Have you ever noticed that music can be fast, slow, or a mixture of different speeds?  This week in music class, we will talk about the “tempo”.  Tempo is the speed of a certain piece of music.  In music, there are different names given for the speed of a song.  The composer will tell us the way he would like his music to be performed.  As we sing our morning song and greet our friends, we will be talking about fast and slow.

Let’s first talk about a bunny.  Bunnies can be fast, especially the wild bunnies we see outside.  Have you ever tried to catch a bunny?  How do bunnies move so fast?  Bunnies HOP!  Now let’s think of a slow animal.  A turtle or a snail are very slow.  Snails crawl! They actually carry their house on their back.  We would move slow also, if we had to carry our house!  Let’s sing a song about the fast bunny and the slow turtle.  As we sing we will also be hopping or crawling like the animals we are singing about in the song. “I’m a Little Bunny/Turtle”

Now that we can move fast and slow, Roger Ribbit comes to visit and teach us new musical words.  The two words we will be learning are “Allegro” & “Largo”.  Allegro means music that is fast, like our bunny.  Largo means music that is slow, like a snail or turtle.  Let’s actively listen to a song called “Slow & Fast”, by Hap Palmer.  When the music is fast,  or allegro, we will hop quickly around the room.  If the music is slow, or largo, we will crawl slowly, just like a turtle.

I also brought my violin.  I will play a song called “Allegro”.  Do you think this song starts slow or fast?  FAST! As we listen to the song, we will stand when the music is fast.  When the music slows down, we will get lower to the ground.  This is a fun activity to do with music that has different tempos.  Children can actively listen to the music and move their bodies.  This musical activity helps them learn to hear different tempo’s in a piece of music.

Today we have moved our bodies fast and slow.  We have also listened and heard music that is fast and slow.  Can we play an instrument fast and slow?  I will pass out our rhythm sticks.  As we listen to “In the Hall of the Mountain King” (Peer Gynt), by Edvard Grieg, we will tap our sticks to the rhythm.  The song starts slow and gets fast! This is a wonderful song to listen too and experience the magic of a great classical piece of music!  Enjoy!

Roger Ribbit says good bye to all his friends with nibbles & hugs.  We sing our good bye song and I ask, do you remember our new words?  Allegro, fast… Largo, slow…  Tempo is very important in music.  It also adds excitement!  Keep listening to GREAT music this week, fast or slow!