Week #2

This week we discovered the difference between steady beat and rhythm. Steady beat is a the repetition of a continuous sound.  Rhythm, however, is the use of long, short, and silent sounds. By using the rhythmic sticks, I was able to hear the difference when tapping with a steady beat as opposed to the rhythmic pattern when singing my name rhyme.

By having each of my peers play there song, I was able to learn from their mistakes as well as my own.  I like that Ms. Wang helps us when we do not hit the sticks or drums correctly.  It was interesting to find that a pause in a song or beat also counts as a sound, a silent sound.

I think it is important to learn these concepts and skills because it is helpful for many parts of your life.  Not only can I use these skills for my own sake, but i can teach my future children, students, and any others who would like to learn about music.  It helps me because I never understood the difference between beat and rhythm, or knew that silence was a type of sound.  These small, yet important bits of information will be helpful to do well in this class, as well as other aspects of my life. Example: I may now be better at Guitar Hero World Tour! 

Every sound in life could possibly be used  as a beat to a song.  I noticed just walking from class this past Friday that I had the steady beat we were playing in class. I noticed myself start singing my song while I was walking! I know it sounds lame, but beats help people like me remember things.  When I was in elementary school, I wish we would of had more music based learning because now I hear all these songs about the Continents, States, colors, etc.  It is amazing what music can do for the developing child.

Some children's songs that I am familiar with:

1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2. I Love You, You Love Me

3. Happy Birthday 

4. Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

5. Do Your Ears Hang Low?

6. Peanut Butter and Jelly!

7. Alphabet Song

8. Hello

9. Little Monkeys

10. John Jacob Jingle Hiemer Schimt

My rhyme

My name is Julie.

I am kinda goofy.

You can laugh with me,

We'll have fun, you'll see!

My Music History

All my life I loved music. As an infant and toddler, I would not sit still without my parents playing my favorite Sing-along videos. Throughout my childhood and even now, I sing along to almost every song in every Disney movie. My grandma still to this day tells me about the time we saw Lion King in the theater and I would get out of my seat and dance in the rows when the songs started!
I love to sing and dance, I will admit I am not good at either one, but I still do it.
I attempted to play the drums in elementary school, junior high I took piano lessons, and during high school I tried guitar. Now I am content with playing guitar and drums on RockBand and Guitar Hero World Tour (video games).
I am constantly listening to my music every chance I get. While I am typing right now I am actually listening to my iPod. I have a variety of songs I like. For example, I have my iPod set to shuffle mode and here are the songs that have played so far: Super Girl by Saving Jane, Wake Me Up Before You GO-GO by WHAM!, Girls Lie Too by Terri Clark... I like hip-hop and country mostly though.


Class....
I will admit that when I first came into the class and we had to sit on the floor and you started singing that hello song, I was a little nervous and embarrassed to be there. As you probably noticed though, it didn't take me very long to warm up to the idea of being silly. I know that being an elementary teacher takes a lot of energy and you also need an open mind. I noticed even through my own experiences that when it comes to remembering things, I will remember lyrics to hundreds of songs before I can attempt to remember dates or names for a history test. Relating information to rythm makes it easier for many children to comprehend something.