Music

Claxton Elementary Music Program

Welcome to the Claxton Music Web Page, where you can find out information about our general music program, our music related visiting artist residencies, our talented students, our student and guest artist musical performances, and Mr. Butler, our music teacher.

Meet Mr. Butler

I began teaching music at Claxton Elementary in 2007. I grew up in Raleigh, N.C. and graduated high school in Morehead City, N.C., where my family moved when I was a junior in high school. I ran for the hills to attend Western Carolina University for my undergraduate degrees in Spanish and Music, where I graduated in 1993. After making a go as a professional guitarist in my 20's, in 1998 I returned to school for a Masters of Science in Education from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

I first discovered my love of teaching by giving guitar lessons in my late teens and early twenties and began my professional career as a classroom teacher in Knox Co. Schools, Tennessee, as a high school Spanish teacher. After stints in the San Francisco Bay area and Miami, Florida, where I taught as a Spanish, music, and grade-level class teacher in Waldorf Schools, I moved back to western N.C. in 2006 and began teaching in Asheville City Schools.

I love all things musical, but especially love the great "classic rock" era of the late 1960's and early '70's. It was the music of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and the like that inspired me to pick up guitar and start my journey as a musician. Over the years, I have performed as a solo guitarist and singer/songwriter, as the member of countless bands, and as a wedding musician. I am so grateful to share my love of music with my students and feel very fortunate to be a music teacher in such a musical city as Asheville. My wife and I love attending concerts, gardening, hiking, spending time with friends and family, or hanging out with our fat orange kitty-cat, Barnaby Jones.

Mr. Barnaby Jones

The Maestro!

The Chinese Lion

Music Program Overview

Our general music program seeks to engage all students in active music making and expose them to a variety of global musical traditions while helping to develop basic skills on a variety of instruments. that is a lot to accomplish in a weekly 45 minute music lesson! Beginning in Kindergarten, students experience the joy of group music making through song, dance, and musical games with an emphasis on using the classroom percussion instruments like drums and other hand percussion and xylophones. Our learning about the western music instrument "families" and the symphony orchestra starts through story books and videos and listening and dancing.

As we progress through 5th grade, students have opportunities to learn basic skills on ukuleles and keyboards (3rd through 5th) and recorder flutes (4th and 5th). Orff instruments (xylophones) play a prominent role throughout the grades and help students learn about the elements of music in a hands-on approach with ensemble work. Drumming with a foundation in the West African tradition is also a commonality throughout the grades, which culminates in the 5th grade drum making residency and LEAF festival performance opportunity.

Though our music program places a stronger emphasis on process rather than performance, there are many opportunities over the years for students to showcase their developing skills for our community in various presentations and student concerts.

Our program extends into afterschool opportunities for music making and learning with our After School Arts program and our afterschool fall musical drama for 4th and 5th graders. Over the years through the After School Arts program, students have opportunities for lessons on piano, singing, drumming, guitar, and more.

Community partners such as The Bob Moog foundation and The Asheville Symphony Organization offer wonderful opportunities for music related assembly performances and fieldtrips. Our PTO supported Cultural Arts program brings performers of all kinds to our students, from Tuvan throat singing to didgeridoo to classical music performances.

Integrated teaching and learning gives emphasis to the interconnectedness of music and main academic content, meaning students can expect to learn about math, literacy, history, and science through music and the other arts in both the music lessons and in their regular classrooms. This is also accomplished through visiting artist residencies supported by organizations such as the N.C. Arts Council, the Asheville City Schools Foundation and the Lake Eden Arts Festival Schools and Streets program.

Winter 2025 Updates

Strumming, tooting, keyboarding, and singing!

As we progress through the 2024-2025 school year in music lessons, we are finding new ways to express ourselves in voice and on instruments. Recorder flutes, ukuleles, and keyboards help older students develop instrumental skills while singing in Spanish, learning about the science of sound and playing hand percussion help younger students orient to basic music concepts.

Kindergarten

Kindergarteners have begun some drumming and xylophone work to bring nursery rhymes to life with instrumental accompaniment. The story book Clarinet and Trumpet teaches us about the woodwinds and brass instruments through a tale of friendship challenged by new acquaintances. Reading Una Niña, Un Tambor, Un Sueño, integrates Spanish into the music lessons as we learn about the changing norms of who is allowed to play drums in Cuban society. Sing a Song, Mr. Moon, Count on Me are songs we're currently enjoying.

1st Grade

First graders are preparing for the Spring Concert with Sing a Song and Mr. Moon, as well as some drumming pieces. We are learning basic hand drum technique as we approach multi-layered rhythms with the help of Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Playing hand bells and xylophones along with Mr. Moon helps orient us to ideas of rhythm and pitch.

2nd Grade

Second grade is tackling a mini-musical, The Selfish Giant in preparation for the Spring Concert. We are being challenged to learn musical numbers from a vocal score and add some instrumental accompaniment. We also have a couple of other songs in the works; See Us Shine is a song composed for the 2004 Winter Olympic Games with themes of teamwork and community. From our integration with 2nd grade Wit & Wisdom Pioneer themed lessons, Home on the Range proves yet again that oldies are goodies.

3rd Grade

This year's 3rd graders are making impressive progress in their ukulele unit. Lime in the Coconut and Paw Paw Patch helped us transition through one and two chord songs and now we have learned enough to attempt some more challenging chord progressions.

4th Grade

4th graders are also in their ukulele unit. Row Your Boat had us singing and strumming in a round and we are now learning how to pluck melodies by reading tablature, a form of written music notation for stringed instruments. Challenging play along videos, like Someone to Lava have us attempting the tricky G7 chord too!

5th Grade

5th graders have been engaged in a recorder flute unit. Attempting some genuine recorder repertoire from the 16th century, like Bransle de Champaigne allows us to hear the instrument in its truer context as opposed to the children's songs we mainly stick to in 4th grade. Some recorder video play-alongs, like Eye of the Tiger are keeping things fun with a more relaxing and simple approach too. We're also taking some brain breaks with group drumming here and there.

Music Lesson Show & Tell!

Claxton students have an open invitation to bring instruments from home to show and tell what they can play and what they know about them!

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