The quests proceed! The children continue their attempts to return a peanut butter spoon to the baker. Along the way, the children have been exposed to various tonalities (Major, Minor, Lydian, etc.) We have also started learning the basics of reading and writing music. The children danced with a melting snowman who sang the blues and did a bit of sock skating too. We have started playing rhythm pieces with multiple parts and singing in rounds and we studied the percussion and string instrument families. 5th grade has begun The Dragon Quest. So far, they have composed and notated a song that a troll would sing, so they can get past the troll guarding a bridge. Next they will use their compositions to turn on the water in a magic river.

The record time suggestion for this write up centers around a beautiful, mellow mood. It features the acoustic guitar joined at times by other instruments, including the pennywhistle. I hope you enjoy Beyond Nature, by Phil Keaggy, an album that has been important to me, personally, for over 30 years.

Warmly,

Ben