Kindergarten is such a fun time to make music. They sing songs and play musical games and rhythm instruments when we create music. But we also do so much more than that in Kindergarten music! Kinders discover a wonderful, built-in instrument—their voice—which we use to sing melodies, find high/low, long/short, and loud/soft sounds. Since they love to move so much, we use body percussion to experience rhythm and learn the beat by stepping, hopping, skipping, and jogging at varying speeds. They learn how to take turns, share, and show respect towards one another as we learn how to play instruments. They become better listeners and singers. Most of all – they have fun!
In First Grade, the musical experience keeps evolving. They continue to use their voices for singing, chanting, speaking, and their bodies for moving, clapping, and instrument playing. Students begin to learn important musical vocabulary and use it in every day music settings. Classroom and some orchestral instruments are identified aurally and visually. Students begin to recognize upward/downward movement and same/different phrases. They can identify and perform "ta" (quarter note), "ti-ti" (eighth notes), and rest. They can sing, identify and use hand signals for Sol and Mi – and maybe even La! Ongoing as always, music is fun!
In Second Grade, musical skills are further developed through various activities. They play classroom instruments using correct mallet technique with increased understanding of the notes and rhythms. They can sing, identify and show hand signals for La, Sol, Mi, Re and Do. Students are also exposed to pre-reading music notation and are building the foundations reading music in real time. Form goes beyond same/different and now becomes verse/refrain or ABC. Dynamics go from loud/soft to forte/piano. Our musical vocabulary is constantly increasing through actions.
In Third Grade, students begin to define, name and make conscious the concepts they have experienced in the lower grades. In singing, simple harmony is created through rounds and partner songs. They further their knowledge of solfege to learn all 8 notes in the scale. Connecting our notes on the keyboard instruments to the notes in our Solfege scale become second-nature. Another concentration in Grade Three is the learning of notation. The focus on note-reading (names, note values, and placement on the staff) prepare them for the study of recorder in Fourth Grade.