Thank you and Goodbye!
Thank you so much for all the gifts last week! You are all so wonderful and I have come to care about each and every one of you, my students. Thank you for the love that you showed by all your generous, kind gifts! I will miss all of you very much as these next two weeks are my last with San Tan Learning Center. I have loved teaching you all music, so it made it very hard to make the decision, but my husband and I have an opportunity to live abroad for the next two years and teach at the university level so we have decided it’s “now or never.”;) I will miss you you all!
“Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.” ~Ludwig Van Beethoven
*Check out the page on the left titled Symphony of the Holocaust for a free concert that I am performing!*
NOTE CHANGES IN DATES, TIMES and LOCATIONS!
SPRING CONCERT DATES AND TIMES:
Tuesday, May 15th at Gateway Redemption Church
8743 E. Pecos Rd. Mesa, AZ (15 minutes from STLC)
Kindergarten program 5:30 pm (students arrive at 5:15)
Dress: casual, school t-shirts
1st grade program and 2nd grade program combined 6:15 pm (students arrive at 6:00)
Dress: casual, school t-shirts
3rd grade program 7:15 pm (students arrive at 7:00)
Dress: casual, school t-shirts
Thursday, May 17th STLC Field “Music in the Park”
(Bring lawn chairs and blankets)
4th grade Recorder Choir 5:30 pm
Dress: nice casual
String Orchestra 6:00 pm
Dress: nice casual
Concert Band 7:00 pm
Dress: nice casual
MARCH 19
Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful break and are ready to jump into the 4th quarter of school! We are going to be working hard to get ready for our Spring Concert. I will have the dates set and put them up very, very soon, so please be checking back this week. I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow, which just so happens to be the first day of Spring and my birthday!;) See you then!
Check out the new resources page on my site. There is a site with some fun music games, some music sheetmusic resources and some great music videos to check out!
March 2nd All school Music Field Trip
The field trip is to Higley Center for the Performing Arts 2012 Building Bridges Program. It will be a concert by Tom Chapin (www.tomchapin.com). Chapin is a three-time Grammy Award winner. He plays guitar, banjo and autoharp and I’m hoping that in this concert he will pull out his digeridoo since we learned about and made that instrument last semester in my music class. The concert will be interactive as Tom Chapin teaches the students songs that teach life lessons such as environmental responsibility, respect and healthy choices through music. I am so excited that the entire school can attend this field trip!
February 2 
Since Geography is the focus of this quarter, we are focusing on composer’s lives and where they were born. We are finding the countries they were born in on the map. We have learned about the lives of Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven and soon Tchaikovsky! Ask your student who had 20 children, who was thrown in jail by the Duke, who was nicknamed “the red-priest,” who wrote “The Magic Flute,” and who wrote “Ode to Joy” after he became deaf!
FREE CONCERT ALERT:
Friday, February 3, 2012 7:30pm
Chandler Center for the Arts
250 North Arizona Avenue Chandler, AZ
State of Arizona Centennial Celebration
Flute, violin, and guitar soloists!
NO TICKETS NEEDED! FREE!
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Music of John Williams–Friday, January 27, 2012 7:30 pm
Held at the Ikeda Theatre Mesa Arts Center
Symphony Pops: The Music of John Williams>
Joseph Young, conductor
Be swept away in John Williams’ instantly recognizable music from classic films like the the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, E.T the Extra-Terrestial,Harry Potter and more.
| To order tickets go online:http://tickets.phoenixsymphony.org/single/EventDetail.aspx?p=5380<!—-> |
January 20
This week we have been reviewing our composers. Ask your students what they know about Bach. Ask them how many children he had, where he was born, who threw him in prison, who got him out. Ask them about Vivaldi and his crazy nickname. Ask them what type of school Vivaldi started. Where he was born and what his most famous work is called.
We have been introduced to Mozart this week! Ask your student how old Mozart was when he composed his first piece of music! And how old he was when he first played publicly for the aristocrats in Austria. Ask your students about opera and what is one of Mozart’s famous operas.
This week we have been transformed into the magical world of Mozart’s opera, “The Magic Flute.” We have gone with Sara, a young flute player, through the adventures of Prince Tamino and Papageno searching for the Princess Pamina who was “kidnapped” by the supposedly evil Sarastro. Come to find out that perhaps the Queen of the Night wasn’t quite so honest with them and that perhaps she is not as good as they all thought. It is a fun Classical Kids story and one that introduces us to opera with a fun twist. For many, their first opera.
January 12, 2012
Welcome back! I have enjoyed seeing everyone back this week. I hope you all had a wonderful break. Thank you again for all the gifts that you gave. You filled my heart with joy and I appreciate every one of you.
This week in music we have been reviewing all of our musical terms and concepts that we learned last year. Solfege, dynamics, note names, note values, notation, composers, etc. We’ve also started learning some new songs which we look forward to sharing with you at the Spring Concert! Keep an eye out for the date of the Spring concert once we get closer to the end of the school year.
Orchestra Announcement: We will have our Concertmaster and Sectional Lead auditions on Friday this week.
Warmly,
Tessa Ball
12/16
Dear students,
What a wonderful concert! You all did such a wonderful job and I am so very proud of you! Thank you for your hard work.
And thank you so much for the gifts that you have given me! You are so very kind and I’ve appreciated all of them. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Ms. Ball
November 28
Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
What we are learning this week:
Antonio Vivaldi and The Four Seasons
From fiery red leaves to falling snowflakes; from flowers in bloom to fireworks in July, every season of the year has its own special magic and Vivaldi captured all of these with music in his Four Seasons. Your students will be introduced to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons while watching beautiful nature images, children and creatures. They are also going to get a treat in learning about Vivaldi’s life through the dramatic radio program, “Vivaldi’s Ring of Mystery.” “This is the story of Katarina, a young violinist who is sent to study music at the great Pieta orphanage in seventeenth century Venice. There, she comes under the tutelage of the famous music director and composer Antonio Vivaldi and, aided by the colorful gondolier Giovanni, searches through the thrilling but mysterious atmosphere of Carnival and the Island of the Dead for clues to her past and a vanishing Stradivarius violin. Along the way, she comes to understand Vivaldi, his music and his reasons for staying at the orphanage despite his international fame. A touching climactic scene unites Katarina with her Grandfather and together they take Vivaldi’s music – “its spirit and soul” – out into the world.”
November 21
Kindergarten–4th grade
Happy Thanksgiving week! This week is a very short week for us, but we still have some exciting things that we will be learning. Your students will be learning solfege. This week we will start with do, re, mi and fa. They will be learning the hand signs and what they look like on the board. Learning solfege will allow us to be able to create our own melodies as well as sight-sing melodies. We are also busy singing our Thanksgiving songs as well as practicing all our songs for the Winter Concert!
Orchestra: You guys have been doing so well! Thanks for all your hard work and the practice that you put into your instrument outside of class. You guys are wonderful. Just a reminder, if you would like some individual attention on your solos/ensembles, please let me know and we can schedule a time Tuesdays, Wednesday or Thursday mornings before you have to be in class.
Band: You are sounding great band! I am excited to put the whole program together. Just a reminder, there are no more band sectionals in the mornings. Instead, you can schedule a time to meet with me to work on your solos/ensembles.
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Ms. Ball
“I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music.” ~George Eliot
November 15
Band: This is the last week for sectionals. Flutes: Tuesday 8:15, Clarinets: Wednesday 8:10, Trumpets: Thursday 8:15 and Trombone: Friday 8:10. No more sectionals after this week. I’m so glad many of you have taken advantage of the sectionals to improve. Thank you parents for bringing them early enough each week, I appreciate your support and encouragement of your students. If your student is playing a solo/ensemble for the concert and want some help with their solo, please see me and we can arrange to meet in the mornings.
Orchestra: Starting next week, if you are playing a solo/ensemble in the Winter Concert and want some individual help with it, please see me and we can arrange a time for you to come in the morning at 8:15 and we can work on your song.
K – 4th Grade
We are still exploring how different instruments can represent different animals. We are also looking at how music can express different moods. Your student will be introduced to blues this week. Along with music expressing moods, we will be learning about musical form. Already your students will be able to identify aab form!
We are learning songs for Thanksgiving! “I like Thanksgiving” and “On the Mayflower.” Perhaps your student can sing them for you!
Mrs. Ball
“Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.” ~ Ronald Reagan
Free Concert: Sunday November 13, 3 pm.
The Chandler Symphony Orchestra is presenting “Mahler’s Milestone,” a concert observing the 100th Anniversary of Mahler’s (composer) death. The concert is FREE of charge and is held at the Chandler Center for the Arts located at 250 North Arizona Ave in Chandler. The program includes a cello soloist playing Saint Saens Cello Concerto, Mahler’s 1st Symphony, “The Titan” and excerpts from the Nutcracker Ballet with special guest dancers from the Southwest Youth Ballet.
Seating is first come first served and the doors open an hour before the concert begins. This is a great opportunity for your student. For all band and orchestra students, bring back a program from the concert and get extra credit for class! Hope to see you there!
November 7
At last, it feels like fall! 
This week we will be exploring the sounds that instruments make that cause us to think of certain characteristics or creatures or parts of nature. We will be exploring this by learning about and watching Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf.” It is a cute little Russian folk story that is put to music. Each instrument represents one of the characters in the story. The Bird is represented by the flute. The Duck is represented by the oboe, the Cat is represented by the clarinet, the Wolf is very well represented by the French horn, the sound of the Hunters is represented by the timpani, Grandfather is represented by the bassoon, and lastly, Peter is represented by the strings. The original story ends with the parade on the way to the zoo. Students might make the assumption that all the characters reach the zoo, and the ending is happy and thoroughly uncomplicated. Yet, Prokofiev chooses to leave the story open-ended, which provides an excellent opportunity for your student to predict what will happen next. Your student may be bringing home their own written endings to the story, especially since there is the problem between the wolf and the duck. Will the duck ever escape from inside the wolf’s stomach? If so, how? Will something happen on the way to the zoo? Will any of the characters even reach the zoo? Your student is going to get the chance to answer these questions their own way. 
Band: Sectionals this week. Tuesday 8:15 for flutes, Wednesday 8:10 for clarinets, Thursday 8:15 for trumpets and Friday 8:10 for trombone.
November 1
Thank you so much to all of you that brought in paper towel rolls and toilet paper rolls! We had exactly the right amount, with only one or two rolls left over. The project was so fun and by now you have probably had your fill of listening to the Didgeridoo! I hope that your student was able to tell you all about the Australian instrument. Some of the classes were able to all sit around after making them and play them with shakers as well. Thanks again for your contributions!
This week we are exploring how music can affects moods and our imaginations. So while telling a story, I use several different types of music that add to the mood of the story. We’ve also been working on the names of notes and playing the Note Name game.
October 24
Thank you all so much for bringing in the paper towel and toilet paper rolls for the Kinder-3rd grade classes! Keep bringing them in if you have them, the more we have the longer the didgeridoo can be and the deeper the sound it will make! We will be doing the project at the end of the week and on Monday of next week, because of the half day this week, so we can keep collecting til then.
Orchestra and Band: Many students wanted to do solos and small ensembles for our Winter Concert. Those of you who are, I would love to be able to meet with you and give some attention to your solos. Wednesday is a half day. I am available to meet with any of you in the afternoon til 4 pm. Email me a time and I will gladly help you with your song. tball@santanlc.com
No trumpet sectionals on Thursday, Oct 27th.
October 17
Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful break! This week we will be getting right back into the amazing and fun world of music! We will be learning about steps and skips in pitches. The students will be learning how to recognize the difference in sound between a step and a skip. We will also be learning to identify them in notation as well. We will be talking about how melody is made up of steps and skips and hopefully we will be creating our own melodies this week!
Every week I introduce an instrument to the students to learn about, explore and even play. This week they will be learning all about the cello. The students will learn when the first cello was made, how it is made, the names of the parts, what clef it reads, how it is played and will get to hear some famous pieces composed for cello. They will also get a chance to try it out themselves!
We are still busy learning our songs for the Winter Concert and can’t wait to share them with you!
October 6
Fall Break is next week! It’s come upon us so quickly! This week has been fun as we’ve introduced some new notes, introduced new instruments and practiced our songs for the Winter Concert that will be upon us before we know it!
During conferences this week I will be in the music classroom until 4 pm. Please feel free to stop by, I would love to see you!
Free Concert!
This Sunday, October 9, at 3 pm the Chandler Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the Chandler Center for the Arts. This is a free concert and would be a wonderful experience for your student! It is the concertmaster’s debut and he will be performing on the violin as a soloist. This is extra credit for band and orchestra students. For all other students, this would be so fun for them as we have been learning about the different instruments. Already they have been introduced (and been able to try a few of them) to the violin, the cello, the trumpet, the flute and few others. It would be a really neat experience for them to see the instruments live in concert and be able to point out the different instruments that they have learned about. I hope that you will take advantage of this free concert! I will continue to post other opportunities as they approach.
Orchestra News!
I hope that many of the orchestra members will be able to attend the concert as it is the concertmaster’s debut! We will be having our own concertmaster debut at the Winter Concert. The orchestra has learned all about what it means to be concertmaster and the great responsibility it is. We held auditions for the concertmaster position as well as principal leads and assistants for each section last week. Congratulations to John Tuason – concertmaster for the Winter Concert; Karter Harris – concertmaster assistant; Jacob Stakebake – principal 2nd violin lead; Troy Jansen – assistant 2nd violin; Mark Whitby – principal viola; and Emilie Cottrell – principal cello. Everyone did an amazing job auditioning and it was a really good experience for all.
If you were not able to jump on the group orders last month for the orchestra curriculum, fall break would be a wonderful time to order your book online. You can find it on amazon.com. The title of the book is “Sound Innovations for String Orchestra Bk 1″ and you would purchase the one marked for your instrument, whether it is violin, viola or cello. Please make sure to order your book-it is required for orchestra!
Band News!
We’ve been working hard and I am so proud of you all! The Nutcracker March is coming along and is sounding great! Hope you can all attend the concert on Sunday. Have a great Fall break and don’t let your instrument get lonely next week! Pull it out a couple times!;)
If you were not able to jump on the group orders last month for the band curriculum, fall break would be a wonderful time to order your book online. You can find it on amazon.com. The title of the book is “Sound Innovations for Concert Band Bk 1″ and you would purchase the one marked for your instrument, whether it is flute, clarinet, trumpet or trombone. Please make sure to order your book-it is required for band!
Have a wonderful break!