There are many benefits to learning how to play the recorder.

Physical Development Benefits

• Playing the recorder helps with creative thinking and brain development: coordinate fingers, lips, and tongue while looking at music to read it and listening to an accompaniment to stay with it

• Develops fine motor skills, finger dexterity

• Builds hand-eye coordination and strengthens the use of left hand/right hand (much like piano lessons)

• Playing the recorder develops breath control which can help with wind or brass instruments, or singing

• Develops memory skills

Musical Growth Benefits

• Recorder playing helps kids learn to read music and learn music theory: rhythms, notes, articulations, and other music symbols and terms

• Develops listening and audiation skills

• Helps kids learn to play with an accompaniment

• Recorder playing prepares students to play band and orchestra instruments when they’re older (clarinet, oboe, flute, sax, etc)

Character Building Benefits

Playing the recorder is character building: determination, perseverance, self-confidence, discipline, and poise

Social Skills Benefits

Provides opportunities for teamwork and learning to work well with others

In Music classes across all grade levels we focused on learning about and listening to various music styles that had their origins in, or stemmed from, African music. Upper grades learned various traditional African rhythms and played instruments from West Coast Africa and worked on bucket drumming. (Although this style has developed independently in various regions around the world, it's widely considered Larry Wright,  African-American drummer, popularized bucket drumming in New York City in the 1980s.) 

Lower grades have learned about styles that developed from African music and learned songs representing a variety of these styles, i.e. spiritual, jazz, and reggae. 

To conclude Black History Month at OWN2 this year we celebrated with a performance showcasing our students and their hard work. Enjoy the highlights video from our celebration. 

Quarter 2 is always a busy and exciting time for our music program as all of our students participate in our annual Winterfest program. This year's Winterfest theme was "LIGHT" and its meaning and symbolism in many celebrations around the world that take place during winter time, especially in December. Students learned about various holidays from around the world as they practiced their songs about Hannukah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, and Christmas. 

This year we also had 3 student narrators taking our audience on an educational journey explaining the significance of light in each holiday. 

Check out the NYS Music Standards by following this link