Mt. Penn Music

On to another school year! I am eager to get started again. Let me remind you of the music opportunities we offer at the elementary level…

Any student in 4th, 5th, or 6th grade can be part of:

• Chorus This group is open to any and all students. There is no try-out or audition, just come and sing! We will meet every Monday and Thursday morning at the Elementary Center, in the music room, from 7:45 to 8:30 AM. If you need a ride, see if you can hitch a ride with another chorus member. We sing a variety of music types, and I always include something fun for everyone. We work hard, but rehearsals are fun and relaxed. If you don’t have time for breakfast before-hand, you can skip over to the cafeteria after rehearsal for the school’s breakfast program.

• Band This group is directed by Mr. Gillner. It is also open to any students in the grades above. If you already have an instrument, you’re all set! If you need an instrument, see Mr. Gillner. Some students rent theirs, and others buy their own. Beginning and Advanced students meet with Mr. Gillner once a week for a small group lesson during the school day. For more information, click on the “Mt. Penn Band” link to the right, or see Mr. Gillner. He’s in our building in the mornings only, since he goes to the High School in the afternoon.

• Boys’ Barbershop Yep, this is just for the guys. This is a smaller group, about 10 to 12 boys, and so it is auditioned. I’ll be giving out information soon about these try-outs. The guys in this groups really seem to enjoy getting together as “just the guys” and singing in harmony. They meet once every 6 days for 40 minutes, during the school day. The time will not be the same every cycle, so that nobody is missing the same class all the time. We sing traditional barbershop-style 3-part harmony as well as some other styles.

• Girls’ Ensemble As with the barbershop group, this is also a smaller, audtioned group. Look for try-out information on here and at school. Just for the girls, of course, and they also do songs of various styles. In previous years they have sung Broadway, Jazz, Pop, Classical, Folk songs, just to name a few. Rehearsals are scheduled during the school day, just like the Barbershoppers.

• Recorder Consort For anyone who earned a “black belt” in 3rd grade Recorder Karate, or otherwise tries out for it. As above, we meet once every 6 days during the school day. Students in this group should have their own recorder. In the past they have performed some very early music – from the Medieval and Renaissance eras – and also some modern.

As you can see, there are many opportunities for our students to get involved in making some music! I know we’ll have another exciting year for our musicians. Be sure to catch our concerts in December and May, or drop in on one of our rehearsals. Parents are welcome to stop in any time – just call the school and let us know ahead of time.

School phone number: 610 779-3547

Email Mr. Nevin at rnevin***remove*this*part****@antietamsd.org

——- Just take out the ***remove*this*part**** and type in the email address normally. I have it listed this way to reduce spam mail.

More info. coming soon.

Chorus announcements

Click “view” to see a somewhat-informative and fairly slow slide show of the announcements for Chorus.

For our singers who are going to Hershey on April 18th, here’s some info. on the recordings that will be available. Each singer automatically gets a complimentary CD, but if you want another, or a DVD recording, check this info:

Here’s the calendar for the music lessons this month:

April lessons

February

Here’s the lineup for this month.  Click the link and then click again to open it or download.

Get your November lesson calendar here!

November 07 Lessons

Don’t click on the “View” tab – it won’t look right.  Click on the link and save it to your computer.

For the guys in our Barbershop group, here are some helpful recordings:

Riu, Riu, Chiu Riu Riu, Chiu. (Downloadable MP3 coming soon!)

This recording is slightly different from the version we’re singing. However, the rhythm is the same, and the pronunciation is the same for all the “riu, riu, chiu” parts. The solos in between have different words. I will have a recording for pronunciation of the Spanish here soon.

Carol of the Bells: Ukrainian Bell Carol (All 3 parts)
This is a recording of the music (just the pitches – no words) for all parts together.

To hear your individual part, click on one of these:

Tenor part: Tenor part

Lead Part: Lead Part

Baritone Part: Baritone part

If you would like to put these MP3s on your blank CD, or on your player,  either email me at rnevin AT antietamsd.org (replace the AT with the @) and I’ll email them to you, or bring in your CD or player and I’ll transfer them on for you.

Here’s the lesson schedule for this month:

October lessons

BTW – This doesn’t display correctly when you click on “View”… just click on the link and save it to open on your computer.

In some of our music classes, we’ve been working with writing out music notation. Here are some links to places that offer music notation programs:

Finale Notepad: http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/

Noteworthy Composer: http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/

Both are free downloads. Finale is freeware, and Noteworthy is shareware. I think Finale is the better of the two, but try them for yourself.

I’d be surprised if anyone comes looking at this site over the summer months, but in the off chance that you are someone who is, …..

I won’t be adding anything to this blog until late August. Enjoy your break!!!