We are very excited for your child to have the opportunity to learn an instrument.
Please use this website as a way of exploring and understanding what we offer in order to
help you make the best decision for your child and your family.
Learning any instrument takes dedication both during the school day and at home. Our experience has convinced us that any child willing to put in a reasonable amount of effort can indeed succeed. Everyone is born with musical ability. It can be either nurtured or squandered!
We are thankful to have both a band and an orchestra program. In our professional opinion and experience, we have found it best to only start one musical instrument each school year.
If you have questions, please contact us.
Here are some positive impacts your child will experience by learning an instrument.
Click here to learn about the different instruments.
Click here to learn about what your child will need.
Click on the below video to hear highlights
from our 2024 Elementary Band Spring Concert.
Click on the below video to hear the
2023 Palmyra Orchestra Rock Concert (grades 4-12 orchestra).
When first starting, your child will get one lesson during the school day per cycle. This new knowledge and skill set will need to be developed by practicing at home. A good goal is to have your child practice at least one hour per week (4 days for 15 mintues each).
After completing a set amount of examples, their individual skill set will be strong enough to start playing in the band ensemble. Once this expereince begins, band ensemble rehearses once per cycle. This group performs at the Winter and Spring Concerts.
Please know that your child will need to bring their instrument to school for their lesson. However due to school board policy No. 810, some of the larger instruments may not be allowed to be transported on the bus due to space. Transportation School Board Policy 810. If this is the case, please contact us directly so we can ensure to have an instrument at school for your child to use during their lesson.
Depending on enrollment and availability, there is sometimes the possibility for a student to use a school instrument if they are able to transport the instrument back and forth to school; making it not be a need for the family to rent/purchase an instrument. Additionally, the school district has a limited number of the larger instruments that are available to be used at school (for when transportation doesn't allow the students to bring their own instrument to school). In these cases, the family will rent/purchase an instrument to be used for home practice and the school instrument will be used by the student at school. There will be no need for the larger instruments to be transported on the school bus. In any case where a school instrument is being used by a student, at home school or at home, an instrument contract would need to be signed and on file at school.
In March of 2021, we made recordings of our students available as a virtual recital. Feel free to check them out, organized by school under the "more" drop down arrow, to see what you might expect from elementary musicians!
We have chosen to keep these recordings available so that you can
hear the level of playing to which your child may achieve.