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There is something very wonderful in music. Words are wonderful enough; but music is even more wonderful. It speaks not to our thoughts as words do; it speaks straight to our hearts and spirits, to the very core and root of our souls. Music soothes us, stirs us up; it puts noble feelings in us; it melts us to tears; we know not how; - it is a language by itself, just as perfect, in its way, as speech, as words; just as divine, just as blessed.
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The morning and afternoon Kindergarten classes have been learning all about rhythm. This group can identify a fast or slow beat, loud or soft dynamics, and the mood of the piece. They can also keep a beat while singing on pitch too! The Kindergarten classes have sung many songs about numbers, letters, body parts, and animals.
"To market, to market, to buy a fat pig..." is a phrase in a chant the First Graders spoke this year. By learning chants, they were able to hear the difference between singing and speaking. They can sing songs that are fast, slow, loud, and soft. This group has performed many two-part rhythm patters on instruments and with their voices.
Second grade worked very hard on feeling the beat. They can play two-part rhythm patters. They are very good at showing the beat with their bodies by clapping, snapping, and dancing.
Music can provoke moods. The third grade classes discovered that major chords make music happy and minor chords make music sad. Whether the music is happy or sad, they all can feel the steady beat. Third grade has also studied rap music. We discussed this style of music and each class wrote rap songs about George Earle School.
The fourth, fifth, and intermediate classes are playing recorders this year. We started out the year learning abut steady beat and feeling the pulse in music, which is a skill essential for performing. Now we have learned a few notes and the students are developing skills needed to read traditional music notation. Soon these students will learn new notes and new songs to play and sing.
All grades are learning basic music and singing skills. Every music class begins with breathing exercises followed by rhythm work. Sometime the students have to play back a rhythm pattern, sometimes they practice keeping a steady beat. Soon the rhythm work time will be dedicated to note reading. Before moving on to the text books, the students do some singing using "do re mi fa sol la ti do." These short exercises are building several musicianship skills including steady beat, rhythmic accuracy, ensemble blending, singing intervals, and singing pitches before hearing them.
We have a webring linking the classroom page together. "Next" will take you to the next classroom in our ring and "Back" will navigate you to the previous classroom. "Home" will return you to the George Earle Home Page.
