Mid-Term Break and still busy!

Even though it's mid-term break, things are still busy here at Sing Out HQ! Each of the schools are learning each others songs now, so there are lots of lyrics to learn over the break! We're starting to get very excited for our May Concert, which will take place in the Ak Ilen Wooden Boat Building School! Just think! As we sing our sea shanties and sailor's ballads, we'll be surrounded by real boats!

In other news, we just received a fantastic video from the University of Limerick, showing our visit with Mr Howard Crosby, Bing Crosby's nephew! It's never quiet here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S3NzQxaelo

And the word of the week is...?

What is so special about music … what do you need if you want to write lyrics to a song … what makes the difference between different songs?
Now we can answer some of these questions, with our new word … RHYTHM!!
As an example for Rhythm this week we listened to the piece “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” sang by the London Community Gospel Choir.
They change the rhythm of the piece and therefore the song sounds completely different. Amaaazing!!


Now whenever we perform at a concert, we know that one of the most important things to remember is, we must all practise and feel the same rhythm in order to perform the piece of music together as a big group!

Galvone's Violin Bootcamp

A special WELL DONE to Miss Drew's 4th class in Galvone, who successfully completed a TWO WEEK violin bootcamp! That's 20 lessons in 10 days! On Friday they gave a special in-school performance for their families and they were fantastic!


Thumbs up 4th class! We're all really proud of you!

Word of the Week....... JOY!

This week we've been chatting about one little word - JOY! We can practice, practice, practice, but if we don't remember to enjoy making music there's just no point!


So this week, as we continue to learn new songs, we took some time out to listen to one of the most joyful singing groups Kathleen could find - The Soweto Gospel Choir. They sing with loads of energy and enthusiasm, and you can tell that singing makes them happy! So we're taking a leaf out of their book. Whether we're singing in class or working hard to prepare for our next big concert, we're remembering that the most important thing in music is to ENJOY it!

Awesome Listening = CAKE!

Well done to Senior Infants and First Class at St Mary's! They were the best listeners of Autumn 2011 and their violin teacher, Gillian, baked them a very special cake to celebrate!

Word of the Week..........

This week's Word of the Week was....

Determination - Making a decision to do something well, and seeing it through, even when it's not easy!

We talked about the different kinds of people who have determination - olympic athletes, students studying for exams, doctors, teachers. And we thought about how we need determination in music. It's not always easy learning or writing a new piece of music, but we work together and have determination to see it through. One great example of this is Only Men Aloud's version of 'What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor?'
Even though it's quite a simple song, their version is really complicated! You can tell that they worked really hard to make it sound so good!

Our song of the week is 'The Sea Tragedy,' a ballad written by 6th class in St Mary's Boys. It's a great song, and everyone is really enjoying learning it!

Satellite program started in Presentation Primary School

Based on the ever increasing popularity of the Sing Out with Strings program in Limerick, Presentation Primary has decided to join in on the act and start their own program funded by the school itself.

Under the guidance of Lisa Grosman, their resident violin teacher Ciarán Collins, began a three week boot camp to give the children in the school the best possible start to their music playing. The boot camp was such a success that Lisa invited the children to play in the University Concert Hall along with the other participating schools and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. This was a fantastic experience for the children, many of whom only began to play in September and they were a credit to their school on the day.

The program will be continued in the school into the New Year, but only on a much smaller scale due to lack of funds. One can’t doubt the success of the program in the other participating schools and Presentation Primary would hope that the funding may be made available so they could also gain from the benefits of having Sing Out with Strings too!
Ciarán Collins, Presentation Primary School