If you grew up with the ukulele, you may recall the words "my dog has fleas".  In fact, you may still remember the pitches you sang with each word: G, C, E, A. The G was a high pitch just as the A string is and this was representative of what would typically be described as re-entrant tuning. This however, is not how we tune ukuleles at Strawberry Vale Elementary. Why would you use anything different you ask? Let me explain!

An educator in Nova Scotia named J. Chalmers Doane was instrumental (pun most definitely intended) in bringing the ukulele into the world of Canadian Music Education. Chalmers was searching for an instrument that was small to hold, cheap to produce (the Northern Ukulele), and durable in the music room setting. In deciding upon the ukulele, he also felt that tuning it one whole step higher would be more suitable for two reasons: it fits into the voice range of young students a little better and would immediately fit in with an orchestral strings program. 

All that to say, we tune our instruments in D6 tuning (A-D-F#-B) rather than the C6 of "My Dog Has Fleas". Additionally, we use a low A-string (220hz) to increase our picking range down a fourth which opens up a world of melodic exploration. 

Ukuleles are used for students at Strawberry Vale from grades 2 - 5.  

If you are looking to purchase a ukulele, please connect with Mr. Martin before doing so!

Hard to believe that this marks the start of my ninth year on staff at Strawberry Vale! We had a wonderful year in music last year culminating with the large-scale production of the Seussical in April. 
This year we will be putting on a Winter Concert in December, exact date is TBD.
Choir for grade 3, 4, 5 will begin in late September and last until Spring Break.  We are glad to be welcoming Ms. Harvey on staff this year who will also be a part of our choir teaching team!

Looking forward to another great year!

​Mr. Martin

Well, my apologies for not keeping this up to date this year but it has been an incredibly challenging year as you can imagine!

Some updates for music at Strawberry Vale:
Musical Theatre will still be on pause until at least the 2022/2023 school year.  As planning a musical production takes the better part of half a year, we do not have time to produce one for this school year's end.  

Choir will come back after Spring Break!  More details will be available after the break for interested students in grades 3 - 5.

Strings continues on with Mr. Lochead and they are sounding great!  Thanks for supporting your student's learning in instrumental music!

Ukulele opportunity with Island Ukuleles.  Students in grade 3 - 5 are welcome to attend the Spring Trial of Island Ukuleles held each Monday evening at Oak Bay High School.  Please visit www.islandukulele.org for more information.

All the best,

​Mr. Martin

Welcome to Strawberry Vale music for 2021/2022!  We are excited to be back safely making music at Strawberry Vale!

​This year we welcome Mr. DJ Lochead to our teaching team in the Orchestral Strings role.  We look forward to having on staff with us here!

We wish to Congratulate Ms. Whyte on her recent retirement and thank her for her many years of dedicated service to students in Greater Victoria!  

At this time, Ms. Parlee and Mr. Martin are evaluating the possibility of choir beginning in the new year.  There are many factors to be taken into consideration including space, time, learning groups, PPE, and sanitization protocols.  While it is our desire to have choir at Strawberry Vale, it is also our desire to ensure the health and safety of every person who works or learns in this building.  We thank you for your understanding.

Thank you to all of the Strawberry Vale students who were able to lend their voice either through speaking or singing for the virtual Remembrance Day assembly.  You all helped to make our time of remembrance a truly special one in this very unique year.  

Our normal remembrance day assembly is unable to take place this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.  We will be hosting an online presentation for all students on November 10.

Now that the school year has begun to settle in, we are looking at how we can safely facilitate choir for students in grades 3 - 5.  We are looking at having a grade 3 choir (these students are in a learning group together) and having a grade 4-5 choir (where physical distancing measures will be needed between the two learning groups).   Please stay tuned for more information on that.

We are well underway in music class and students are learning how to adapt to the changes that we have made in order to ensure their health and safety.   Don't forget to check out our activities page to keep up with some of the things we do in music class!

All the best, 

​Mr. Martin

Did you know that music is still able to take place in a safe way?  The British Columbia Music Educators' Association (BCMEA) along with the Coalition for Music Education in British Columbia (CMEBC) have created a steering document to provide support to music programs across the province.  This set of guidelines has been vetted and approved by both the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) and the Provincial Health Office.

While the method of music delivery has changed, students are still able to partake in learning this valuable, life-long subject.  

We are still looking at the safety around having choir during this time and will let you know if we can make safe plans around choir restart.

All the best,

​Mr. Martin

Well, school is going to look and feel a lot different this year and music is no exception to that.  We are hoping to have music in the music at some times during this year however, music may come to individual classrooms during periods of the day.  We will be able to tell you more in the coming days and weeks.

Unfortunately, Mr. Cramaro will not be back at Strawberry Vale this year. 
Fortunately, we welcome Mrs. Lockwood to our school family who will teach grade 3 and some music this year.  

Stay tuned for updates!

Mr. Martin

Well, it has been an interesting school year for certain.  I hope that all of you take the time to relax and enjoy the summer as best as you are able!

Until the next time, 

​Mr. Martin

Hello, all!  We hope you are doing well.  For those of you continuing with at home learning, we are continuing to add activities and resources to this website so that you can do music at home!  It's truly been a crazy time and we as a music team thank you for your patience as we've navigated how to deliver music at home.

Grade 4/5's, please keep sending in your videos for the Jungle Book!  I have begun to blend the sound files together and am starting to blend the videos to create our virtual choir for the musical.  It already sounds fantastic but would be even better with more voices and faces!!  Thanks for working on these for me!

Mr. Martin

The BIG DAY has finally arrived and we are welcoming students back into the school building for the first time in classes since March 17.  It feels like it has been an eternity.  Music at school will be quite a bit different as we navigate the public health protocols to keep us safe.

We will not be using the music room for students but rather students will be heading outside during music times.  These times may consist of singing, dancing, and DPA.  While this is a large change, it is necessary at this time to ensure the safety of all staff and students. 

I am looking forward to reconnecting with students here and will continue to connect with students remotely.

Please don't forget to check out our activities page and Mrs. Whyte's strings page.

Grade 4/5's, please continue to send in your videos for our Jungle Book project!  I have some great videos in already!  Not sure what this project is?  Please contact me for the information.

Mr. Martin

The first Monday of May each year we celebrate Music Monday in Canada!  It is a day for musicians of all ages and skill levels to share in and enjoy the craft of making music.  Founded by the Coalition For Music Education in Canada and sponsored by the provincial coalitions and provincial music educators' associations, Music Monday is now in it's 15th year.  The anthem this year is Canadian Jazz Piano great, Oscar Peterson's Hymn To Freedom.

We are so grateful for the support of music education at Strawberry Vale and are so honoured to be a part of this wonderful school community. 

For more on Music Monday, visit:  https://coalitioncanada.ca/musicmonday/en/
Coalition for Music Education in BC:  https://www.cmebc.org/
BC Music Educators' Association:  ​http://www.bcmusiced.ca/

It's a new school week and we continue to adapt with remote learning.  Grade 4 and 5 students have been invited to a Google Classroom for our Jungle Book preparations.  K - 3 students I may be "dropping by" your Google Classroom to post activities and videos.  Keep in touch through Contact Us.  I'm working on a file drop for videos and sound recordings that you're doing and that should be live shortly.

I miss you all!

​Mr. Martin

It's been about one month since we were last together at Strawberry Vale and I'm really missing hearing your awesome singing voices!  You can send them to Mr. Martin here.