The Music Program at Golden Brook School

My Philosophy:

    I believe that every child has a musical-rhythmic intelligence. Some children's M-R is stronger than others, but it is present in every child. I feel that my job is to help nourish and develop this intelligence at an early stage. I do this through vocalization, rhythm, movement, listening, and imagination exercises.

    Secondly, I believe that music is a discipline that grows and develops with a child. Everything that I teach prepares a student for the next topic or activity. Transition prepares a student for first grade, first grade prepares for second, second for third, etc. We in the music department feel this way and communicate so that all of our teaching techniques are compatible. Compatibility leads to an easier transition from one grade to the next.

    Lastly, I believe that music should be fun. When students enter my classroom, I present them with a safe, enjoyable, fun experience. When students have fun, learning is much easier.

First Grade/Transition:

    First Graders and Transition students learn the basics of vocalization: matching pitch, singing on cue and memorization. Most songs are learned by rote. They also are introduced to rhythm and rhythmic notation using the Kodaly clapping method (Tah-Tah-Tee-Tee-Tah, etc.). Students reinforce motor skills by using rhythm sticks and movement exercises to develop a sense of steady beat and duration. Much of this earlier learning is done through games, imagination exercises and other hands-on activities.

Second Grade:

    Second Graders develop the skills introduced in first grade. Vocalization is more complicated with faster tempos and a higher reading level of memorization. Students begin to learn songs by reading off of charts as opposed to by rote. Rhythms are reintroduced and developed upon, adding more note values, including half, whole, dotted-half, and sixteenth notes as well as their corresponding rests. Second Graders also begin to learn about the basics of musical composition and what instruments and tone qualities make up a symphony orchestra.

Music Enrichment:

    Second Grade music enrichment is pulled out once a week for a thirty-minute lesson. Students chosen are those that have been identified as having a high musical=rhythmic intelligence according to Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Students learn the basics of musical composition, eventually composing their own songs at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter consists of the basics of playing the baroque soprano recorder, to help these students prepare for third grade music.

    First Grade music enrichment follows a similar pull-out program as the second grade. Students learn more complex music theory than taught in the first grade, as well as the basics of Orff rhythmic instruments (xylophones and metallophones). First grade students also learn about Camille Saint-Saens, a 19th -century composer, and his "Carnival of the Animals" orchestral suite that was written for children of this age. From Mr. Saint-Saens composition first graders learn about programmaticism (music that tells a story) and it's effects upon their imaginations.

-Eric Graff