Northern Potter Music Department

Ever Wonder Why you should stay in Band? 

What is in it for you? Ya know, other than the art and joy of making music, continually improving skills, having fun with friends, the spirit of competition and collaboration, and simply enjoying it? :) How is playing in band going to benefit you now or later in life? Check out this TedTalk to find out what happens to your mind only when you're playing your instrument!

Keep up-to-date with happenings in the music department!

Homecoming Weekend!

Our middle and high school bands joined together to play in the fall pep rally. They sounded loud and proud while playing Immigrant Song, Believer, Dr. Who, and Go! Fight! Win! (aka Bob!)


Faculty and students will be bucket drumming at Friday night's volleyball game and at Saturday's soccer game.

District Band Participants

CONGRATULATIONS! to Elizabeth Crawford, tuba; Marian Hamilton, baritone; Kayla Hyde, clarinet; Nevaeh Kio, clarinet for qualifying for this District Band! They will travel to Bradford in January and compete against other musicians from seven counties for the opportunity to move on to the Region level.

The District 2 Band Concert will be January 13th at 7:00 and is open to the public.

The Northern Potter Junior/Senior High School provides daily music classes for grades 7 through 12, as well as extracurricular music activities throughout the school year.

All students in 7th and 8th grade have a music appreciation class on a 9 week rotation.  Each course is designed with the particular students' musical interests in mind, and students are able to choose which units they want to learn about.  Generally, students tend to choose units on guitar, keyboards, drumming, beat-making, and genres.

Students in 7th through 12th grades are able to sign up for performing ensemble classes.  These classes include Middle School Concert Band, High School Concert Band, Chorus, and Modern Band.  In these classes, students are building techniques on their instrument, learning how to read music and interpret music history, and building a reliable ear.  In addition to their daily classes, private lessons and sectional lessons are available as scheduled throughout the school day.  A particular focus of these ensembles also goes beyond music and music making; these classes are in large part designed to give students the opportunity to consistently practice active listening, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and creativity in a positive environment.

In addition to classes held during the day, the music department also offers extracurricular music activities based on student availability.  In the spring, we perform our annual fund-raiser, Dinner Theater, usually performed in March. Extracurricular groups, as well as groups that meet during school, will perform. There will also be opportunities for students to showcase individual and small ensemble talents!  

The Northern Potter Children's School schedules weekly music classes for grades K4 through 6. Readiness for music literacy is emphasized in the primary grades using First Steps in Music by Dr. John Feierabend as students become "TUNEful, BEATful, and ARTful."  Once achieving readiness, Children's School students begin reading music using Conversational Solfege.  Each lesson also includes "doing" music and "about" music activities  to broaden and enrich students' music experience.  Doing music includes singing, classroom instruments and folk dancing which are woven throughout the years of music education.  The way we study about music changes over the years as we study composers and their specific works, musical theater, film music, many genres and time periods. 

There are performance opportunities for students in grades 3-6 through band and chorus.  Students in those grades are invited each year to participate in chorus and beginning in 5th grade, students may elect to learn a band instrument. Band students are placed in group instrumental lessons which are provided weekly during the school day.  

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