What's included
40 live meetings
33 hrs 20 mins in-class hoursMastery Evaluation
1 hour per week. Students will perform informal self-evaluations regularly. I will also ask students to sing parts of songs, and/or etudes. This class is interactive. I mention that here in the sense that I will be asking students questions related to the topic at hand and will therefore will understand how the student is progressing in the material by engaging with them in class on a regular basis.Assessment
includedClass Experience
US Grade 5
Hello! This class is designed to teach and/or expand upon the general musical skills of singing and performing basic hand percussion. If your student came from my fourth grade class (not a requirement), then they may know how to play ukulele. When we are performing vocal music, I recommend students use their ukuleles or other accompanying instruments to continue learning, but I will not comprehensively focus on these instruments. The focus in this class is our voices, and our drumming. We will learn a diverse range of musical repertoire. Pop, jazz, folk, classical, country, rock n roll, rap; no style is off limits! Through the learning of repertoire, we will also touch on many important concepts in the world of music and voice: form, melodic contour, rhythm, sight-reading, vocal technique, solfege, ear training, theory, and more. I believe in using and learning songs to teach these concepts, rather than start with the concept itself. Each class will begin with a some kind of warm-up. Following our warm-up, there will often be a short study of sight-singing or some other purposeful etude. After that, we will move on to learning and practice of repertoire. I will screen-share written music documents that I have created, and/or song lyrics. It may be appropriate for us to listen to a song or section of a song in class. When I'm teaching a new song, I take the "I do, you do, we do" approach. I demonstrate and/or accompany using an instrument (guitar, piano, ukulele, etc.) I perform the whole song for the students. Then, we echo a few phrases back and forth. Finally, students will sing without me while I accompany them. It is necessary for students to sing and play while muted in this class. If they do not, due to lagging, it becomes very confusing for students to learn the song, sing accurately, and feel confident that they are progressing. However, there will be opportunities for me to check in with students by having them unmute and sing. I also utilize warm-ups occasionally that allow us to work with the lag and all be heard at the same time. I like to sing songs that students like to sing, within reason. To facilitate this, I invite students to recommend songs to me. On my time outside of class, I will listen to the song and be the arbiter of whether or not it is a song that is appropriate content-wise and musically, for us to sing in class. If a student recommends a song, I reserve the right to veto their choice based on the appropriateness of content and/or lyrics. Refer to syllabus to get a rough idea of how the year will go. The syllabus is subject to change.
Learning Goals
SWBAT sight read simple melodies in the key of C
SWBAT perform basic hand percussion techniques
Syllabus
40 Lessons
over 40 WeeksLesson 1:
Introductions
Getting to know each other, establishing the kind of music we all are looking to play and sing, our experience with playing music, what we wish to achieve in this class
50 mins online live lesson
Lesson 2:
Take Time in Life
Introduce the song "Take Time in Life"
50 mins online live lesson
1 assignment
Lesson 3:
Take Time in Life (cont.)
We will continue learning the song and draw out conceptual musical elements within it
50 mins online live lesson
1 assignment
Lesson 4:
Take Time in Life (cont.)
50 mins online live lesson
Other Details
Parental Guidance
I may employ the use of a Google Document to which students have shared editing access, for the purpose of submitting song suggestions. If students do not have a Google account, they can tell me in class and I will add it to the document.
Pre-Requisites
It's helpful but not a required prerequisite that students have an understanding of very basic solfege and rhythmic reading abilities. Again, not required, but helpful.
Supply List
Students will need some kind of small hand drum, but not until the second half of the year. Djembes, frame drums, darboukas, bongos, congas, these will all work.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Teacher expertise and credentials
2 Teaching Certificates
Maine Teaching Certificate in Music/Theater/Arts
Massachusetts Teaching Certificate in Music/Theater/Arts
2 Degrees
Bachelor's Degree in Music or Theatre or Arts from Berklee College of Music
Associate's Degree in Education from Bridgewater State University
Hello! I am a professional music educator and farmer living in Maine with my wife and three small children in the forest. After a long span of touring as a professional musician, I most recently spent several years as a music teacher in a diverse urban public school before transitioning my teaching online due to circumstances surrounding the pandemic. I now teach remote music classes exclusively, right here on Outschool! I am thrilled to serve students in a larger online network, through active and creative music education.
In nearly all of my general music classes, I help students cultivate or deepen fundamental musical skills that I believe we all need: perceiving and keeping the beat, moving meaningfully to music, and singing various song forms. Additionally, I expose my students to a wide range of culture through an authentic and diverse repertoire, including traditional, folk, and modern music from America and throughout the globe. Another critical component of my classes is active music-making with voice, percussion, and instrumentals. My classes range from learning construction vocabulary through song for preschoolers, to digital music production for savvy teenagers, to advanced improvisation for music scholars.
I am also an experienced composer and performer. I often take songs requested by students and transcribe the music so we can learn it together; I love a good transcription challenge. And, if I can't find a song that meets the needs or interests of my students, I'll write one for them! Classes, too!
I look forward to learning with you.
Reviews
Live Group Course
$15
weekly or $600 for 40 classes1x per week, 40 weeks
50 min
Live video meetings
Ages: 10-12
3-9 learners per class