Elem Choir, Jr Choir, Sr Choir
Music
Music
Ho, Ho, Watanay, arr. J. Sills
3rd grade Orff
Third-graders would like to share what they have been working on in music class. They are meeting the following "I can" statements:
I can play two or more ostinato accompaniments to a song.
This piece of music has the following parts:
1. one student plays a roll on the bass xylophone
2. two students play unison octave half notes on xylophones
3. two students play quarter and eighth notes with mallets on hand drums
4. a choir sings the melody while using hand signs to show the solfege syllables
I can make artistic choices in order to convey meaning through performance.
The translation of this piece is "Sleep, sleep little one, now go to sleep." Students decided together that the dynamic level (volume) should be soft, or piano.
The tempo should be a medium speed of rocking a baby, or andante.
I can develop and refine artistic techniques and work for performance.
Every student took a turn practicing all the instruments. After each round, students discussed the speed and volume of the song. They decided together the drum part needed to be played softer.
I can understand that artistic works are influenced by cultural and historical contexts, including the contributions of American Indian tribes and communities.
We discussed the history of this song:
The song "Ho, Ho, Watanay" comes from the Iroquois tradition. Many Iroquois lived in what is now New York state and Canada. Mothers would sing this lullaby to their babies while they worked in fields, leaned over a pot to stir, or planted gardens. Babies were carried in a cradleboard on their mother's backs.
In the spirit of the Thanksgiving season,
the third-grade class
would like to share this lullaby.
We are thankful for parents, children, and music!
Cold & Fugue Season, J.S. Bach
Elementary Choir
All fifth and sixth graders at SGPS meet 3 days a week to form the elementary choir. SG’s youngest choir is learning how to sing together as an ensemble. Students are learning they can do great things using teamwork. They are beginning to understand that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When students sing together in a choir there are multiple vocal lines. One cannot sing all the parts herself. Instead, we need each other to all sing our part to make the song. This is an example of synergy.
syn·er·gy
ˈsinərjē/
noun
-
cooperation of two or more organizations to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects
The piece we have been studying is J.S. Bach's "Fugue in G minor".
fugue
fyo͞oɡ/
noun
1.a short melody or phrase (the subject) is introduced by one part and successively taken up by others and developed by interweaving the parts
First we watched the “Fugue in G minor” as a graphical score. This helped us see and hear the fugue subjects.
Next we learned a comical 2-part song that’s canonic entrances mimicked the entrances of Bach’s fugue.
can·on
ˈkanən/
Noun
1.the same melody is begun in different parts successively, so that the imitations overlap
The song was fun to sing because it was about winter colds and flu. The students even wore their pajamas to film the music video! This music video is the fifth and sixth grader’s quarter 3 assessment.
Thank you to our videographers: Asher and Trace.
Lyrics:
We just want to sing this classy fugue for you.
But I just keep sneezing and sneezing,
and my partner's coughing and wheezing,
and I don't think Bach wrote sneezes in this fugue.
I don't think we'll ever make it through this song
without Kleenex, cough drops and Nyquil.
Hot tea and heat pad and Vicks and a doctor bill
and anyway, I think it's much too long!
Please pass the Kleenex. Hand out the cough drops.
Turn on the vaporizer. Call for the flu shots.
Dish out the chicken soup. Hand out the crackers.
Please call my mother, I'm feeling sick!
Mom, please take me home. Put me to bed.
I have this cold; my aching head.
I should have stayed home like you said,
but here I am instead, oh,
I don't want to sing this classy fugue for you,
'cause we keep on sneezing and sneezing,
and my partner's coughing and wheezing
and I don't think Bach had sneezing in this fugue. Achoo!
Be True to Your School, Beach Boys
Sr Choir
Happy Homecoming!
As an alumna of SGPS who has returned to the school as the choir director, my pride for the Lions is twofold.
I have pride for the work I do each day. I enjoy sharing music with the students and rooting them on to succeed! When the students feel successful, I too share the same feeling. The building, staff, and learning styles have changed since my high schools days. But the pride for SGPS has not gone away. As I walk the halls and notice the portraits of past graduates, I feel we all share in our pride for the Lions. It’s our special bond right here in southeast Minnesota.
I also have nostalgic pride for my high school days. One memory I am especially fond of is riding around in our cars, listening to the Beach Boys sing “Be True to Your School”. Remember the last day of senior year, circling the school and honking our horns? The Beach Boys were playing as my friends and I drove up the one way and said good-bye to the place we were happy, but also scared, to leave.
The Sr Choir has made their own version of “Be True to Your School”. It is a cappella (unaccompanied) and slower in tempo. We did this to add some nostalgia to the sound.
GO LIONS!
Video credit: Lance Hegge
Audio credit: Alex Deters
Lyrics
We some loud braggart tries to put me down, and says his school is great, I tell him right away.
Now what’s the matter buddy, ain’t you heard of my school, it’s number one in the state.
So be true to your school, just like you would to your girl or guy,
Be true to your school and let your colors fly, be true to your school.
I got a letterman’s sweater with the letter in front I got from football and track,
I’m proud to wear it now,
When I cruise around the other parts of the town I got my decal in back.
So be true to your school just like you would to your girl or guy,
Be true to your school and let your colors fly, be true to your school.
Rah, rah, rah, rah, sis-boom-bah.
Be true to your school.
Africa, Toto
Sr Choir
“Africa” by Toto is a piece that has been on my wishlist to study with students. This year’s Sr Choir is the right group of students to perform it! The Sr Choir is working on singing a cappella (unaccompanied) while staying in tune.
Lyrics
I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
She's coming in, 12:30 flight
The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation
I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies
He turned to me as if to say, "Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you"
It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless, longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what's right
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had.
Contact M. Engen