Preparation
What to know prior to watching the student video:
We learned in Preliminary Lesson 1 that a piano makes sound. The piano makes lots of different sounds. If we play those sounds in certain orders, they make tunes. We are going to begin to learn the names of those sounds.
We call the sounds of the piano using some of the letters of the alphabet. We are learning to name the sounds of the white keys by noticing how the black keys are grouped. We also talked about pulses in music. A pulse is a throb we hear in music. They come regularly like the tick of a clock. An accented pulse is a strong pulse in a group of weak ones, and accented pulses come regularly. The accented pulses measure out the music.
(Something to note: The pulse is a throb, which we feel; the beat is the stroke, which we see.)
As you hold your child accountable for their progress in music, continue reviewing high pitch and low pitch sounds. Ask them periodically where the Ds are on the piano. Where are the Es? What about the Fs and Bs? Use the black keys to help find the white keys.
Listen to music together with your child. Can you hear or feel the accented pulse? Also, if you need additional music to practice marching to, there are many audio recordings in the post “What are the Titles of Each Recording” or “Recordings from Farm Scenes by Dr. Walter Carroll”
Lesson 2a Homework
- Find the following sounds on the piano: B, C, D, E, and F.
- Listen to music. Clap or march to the music.
- Can you hear the accented pulse in the music?
Student Video