• Click Here for the 2023-24 Choir Permission Slip 

  • Choir Begins on September 29, 2023

• The St. Mary Parish School Choir is an extracurricular group open to any 6th-8th grade students who LOVE to sing!  We meet Friday afternoons 1:50-2:30.  

• Click HERE to read about Choir at St. Mary Parish School.

National Anthem - SOPRANO 

National Anthem - ALTO 

• Fine Arts Night is an annual celebration of the arts held during our spring semester.  It is typically held the first Thursday in April from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. This event allows our students to showcase their talents in choir, band, Spanish and the incredible variety of art mediums taught to the students by our very own art teacher Mrs. Drees.

4K and 5K music classes focus on distinguishing between Musical Opposites: loud/soft, high/low, fast/slow.  We will complete many singing, movement and instrumental activities which will help to develop their note literacy comprehension.

1st Grade will review their Musical Opposite concepts and then begin to focus on reading and performing rhythms using eighth, quarter, half and whole notes.  Later on in the year we learn the notes of the scale and singing solfege during an interactive unit called Music Street.

2nd Grade will review old and learn new note values before they plunge into reading, performing and composing!  Then they continue their solfege adventures in Music Street.  Finally, they are introduced to the four families of the orchestra.

3rd Grade will review and be introduced to some new note values.  They will also learn about Time Signatures.  This will lead nicely into our Native American Rhythmic Composition Unit. Later, they partake in a Harmonic Singing Unit.  This unit strengthens the solfege skills learned in 1st and 2nd grade and prepares them for reading notes on the staff as well as future ensemble opportunities (band and choir).  

4th & 5th Grade will focus on new note values, syncopation, as well as simple vs. compound meter.  This prepares them for the rhythmic element of instrumental playing.  Later they learn the correct techniques, fingerings and notes of the recorder.  We will also be learning a set of vocal and recorder pieces which will be performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra during our field trip in the spring.

6th Grade: We begin the year with a short unit on the Sung Parts of the Mass ~ emphasizing the importance of music in the liturgy.  This is followed by a unit on the Composers and the Periods of Music History.  At the end of the year they acquire the skills needed to play melodies and chords on the ukulele.  For those students who have a ukulele at home, below are the links to two online tuners which I highly recommend:

https://ukutuner.com/    https://ukebuddy.com/ukulele-tuner

Due to Covid we will be working on a composition unit during the second semester using an online notation program called Noteflight.  Here is the login page for this site:

https://st-mary-parish-school.sites.noteflight.com/ 

7th Grade: We take a look at the tonal structure of music (scales; chords; major/minor) while simultaneously exploring Blues Music.  After focusing on the chords and mood of this unique genre the students will create and perform their very own blues song.  During the third quarter 7th grade will apply their knowledge of scales, tonality and the treble and bass clefs and begin to work on their composition skills.  We will be using an online notation program called Noteflight.

https://st-mary-parish-school.sites.noteflight.com/ 

Finally, 7th grade ends the year by learning the basics of the guitar.

8th Grade: Together we explore the origin stories of some unique songs which introduce us to the idea of

• Song Evolution

• Textual/Story Inspiration

• Historical Inspiration

• Inspiration from Another Composer/Artist

The students then get to choose one of their favorite songs and discover its origins.  Next, we learn about the history and evolution of rap music.  They will conclude the unit by writing and performing a group rap for the class.  We end the year with a unit all about movie music, Foley Artists and movie composers.  This unit includes a class project in which the students add sound effects and music to a short animated movie.  The unit ends with each student composing a sound track using Noteflight, an online composition site.