The music curriculum from second grade through fourth grade is based on Dr. John Feierabend's Conversational Solfege. This curriculum is taught like a language and uses sound before sight. The goal of the music curriculum is for all students to demonstrate their ability to sing in tune, move to groupings of two and three, and express awareness (artfulness). There are several units, each unit is either rhythmic or tonal. There are twelve steps in Conversational Solfege. The steps are taught by using folk songs, dancing, musical games, and playing Orff instruments. The steps are below. (The units studied and difficulty of music depend on the grade level)
*Stage 1: Readiness Rote: Songs and rhymes are learned by rote and contain content that will be used later in the unit.
*Stage 2: Rote: The teacher speaks patterns and students echo the rhythmic or tonal syllables.
*Stage 3: Decode Familiar: The teacher speaks/ sings the familiar patterns on neutral syllables and the students decode them using tonal or rhythmic syllables.
*Stage 4: Decode Unfamiliar: The Teacher speaks/sings the unfamiliar patterns on neutral syllables and the students decode them using tonal or rhythmic syllables.
*Stage 5: Create: Students create patterns using the previously learned tonal or rhythmic patterns.
*Stage 6: Reading Rote: This is the first time students are introduced to notation symbols. The teacher reads notated patterns for the students. The students repeat the pattern while following along with the notation.
*Stage 7: Reading Familiar: Students read familiar notation.
*Stage 8: Reading Unfamiliar: Students read unfamiliar notation.
*Step 9: Writing: Rote: Students practice writing notation. Students copy existing patterns, songs and rhymes. This step again is directly related to the way children learn how to write in language classes.
*Step 10: Decoding familiar: The teacher speaks familiar patterns on neutral syllables, students audiate the patterns and write them out.
*Step 11: Decoding unfamiliar: The teacher speaks unfamiliar patterns on neutral syllables, students audiate the patterns and write them out.
*Step 12: Create: Composition