This week in class we danced our way through Passover. We will continue these dances through next week.
The instrument of the week was Harmonica. I demonstrated 3 Harmonicas: the first one played one octave. (4 holes)
the second coverd 2 octaves (10 holes)
the third covered 4+ octaves (40 holes)
We played drums this week. The children learnt how to play a bass sound and a tone sound. We will play drums and tamborines for the next few weeks.
Have a Chag Sameach.
Kora
The Kora comes from West Africa. The small/child's Kora has 11 strings.
Dulcimer
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
In the first 2 weeks of October, we learned about two more string instruments. The Zither and the Ukelele.
This particular Zither has 15 strings. It is most commonly found in Slovenia, Hungary, Alpine Europe and East Asian Cultures.
The Ukelele is a small fretted four-stringed Hawaiian instrument similar to the guitar.It is also classifiend as a plucked lute.
We danced the Lulav Shake and played fruit shakers in keeping with the holiday of Sukkot.
This month, in Miss Debbie's class we learnt
1) Some holiday dances: La Shona Tova for Rosh Hashana
Al Take for Yom Kippur
2) We played egg shakers and bells, focusing on stopping and starting (freeze dance)
The children especially liked Tippy-Tippy-Toe dance, done to the music of Sylvia Ballet Suite by Delibes.
3) There is a portion of my class devoted to the "Instrument of the Week". We are working our way through
string instruments. In September we talked about different elements of the guitar. I introduced the
strumstick. This is truly an American home grown instrument. It has 3 strings, it is very light weight has a
great sound for such a small instrument.
If you go to my web address: http://dobrila.posterous.com/ you will find a picture of the strumstick.
Happy New Year
and
Keep On Dancing
Debbie (Dobrila is my nickname)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
