Past projects 3
Playing All the Right Notes in Tune!
Funded May 13, 2019The Snark Tuners have been an absolute blessing at my school site. For me as the music educator of the school, the tuners have allowed me to tune ukuleles and guitars at a highly efficient rate so that more time can be spent instructing students on how to play music through the use of the ukulele and guitar. The students are currently in the process of learning how to tune their own ukulele, and learning this skills allows students to learn other skills such as ear training, chromaticism, and the science of music. Some of the students who have figured out how to tune the ukuleles through the use of the Snark Tuners jumped with jubilance at the accomplishment of figuring out the task!
My students' initial reaction to the Snark Tuners was that they thought they were Go Pro cameras attached to the instruments. After explaining to the students that these were not Go Pro cameras, they were confused at first so I demonstrated the use of the tuner and they were fascinated by the LED color displays and the note name letter display. Eventually when they finally had the opportunity to touch the tuners, some of them made the observation that the tuners clip on the instrumetns like crab pincers.
The next steps with these tuners are to have the students learn how to tune instruments such as the guitar and ukulele independently so that they may play the ukulele and guitar on their own time and spend more time learning how to perform music.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Villanueva
This classroom project was brought to life by SONIC Drive-In and 3 other donors.Learning Rhythm and Beat With Drum Pads
Funded Nov 28, 2018Thanks to your generous donations, my students are using the drum pads, sticks, and mallets to great use! Some of my 6th grade students finally got to take home some of the drum pads for their personal practice for band, while the remaining drum pads have remained in the classroom for all of my other students to utilize. The students were able to practice their stick control and rebound using the drum pads!
When the drum pads arrived, the students were initially unsure of what was inside the package. As soon as they opened the package, the 6th graders responded with a "FINALLY!" after not having drum pads to take home. Once my other students saw the drum pads, they were excited to have more drums and sticks to play and practice with.
The next steps for the students are for them to learn drum fundamentals through sticking and rebounding, and then applying that knowledge to drumset. Currently, I have about 400 students learning how to play the drum set at my school site, so these drum pads and sticks are a great introduction for students to learn rhythms and percussion fundamentals!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Villanueva
This classroom project was brought to life by Yamaha Corporation of America and 5 other donors.Developing Our Sense of Melody with Melodicas!
Funded Sep 19, 2018The melodicas have become a huge hit at Orange Grove Elementary School. Ever since these instruments have arrived at our school, students have been becoming more engaged with music class to the point where students beg to come to music class before and after school so that they could spend more time playing the melodicas. The melodicas have also opened doors for students to learn an instrument at an early age that is achievable to make a pleasing sound with. Students have also begun learning basic melodies on the instruments such as "Hot Cross Buns" and "Baby Shark" to play along with their fellow peers on recorders and band instruments. The 2nd grade class even got to play the melodicas for a Winter Concert at school, where they performed "Hot Cross Buns" and a Japanese version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" called "Kira Kira Boshi."
When the melodicas first arrived at Orange Grove Elementary School, the students were questioning what were inside the blue bags. Once the students had the opportunity to open the blue bags, the students were gasping with excitement and immediately took a liking to the instruments. From there, they got to experiment with the melodicas and play different pitches on the melodicas by touching the keys and blowing through the tubes.
The next steps for the students are to eventually have every student have their own personal melodicas so that they can bring them home to practice with. Some of my students have already asked their parents to buy them a melodica, and now they have their own differently colored melodicas. I also plan on integrating the melodicas along with the electronic pianos I recently received from another organization, and do a combined keyboard class where students further develop their piano abilities. From there I will integrate the melodicas into the Modern Band curriculum, which is a curriculum from Little Kids Rock where students learn how to play music from the 21st century.
Once again, I thank you for your donations in making the melodica dream possible for my students. They absolutely love these instruments, and are excited to keep on learning how to play them!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Villanueva