Music in our Schools
by Kathy Urban
February 10, 2012
The primary grades are learning about musical chords using the tone bells. Chords are the foundation for a song. Only certain notes are used to build a chord. It takes teamwork to play the chords as three students work together, each playing one note. The chords are not played randomly, but follow a pattern. Melodies and chords have to fit together.
3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th grades continue to practice reading notes on the staff. The goal is for every student to read the ‘foreign language’ of music. There are many ways to remember the names of the 7 notes. We use the story of Mr. Everybody who owns a 5 story apartment building (the staff) and rents his apartments to Good Guy, Bad Boy, Mr. Deserves, and Fudge Face. This apartment building is haunted by 4 ghosts—Funny Face, Always Awful, Si Si Senor, and Eerie. Also, these boys have pets which live in the basement. They are Crazy Cat, who walks on a clothesline, and Dumb Dog, stuck to the ceiling. The story sticks with the students.
At the upper grade levels, it is contest time. All the junior high band members will prepare a solo for contest in May. That sounds far away, but it takes time to be well-prepared. Some of the high school students will participate in the regional contest in March. The goal -- State contest in April. And of course , the Spring concert can’t be forgotten. Still lots of music to make.
