Music

Music selections reflect different genres, cultures and historical periods. Composers from diverse cultures and historical time periods are presented. The student’s learning experiences include group singing, playing instruments, creating music, reading graph symbols that represent music, listening to music and moving to music. Our students will use age appropriate strategies to evaluate music, explore relationships between music and other disciplines and explore music in relation to history and culture.

Kindergarten:

Students will learn to recognize and associate varying musical styles with cultures and countries studied. A strong emphasis is made on performance. Vocal health and the proper use and care of the voice is also a focus. Kindergartners will learn:

  • Concepts of pitch and rhythm while developing their singing voice
  • to use non-pitched and pitched percussion instruments
  • sing, dance, and play instruments for “Children Around the World” performance

“Having our 21st century kids downloading Buddy Holly and Aaron Copland onto their MP3 players is evidence of their knowledge and engagement beyond rich and diverse music classroom experiences.” – HMJDS Parent

First Grade:

First graders use their bodies is an important way to internalize the musical beat. Playing barred pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments builds on Kindergarten skills as students learn variety of Jewish and American folk songs. First graders will:

  • Write and perform his/her individual rhythmic compositions
  • Be introduced to three instrument families: brass, percussion, and keyboards
  • Respond to music using visual art and movement

Second Grade:

The students continue to expand their ability to write and perform their own rhythmic compositions. Second graders are also introduced to the woodwinds and strings while also learning about instruments in a marching band. The music of Gioacchino Rossini, a significant operatic composer, is introduced. Second graders will:

  • Compose and play simple rhythms using combinations of quarter notes, two eighth notes, quarter rests and other rhythms in standard meter signatures
  • Identify by sight and sound instruments from the four different families of the orchestra: strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion
  • Distinguish expressive features: contrast in loud/soft, fast/slow, strong/weak, and smooth/detached

Third Grade:

Vocal ranges continue to be expanded by singing in melody and beginning harmony songs. Third graders also study museums that are dedicated to music. Students describe different musical elements by listening to pieces composed by Antonin Dvorak, Gustav Holst, and Camille Saint-Saëns. Collaborative work is emphasized as students compose and perform body percussion and non-pitched percussion pieces. Third graders will:

  • Sing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of songs from memory
  • Explore expressive musical elements which may create visual imagery, impact our emotions, and affect our interpretation of music
  • Study the Rock Hall of Fame and Museum-Cleveland; Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum-Nashville; Sun Studio-Memphis; Stax Records-Memphis; Motown-Detroit; Experience Music Project-Seattle

Fourth Grade:

Students find out how radio shaped musical styles and tastes in the United States. Fourth graders will learn how music and language arts are tied together as they listen to a radio dramatization. Student compositions at this grade level become longer and the children learn more advance playing techniques on the Orff instruments. Fourth graders will:

  • Sing songs from the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 80s
  • Improvise and play a melodies or accompaniments within a given framework of pitch, rhythm, and form
  • Listen and analyze the music of Plink, Plank, Plunk! – Leroy Anderson; Niagara Symphony – William Henry Fry; C Jam Blues – Duke Ellington; Hit the Road Jack – Ray Charles; Liberty Fanfare – John Williams; Production Number from Hollywood Suite– Ferde Grofé; A Tribute to John Williams – Star Wars, Jaws, Superman, Harry Potter, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestial; Beethoven Lives Upstairs