O Canada Multilingual

I really love this new version of O Canada arranged and recorded by Tech Voc High School here in Winnipeg.

This is a multilingual version of “O Canada” including Cree, English, French, Ojibway, Inuktitut, and Tagalog.

Yes I Can!

This week I attended several professional development workshops and one particular person that I am in awe of and appreciate with so much respect is Canadian musician, Alvin Law.  I think there are many lessons, for the young and old, that we can learn from and aspire to as we hear Alvin's story.

Alvin had a great honor to be the drummer for this amazing song, We're the Superhumans.  From this day on, no matter, the challenge or difficulty, we all need to adopt the "Yes, I can!" attitude.

Muted Trumpet

As we were listening to the opening of White in the Moon the Long Road Lies by the amazing Sri Lankan/Canadian composer, Dinuk Wijeratne, we were wondering what instrument was playing during the introduction.

We discovered it was a mute or plunger or stopper that is placed in the bell of a trumpet that created that buzzy, hazy sound.

We have been learning about East Indian music and the tabla drums in White in the Moon the Long Road Lies.  Several students have a connection with these drums in their culture and we are going to attempt to learn a 14 beat rhythmic cycle called Deepchandi and see if we can incorporate some of the drumming techniques (which are VERY difficult!).

Build a Burrito

This week, the Grade 2/3 classes were learning some Spanish and having some fun making a musical burrito on the instruments.  Lesson suggestions from Artie Almeida in Mallet Madness Strikes Again.

Here's a little video to practice counting from 1-10 in Spanish (Uno, Dos, Tres):

We also had spent some time in December learning songs from South America, including several Spanish songs.  Here's a fun one with some choreography called My Amigos from Plank Road Publishing.  What kind of flavour is the music?  Can you identify the Latin American instruments in the song?

Cultural Dancing

Understanding music in context is very important at Stevenson and a focus of the Manitoba Music Curriculum. Students connect music to contexts of time, place, and community, and develop understanding of how music reflects and influences culture and identity.

In this season, there are many holidays celebrated by the various families in our community. We can seek to understand and appreciate the beautiful gifts that they give through music, song, and dance, by experiencing them and participating in activities in the music room.

One of those traditions celebrated by some of our families at our school is Hanukkah (the Jewish word for 'dedication'). It is called the Jewish Festival of Lights and it remembers the rededication of the second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. This happened in the 160s BC (before Jesus was born).

As the Grade 1s are learning about this festival and Jewish culture, they were learning a modified dance from this community.  We discovered that the song had a pattern.  Can you guess it?

Folk Dance - Niguno Shel Yossi

Singing in the Rain

Wow!  Amazing job today as our school put on our final concert for Calvary Place Carehome.  Thank you to Ms. Kappy and the residents for joining us on this raining Monday morning.  May you have left singing in the rain!

Walking Wolf Performance

Last week we had an amazing performance by Ray Stevenson, known as Walking Wolf.  He shared with us stories and taught us about aboriginal drumming, singing and hoop dancing.

Aboriginal Drumming

Teaching us about the circle shape

Today Mrs. McGurry, our Aboriginal Education Teacher for St. James-Assiniboia SD came and taught one of our Kindergarten classes about the aboriginal drum.   We learned that the skins are made of elk, moose and deer.  We learned that a drum is a living thing and should be respected.  The sound of the drum is the heart beat of life.  Mrs. Rempel learned it is important to take care of our drums by 'watering' them.  Mrs. McGurry even taught us the friendship dance and the meaning of the circle shape.  Thank-you so much for sharing this wonderful gift.

Showing us how a drum is created

Trying out the drums

Trying to keep the beat with the rattles and drums

Here are a few beautiful songs and story that we can listen to that share this beautiful culture.

Anishinaabe Spirit Bear Song

Anishinaabek Turtle song 

The Drum Calls Softly

Drums Alive!

For the next few weeks we are testing out our rhythm skills in music as we learn some aerobic routines / music patterns using drum sticks and exercise balls.  Here are a few videos we've tried so far:

Party Rock!

Wipeout!

Art Videos

Just in!!!  Our Celebration of the Arts videos are published.  Congratulations to all the students!

GRADE 2/3 French Dance

Grade 4/5 Tinikling Club

Grade 4/5 Tap Dance

Whole School - Wavin' Flag

Grade 4/5 Shining Moon (Nyam Sang Doun)

Artists at Work

Grade 1-3 French Dance

Grade 4/5 Choir - Thai Folk Song

Grade 4/5 Tapping Our Potential

Tinikling Club

Wavin' Flag!

WOW Stevenson.  Congratulations on another amazing concert.  Videos to come shortly.  Everyone's art was amazing and the show was so good.  Thanks to the staff and families for coming out.

Playoff Anthem - Shout it Out!

This just shakin' down, the Winnipeg Jets are in the playoffs and Virgin Radio has released a new playoff anthem.  We'll be moving and celebrating at Stevenson this coming week as we enjoy it during music listening time.

Shout it out True North!

Posted Practice Songs

I would highly encourage students and families to check out the new tab titled "K-3 Concert Songs" just above.  Here I have posted the concert songs and lyrics for students to rehearse.  There is never enough time to practice in class so in order to have a successful concert, students must rehearse outside of regular music time.  In addition to singing, some classes will be playing instruments and creating special dances to show the culture and style of music.  Happy practicing!

K-3 Concert Adventures

The K-3 classes are busy preparing songs and dances from around the world.  Here are 2 of the group songs we will be doing.  Happy practicing!

Our Home and Native Land

This year we are adding a new version of our anthem to our school's morning routine.  We are privileged to use Carol Morin's aboriginal version of O Canada.  The song is simply sung to the heart beat of the drum.  She intersperses her heritage into the song with lines in Cree and Chipewyan.  This week, our students listened to our original English version and then compared it to Carol's version.  Students created Venn diagrams of the comparisons and similarities.

This is what they came up with:

Sea Shanty

The Grade 2 and 3 students learned what a sea shanty is.  We learned a traditional song and dance to John Kanaka.  There are many versions on Youtube and here is one of them.  What instrument is the man playing?

Name Games

What is the rhythm of your name and how many drum taps do you play?

The beginning of the year is always a challenge to remember old and new names.  As the music teacher, I have over 200 students and staff to know and it's important to remember these quickly. Kinders and Grade 1's had the opportunity to try our new buffalo drum.  A buffalo drum is inspired by the indigenous cultures of North America.

Crazy Horse Native American Dancers

What did you do this summer?   I wanted to share with my students and families this very special video I took on my summer road trip to the west coast.  This was taken in Black Hills National Park, South Dakota at the Crazy Horse Memorial near Mount Rushmore.  It is the world's largest mountain carving.  You can read more about who Crazy Horse is and why and how they are carving this mountain with this Native American.

These Native American dancers shared stories and several dances.  It was amazing!  It was a privilege to see these generations dancing together and honoring their culture.  The dancer with the red paint on his face is a relative of Crazy Horse.

TiBert le Voyageur

TiBert le Voyageur came last week and presented to us his story telling and music making Voyageur tales.

Showing us how to wrap la ceinture fléchée, a type of colorful sash, a traditional piece of French-Canadian clothing

Playing the Jew's harp, also known as the jaw harp, mouth harp, Ozark harp, trump, or juice harp

Playing the cajón (ka-hon), "crate", "drawer", or "box with a hole in it"

He brought his loop recorder and involved students in recording short clips for the loop.  Here is what it sounded and looked like.  Super cool!