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Old King Cole

May 11, 2022
 

Grab a drum and a mallet and join me while we sing Old King Cole and learn about the musical terms staccato and legato while we do!

 This activity comes from our Fairy Tale Course inside our All Access Membership.  In the Fairy Tale Course we share the whole story of Sleeping Beauty with music from Ravel's Mother Goose Suite and from Tchaikovsky's ballet.  We also share songs about the Little Red Hen, Goldilocks, Beauty and the Beast, Little Tommy Thumb and more.

If you'd like to hear this piece and 2 others straight from our Fairy Tale Course, you won't want to miss Episode 18 of our Podcast!

Here are a few ideas if you'd like to adapt and extend this activity:

  • For babies: if they are too young play the drum, let them be the drum! Keep a steady beat on their belly, back or legs. Bounce them on your lap during the staccato sections and sway them smoothly during the legato sections.
  • Steady beat: find the steady beat as often as possible as you listen to any type of music with your child. Keep the beat in different ways, through drumming on various items, tapping, clapping, and dancing. Keeping a steady beat is a critical musical skill for the developing musician, and can take a while to develop, so just keep practicing!
  • Do some staccato and legato art. How would “short, bouncy notes” look on paper? Compare it with some “smooth, legato” art.
  • For preschoolers: Focus on the letter “O” -- listen for all the different “O” sounds in the rhyme (old soul, bowl)

Everytime you participate in a musical activity like this, your little one is learning so much.  Here are a few things your child is learning:

  • Steady beat
  • Musical concept of staccato and legato

Sign up for our free 5-day trial, "Musical Moments," to experience our online music courses for kids.

 

Each day, receive a video and instructions for a favorite activity from our membership. 

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