birthday To You

Introduction

Here’s a song that everyone has heard before! This is the birthday song that we sing at someone’s birthday party.

Once you’ve learned it, I hope you’ll play it whenever it is someone special’s birthday!

We start on the left-hand and then switch to the right hand for one note and then back the left-hand and it keeps going like that for the first 5 measures. Then, in the last 4 measures, most of the notes are on the G Clef, played with the right hand. Don’t forget to make that fermata just the way you want it in measure 7.

Make sure you break the song into small pieces to learn it. Sound out each part, then put them together.

Don’t forget to use your ears and your brain to know if it sounds right. If not, check your hand position first, (point, slide, curl, glue and add your fingers too) then go back and try it again.

Video

The Lesson

As you look at the sheet music for this piece, there is a new symbol in measure 7 that you should notice right away. It looks like this:

It is called a fermata and it is a simple idea to understand. It just means that you get to play the note for as long as you want. In this song it is over the note that is sung with the birthday person’s name. That’s why you sometime hear some singer showing off and holding the note for a REALLY LONG TIME, like “Happy Birthday dear Mr. Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Happy birthday to you.”

Here is a video about fermatas.

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

Piano

Piano Challenge Version

Ukulele

Guitar

Recorder

Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

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!

Enrichment

January 16, 2021January 17, 2021

Musette

Introduction

Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most famous musicians ever. When he was alive, he was not very well known, but he worked at a church and had to write new music for every week’s service and because of that, he ended up writing a lot of music. Years after he died, his music was discovered and people realized how special his music was.

Today, most people think of Bach as one of the greatest classical composers of all time.

This song was written in something called, Notebook for Anna Magdalena, which was a book of tunes Bach wrote for his wife, Anna.

Video

The Lesson

The Story of Johann Sebastian Bach

At The Piano

Full Speed

Slower

Sheet Music

Piano

Piano Challenge Version

Ukulele

Guitar

Recorder

Xylophone or On-Screen Piano

Don’t Forget!

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!

Enrichment

January 16, 2021January 17, 2021

Martin Luther King Advanced

Introduction

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man who fought for equal rights, peace and justice. His life was spent in working toward those goals, for which we still work toward today.

The song for today uses a line from his most famous speech for the words. You can watch a video about this speech at the end of the lesson. I even included a video of him actually giving the speech. Be sure to watch those.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a very important man that you should know about.