Grade 4

Grade 4 students will continue to develop their recorder skills alongside their singing,  movement, and literacy skills. Advanced folk dancing is a major part of their classwork.

At the start of the school year, students become reacquainted with the families of instruments, and can again choose to begin taking lessons.

Recorder Skills

• Students continue to increase their range on the recorder.

• Students learn about playing with accidentals and use of key signature.

Movement

• Advanced folk dancing is a major part of their classwork.

• Students will learn dances from the New England Dancing Masters repertoire.

• Students learn circle dances, line dances, partner dancing and mixers.

• Students will also create and perform their own folk dances using all of the dance moves they have learned since kindergarten.

Aural Skills

• Students will continue to recognize familiar rhythm and tonal patterns in repertoire.

• Students become able to hear chord changes during folk songs and are able to play them on barred instruments

Music Literacy

• Students will continue to acquire a DO-RE-MI-SOL-LA solfége vocabulary

• They will use solfége help aid in learning to sing vocal patterns

• Students will continue to read music on the treble clef staff

Ensemble Skills

• Students will learn songs from the different regions of the United States

• Students will play barred instruments and auxiliary percussion parts to accompany folk songs.

• Student learn the four basic borduns and learn to create their own accompaniments to songs