Music Summer Camp in Vienna Austria in 1750-1820.

Dear Diary. When we arrived on Monday, we jumped back in time to the years 1750-1820 during the Classical Music Era in Vienna Austria. We then sat around the campfire in the tent and got to know each other. We learned all kinds of things about each other. Such as, things we like, what we like to do and where we've been. We learned things that no one else knows about us. 

Then we moved over to the dining hall and made pouches so we would have a place to keep the beads and charms we collected throughout the week.  After that, we played some games. 

The first game we played was the "Music Staff Contest". We learned that we can make words on the music staff. We split up into teams and had a contest to see which team could come up with the most words.  Each team received a skittle or M&M for every word we got right.

Later, we went on a nature hike and listened to different composers play songs that sounded like things in nature, such as insects, trees, flowers and birds. 

After each activity, we collected our beads and charms to put in our pouches.

Oh I can't forget, we had a nice snack. Now back in those days, people ate nuts and raisins to keep their energy up. So we had ourselves some trail mix. 

Then at end the day, we spent time playing in the water at Lake Halstatt. It was a grand time!

Dear Diary. Today we started our day at the tent around the fire talking about what each student had to do the night before for homework. Some of the things we did was to learn how you clean your piano or listen to "Piano Guys" or listen to the sounds of birds while trying to mimic it on the piano. 

Then we moseyed on over to the lake and played a game called "Passing the Instrument". While Miss Shay played music, the students had to pass an instrument around the circle and whoever was left holding the instrument when the music stopped, was out. For each round, we kept adding an instrument to the circle causing more people to be out when the music stopped. We did this until there was only one person left.

Then we played "Instrument Charades". Each one of us would come up and play a song we knew by ear, which was a difficult task, and the rest of the crowd had to guess what the song was.

And last, we had an instrument contest. We played the game, "Shiver Me Timbers".  We split up into 3 groups and each group had to go to a table that contained sheets with different instruments. We had to decide what instrument family each one belong in. We needed to complete our chart and then check to see if we were right. After 5 minutes, each team had to switch to a different table. The team that put the most instruments in the correct instrument family won.

Then it was snack time! Fruit was a luxury back in the day so we ate oranges. And I can't forget we collected those beads and charms to put in our pouches.

Even though it was soooo hot, it was a great day!

Dear Diary. This day was our last day. We started our time in the tent where we learned something interesting about different composers. Then we composed our own piece. Each student had to come up with a line to add to the story.

The piece was called "The Bear". The story went something like this... (I'm paraphrasing a little bit).

  I went on a hike and I met a bear and he...

  attacked me...

  then I ran...

  and he followed me...

  I hit him with a sword...

  And I pushed him in the water...

  Then I killed him...

  I then fried him up...

  And I ate him...

After that, each of us had an instrument and we had to play our instrument while singing a melody to the line that we made up. It turned out pretty cute, I must say!

After that we went to the lake and played "Hopscotch". This was a game that kids used to play in the good ole days. We split off into two teams. Each team had a board with lines on it that would consist of a musical term or a composer. We had to guess what letters belonged on those lines. This was much like hangman. Every time a team guessed a letter that belonged on a line, the person on the hopscotch mat was able to move forward. The first team to have all five team members go through the hopscotch mat, won.

After that we went to the dining hall where we played a fun game that kids used to play called "Pick Up Sticks". Tough game.

Finally we had our snack. Popcorn was very popular back then. So we had ourselves some popcorn.

It was so hot that we decided to move inside for the next activity. It was a busy week running around and playing hard and getting wet so our pouches kind of fell a part a little. Miss Jessica helped us fix them up. 

Then we took our beads and charms that we collected throughout the week and made necklaces, bracelets, and ankle bracelets. Very creative group we had.

Summer Music Camp was a lot of fun!! Can't wait to do it again next year.