Bloom School of Music And Arts LLP | Code: Sunshine (Arty Smarty

It is almost another year now since our last Mothers’ Day post!
Did you try out the song “世上只有妈妈好” with the solfège system and the Curwen/Glover hand signs, and perform it for your Mum? I hope she liked it!

We, at Bloom School of Music & Arts, would like to cheer you on in your musical journey as well, so remember to record your performances, and then tag us on Instagram @bloomschoolsg, and hashtag #bloomschoolperformance!

If you’re not already learning music, why not start now?
Bloom School of Music & Arts is proud to be one of the few schools in Singapore offering Musikgarten, an acclaimed Early Childhood music programme in USA. Musikgarten graduates can continue with our in-house Tutti music programme, before continuing on to individual instrumental (🎻 🎸 🥁 🎹) programmes.

For more information, fill up our Online Enquiry Form, and we will get back to you!

Besides the solfège system and the Curwen/Glover hand signs, thanks to a musician friend, I recently learnt how to use the number system. It is helpful for people who dislike reading notes (me!), and makes for easy chord transposition, and eases communication among musicians.
In the Nashville Number System, a number is assigned to each scale degree (each note of the scale). For example, the notes in C Major are C-D-E-F-G-A-B. C is the first note of the scale, D is second, and so on. In essence, these numbers, named after scale degrees, are used as shorthand to name chords.

Nashville Number System explained on piano diagram with notes and scale degrees labelled, C major.

The Nashville Number System is a simple, but brilliant idea, don’t you think?
Another way to learn to read notes is using colour-coded notation. As its name suggests, the colours make it obvious which note is which, and all you have to do is match the colour of the note with that on the instrument. In this article, Rob talks about the pros and cons of using the note-colouring system. Musical literacy is important, though you would also want to take advantage of young children’s critical period for auditory development, Rob emphasizes. Until then, why not learn music in a fun and beneficial way, with coloured notation?

Did you know that Bloom School of Music & Arts‘ Tutti programmes also uses colour-coded notation?
Our Tutti programmes are structurally and comprehensively organised to continue nurturing the musical development of your child(ren) from 3 years onwards.
In Tutti Tots (for 3-4 years old), carefully planned activities will help your child develop listening, focused attention, imagination, creativity, and self-expression. At the end of this course, students will be able to play simple tunes on the mini keyboard, and then progress to Tutti Keyboard (from 4 years old). Key components of music learnt in Tutti Tots are reinforced, while keyboard skills are given more emphasis. Students are encouraged to respond to cues, echo short rhythm patterns, identify rhythm symbols and notations, as well as identify and respond to simple scores through percussion playing.

Have I piqued your interest yet? Register for a trial Tutti class via our Online Enquiry Form here!

Colour coding gave me an idea for a Mothers’ Day gift! If you enjoy puzzles, and like to pretend-play as a Secret Agent or Super Spy on a mission, this might just be the craft for you! This will be an engaging bonding activity if your Mum also enjoys brain-racking activities.

This is more than just a simple rainbow wall decor!
Embedded in this rainbow is a song perfect for Mums for Mothers’ Day!
Based on the note-colouring system, each note sung in this song (in C Major) is given a colour of the rainbow.

This is the legend for the colours used in this code.
And here is a close-up of the colours in this rainbow wall hanging. Can you guess the tune?

If you guessed You Are My Sunshine, you are right!
This is one of my favourite, calming tunes for both mother and child. Inspired by KidSparkz (here are other Mothers’ Day song ideas), I tweaked the lyrics just a little to retain the beautiful first line from the original song.

You Are My Sunshine
(original tune by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell, 1940)

You are my sunshine

I love you, Mummy

You make me happy

When I am sad

I want to tell you

How much I love you

When I’m with you

I’m so glad

Musical Rainbow Wall Hanging

When I think of happy things, a rainbow always comes to mind!
There are 7 notes sung in You Are My Sunshine, and there are also 7 colours of the rainbow. So, I put two and two together, and came up with the idea to make a rainbow wall hanging, which will add a nice, soft touch to any home.
Ideally, I would do a sizeable one (just like this beautiful macrame rainbow). I also wanted to practise my 6Rs; not buy new, and use what I already have. This practice is good exercise for creative, out-of-the-box thinking!

I have a box of embroidery thread from an old hobby, but not enough of the same colours to wrap around twine, like I initially wanted. In the end, I chose to keep it simple, and just stick the thread directly on to an A5 card (landscape). Turns out it is still quite a feat to fit 37 notes in a rainbow!

The longest embroidery thread is roughly 40 cm (outer circle). I started with a strip of double-sided tape in the middle of the card. Then I pasted the middle of each thread on the double-sided tape, according to my colour-coded notation. Once I had all 37 notes pasted on in the middle, I moved on to the threads on the left, and glued them down one by one in the shape of an arc. Any glue that dries clear would be best!

As you can see, I made the mistake of not measuring my rainbow properly for the right side, so my rainbow is asymmetrical. The idea is the same, though, to paste down the threads on the right in the shape of an arc. Once you have got all the threads pasted down, there would be excess thread hanging off the card. Trim them according to the shortest thread, and comb them neatly. Also cut off the white parts of the card, but leave a little space to punch a hole at the top.

I wrote the song lyrics on the back of the rainbow, and threaded the CODE to hang behind the rainbow.

And here is our Musical Rainbow Wall Hanging!

You can use this technique with any other simple songs. Assign a colour to a note that will be sung in the song, and you will have yourself another rainbow!

Who’s ready for more code-cracking?

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I hope that you enjoyed making this as much as I did! If you have tried this, and any of our other Arty Smarty crafts, share it with us! Remember to tag us on Instagram @bloomschoolsg, and hashtag #BloomSchoolDIY. We can’t wait to see what you have made!

On behalf of Bloom School of Music & Arts,

here’s wishing

all mothers, and mothers at heart,

a blessed, peaceful, and well-rested

Happy Mothers’ Day!