The magic flute with English lyrics and subtitles

An amazing performance of "The Magic flute" by Mozart created by the Metropolitan Opera of New York. 

It is a fantastic production made by the MET with English lyrics specially thought for children.

Brain on music

TONES, SEMITONES and KEY SIGNATURE

The diatonic scale has 5 TONES and 2 SEMITONES 

It's much easier to appreciate it on a keyboard:

PRACTISE THE TONES AND SEMITONES 

MUSIC ACCIDENTALS (Alteraciones)

 

KEY SIGNATURE

The key signature is a set of music accidentals (flat or sharp symbols) placed at the beginning of the stave.

 It is located between the clef and the time signature:

Stradivarius in Spain

A LUTHIER is the person who makes and repairs string instruments.

These days we are talking about the luthier's job in our days and also remembering the most popular luthier of all times: Antonio Stradivari

In the Royal Palace in Madrid you can visit one of the only complete surviving collections of Stradivarius in the world: "Colección Palatina" or "Colección decorada"

It consists of five instruments:  two violins, one viola and two cellos (one of them is not decorated) and they were made in 1696.

Check the following video about the luthier who is in charge of keeping the collection in a good condition.

Carmina Burana - O Fortuna by Carl Orff

Carmina Burana is a choral and orchestral work written by the german composer Carl Orff (1895-1982). It's based on 24 medieval poems which talk about topics like: money, lust or drink. They are written in Latin

 It was written for a large orchestra, two choirs and a boy's choir. The percussion section in the piece is also huge: it needs 8 timpani among other instruments.

The most famous part in Carmina Burana is "O Fortuna". The music is very expressive and it's often related to scary or dramatic moments (it's commonly used in films and adverts)

The following performance took place in the amazing  "Arena di Verona" in Italy:

Check the traslation of the lyrics:

O Fortune,
like the moon
you are changeable,
ever waxing
and waning;
hateful life
first oppresses
and then soothes
as fancy takes it;
poverty
and power
it melts them like ice.

Types of voices - Javier Camarena (Tenor)

If you are studying the different types of voices take this opportunity to show your students the importance and the trascendece of a good singer.

Recently, the tenor Javier Camarena made history at the Royal Theatre in Madrid singing the second "bis" in the history of the Royal Theatre with the opera "La fille du regiment" by Donizetti.

Your students can check the press and investigate the news.

EL PAÍS - Javier Camarena hace historia
ABC - bis de Camarena

Sí al bilingüismo

Interesante artículo sobre la enseñanza bilingüe. Resume los datos aportados por el doctor Matt Davis, experto en educación multilingüe y señala aquellos factores en los que beneficia el aprendizaje bilingüe a nuestros alumnos.

Las ocho cosas que ocurren en tu cerebro cuando aprendes otro idioma

How playing an instrument benefits your brain

I must say I LOVE TED's talks, it doesn't matter the subject or area, they're always interesting and inspiring. They have also developed an education channel in Youtube: TEDed. It's a must see.

How playing an instrument benefits your brain. 

 This is not a classroom resource but it's very interesting for teachers and parents. Enjoy it!

Little Snowflake - Christmas song

It's not a proper Christmas song or a Christmas carol but it's really cute and children love it.

 The lyrics are repetitive so they can learn them easily. 

Students can also learn or review the parts of the body.

Supersimplelearning*

Little Snowflake Lyrics:

Snowflake, snowflake, little snowflake.

Little snowflake falling from the sky.

Snowflake, snowflake, little snowflake.

Falling, falling, falling, falling, falling,

falling, falling, falling, falling...falling on my head.

Snowflake, snowflake, little snowflake.

Little snowflake falling from the sky.

Snowflake, snowflake, little snowflake.

Falling, falling, falling, falling, falling,

falling, falling, falling, falling...falling on my nose.

Snowflake, snowflake, little snowflake.

Little snowflake falling from the sky.

Snowflake, snowflake, little snowflake.

Falling, falling, falling, falling, falling,

falling, falling, falling, falling...falling in my hand.

Falling on my head.

Falling on my nose.

Falling in my hand.

Snowflake, snowflake, little snowflake...

Halloween songs

Celebrate Halloween's day in the classroom with these songs. 
It's always better to use songs with lyrics so children can follow them.

Our students can also learn the parts of the body (primary education):