Preschool Music

It is generally accepted that musical instruction for younger students should be highly experiential. In the first few years of musical instruction, our focus is on developing an understanding of musical concepts, such as rhythm, melody, harmony, expression, and other basic concepts. Students are familiarized with the terms and are exposed to a wide variety of musical learning through songs, games, craft projects, classroom participation, and video presentations.

Students learn to sing the major scale and intervals using basic Kodaly/Solfege. Students also participate in creative movement (Dalcroze) activities and begin percussion readiness (Orff). As the student progresses, there are units on simple harmony, melodic development, long and short sounds, rhythmic development, and self-concept and diversity.

Lower School Music

Lower School music students experience music through a variety of hands on activities. Children explore their singing voice through games, group activities, and school performances. Music notation and reading skills are introduced sequentially throughout the lower grades starting with basic rhythmic patterns and note identification, building to melodic realization with recorders in fourth grade. Students are exposed to a wide variety of musical styles and ensembles through listening activities and a host of performances that the students attend both in our school and throughout the metro area. Within the context of music class, children make many cross-curricular connections between music, art, science, math, and history.