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General Music and Instrumental MusicMiss Carol Dory (General Music Teacher)
Miss Rebecca Bruins (Strings Teacher)
Mr. Bob Van Wageninge (Band Teacher) In Liberty Corner Elementary School every child spends one period per week in the general/vocal music class. First through fifth graders have fifty minute classes while Kindergartners have class for thirty minutes. Using the MENC (Music Educators National Conference) national standards and the philosophies that go with the Orff, Kodaly, and Dalcroze pedagogues, allows for an environment that can embrace differentiated learning through music education. When in the music class, students will constantly be singing, playing, moving, analyzing, and/or creating.
Since music is a language, students will learn the essential elements that go into music literacy including reading, writing, and performing rhythms, melodies, dynamics, expressive notations, various tempos, and much more. Students will also learn about various genres of music and the culture, time period, language, traditions, celebrations, and history that helped shape them.
Starting in third grade and continuing through fifth grade, recorders become an important part of the music curriculum. Instruction on this instrument assists students in music reading and the concept of pitch relationships. By playing a pitched instrument, students must learn to read music, translate what is on the page, and transfer that knowledge into a fingering that will produce the correct sound. Playing recorder also serves as a means to extend the opportunity to perform together as one unit instrumentally.
Students have the opportunity to join Chorus in grades three through five. Chorus is split up into two different ensembles, the Third Grade Chorus and the Fourth and Fifth Grade Chorus. It is an extra-curricular activity that meets once a week from 8:00 – 8:45AM. In chorus, students will learn to sing a variety of songs, expand on musical concepts learned in class, and have the experience and opportunity of putting on two live performances, one in the winter and one in the spring.
National Standards for Arts Education. Music. Content Standards.
- Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
- Performing on instruments alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
- Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
- Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
- Reading and notating music Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
- Evaluating music and music performances. understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
- Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Instrumental Music
Students who are entering third grade may choose the violin, viola or cello as their beginning instrument. Students entering grades four and five may choose any of the stringed instruments (violin, viola, cello or bass), woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet, alto or tenor saxophone), brass (trumpet, french horn, baritone horn or trombone) or the percussion instruments (all first year beginning students will start on the orchestra bell kit, which includes a snare drum practice pad.)
All students receive a thirty-minute small group lesson once per week. These lessons are held during the school day and students are pulled out of their regular class. Where possible the lessons are rotated. When rotation is possible students will only be missing a particular thirty-minute period every eight weeks.
Students are also expected to participate in their school band and orchestra. Fourth and fifth grade band and orchestra meet as a group ensemble before the school day begins for forty-five minutes (8:00A.M. - 8:45 A.M.) once per week. Each performing ensemble meets on separate mornings by experience level (first year learners or second year learners.)
All second, third, fourth grade students receive a demonstration of all musical instruments that are being offered in the Elementary Schools. Students perform two concerts each year, as well as for school assemblies. This assembly takes place in March and parents are invited to attend. Watch for the announced date/s.
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