Letter from the Kingdom of Tune #4: My Crusade for the Princess' Briefcase. Day Three
Hi!
This is Sir Quinn Tonic’s Guard emailing you.
Here is my picture from the last Ball. It was made before all these troubles came to play!
Once, before the new school year, I was guarding the peace of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Tune and suddenly heard voices of King Dominant and Princess Subdominant and their famous “second.” We all call their concord the “King Second” because all our citizens are urged to run to help or run away, when this sound is dominating. It is very powerful!
My key is also next to Queen’s. If you press the keys together, you will also hear the “second.” However, I prefer to keep silent and listen when my Queen talks because I am her knight, her real Knight in Shining Armor. If people communicate, they don’t talk together at the same time. This is exactly why together we create wonderful melodies. And I always let Tonic say the final word!
Now, where was I? Oh, yes. So, just before Soft Mozart Academy started, suddenly I was hearing the King Second – and alarmingly running toward the sound!
My appearance added my disturbed voice to the existing concord of the King and Princess.
My arrival did not relieve the situation in any way! Try to play our three keys together, and you will understand what kind of heat this situation can reach!
I, as usual, immediately understood that we wouldn’t resolve anything without the Queen, so I ran to her with a report. The first thing Tonic asked me was to take the crying Princess to the Maid of Honor in order to diffuse the situation.
Closing the door behind me, I finally heard the Tonic consonance. I could sigh with relief:
But as soon as I had time to take a breath, I received an Order from the Queen: it’s urgent for me to look for the missing little mice and the Princess’s briefcase!
When such emergencies happened in the Kingdom, Tonic could always count on me! I was already on horseback and headed in search of the missing items.
I had a very difficult and important task. In the briefcase, Princess keeps her sheet music! Without it, the Subdominant can only play by ear. But then she would not be able to read the new musical stories that Bach and Mozart and other great composers wrote!
By the way, {{ subscriber.first_name }} . . . How are you doing with the notes? Have you learned to read music?
Do you like your music classes?
I stopped on a small spot of grass.
Can you imagine? Just when I asked you about the music, a multicolored and very friendly caterpillar appeared right out of the ground!
Most of all I was surprised that it turned out that we have a lot in common with him. The world is a small place. He said that any child of the Soft Mozart Academy knows him!
Well, of course: who does not know the exercise of Hanon number 1. In our school, it is called “The Caterpillar”!
The caterpillar told me that she knew exactly where the little mice are. Can you imagine? She volunteered to help lead all of us into -- as she says -- an amazing place.
But it was necessary to leave my horse and follow her, playing the “Caterpillar” exercise from key to key, so as not to get lost.
What do you think about that?
Put your thumb on any key. Skip the next key and say “skip,” and then go in order towards your pinkie and say: one, two, three.
And then from the pinkie march with your fingers backwards:
And say “four, five, six, seven.”
As you see, your thumb is now on the next key! Start this all over again and again!
Here is how my mom explain the exercise here
Watch how our student Ivan learning to play the exercise using his right hand
Look how our student Ariana plays the exercises using both hands and plays it up and down:
Here is a “selfie” of me and the Caterpillar just for you.
We will be glad to see a photo or video of you playing the “Caterpillar” exercise. And if you already know how to play it, show other kids how to do it. Tell them about our Kingdom and invite them to subscribe to our stories!
Until we meet again,
Your friend,
Bodyguard from Kingdom of Tune
PS
Do you know that we have a room for you in our Kingdom? Come and claim it! Choose your school year and click New Topic. It will be your place! Here is the link!
Lesson plans with more Royal activities are for:
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