Week of January 27

Welcome to HCA Joyful Music

Featuring our Pre-K and Nursery Music Makers

There is a difference between rhythm and beat in music. In our music classes, we work on both. We work on keeping a steady beat while we play or sing a song. We practice feeling macro and micro beats (or big and little beats as I sometimes say to the children) in various time signatures, duple, triple, and asymmetric. We isolate rhythm patterns separately from the songs. Feeling the beat and keeping a steady beat is a developmental music skill that we work on week to week. Check out the Pre-K in our Chubby Little Snowman video below and you will notice that we play with the beat, switching from macro and micro beats. After chanting The Chubby Little Snowman and playing with the beat, we isolated the rhythm patterns from the chant.

Our Nursery students had fun this week with their play alongs.  They especially enjoyed moving and playing along to the song Little Blue Car. 

In addition to singing our goodbye song, Goodbye, So Long, the Nursery children look forward to ending each class by taking a turn strumming the guitar.  

Week of January 13

Welcome to HCA Joyful Music

Featuring our Nursery and Pre-K Music Makers

Our Pre-K students were introduced to the rhythm sticks this week.  They had fun tapping along to the chant There's a Cobbler.  

We have been having fun learning new songs in duple and triple meters. 

Learning to feel the beat and echoing rhythm patterns in different meters is an important part of a child's music development.  Check out our video of Rig A Jig Jig below.  This is a fun movement song in triple meter.  

Our Nursery students are really discovering their singing voices.  They are singing along in class more and more.  Because routine is important to young children, we begin each class with our Hello Everybody song and end each class with our song, Goodbye, So Long.  Maybe you have heard your child singing these songs at home.

The Nursery classes always enjoy a good play along.  Allowing the children to play percussion instruments and move to the music helps to develop their sense of rhythm. In the pictures below, the children are using cardboard blocks as drums to play along to the song Drum and Sing.  

If you don't have instruments at home you can improvise like we did with the blocks.  Pots, pans, plastic containers and wooden spoons can all be used as percussion instruments.  You can have your own family play along in the kitchen as Mom and Dad cook dinner!