Music

Music is a language of self-expression with exceptional power to reach people through their emotions. Feeling is a powerful incentive for music makers and music listeners to engage. As with any language, there is a vocabulary, a grammar, and a code. At every age  Friends School Haverford students are advanced through stages of learning music. As with conventional language, students learn first to listen and understand, then to sing and express themselves, then to read, and finally to write music. Students learn the component parts of songs. They master skills and instruments. They engage in the production of ensemble music and creative composition. It is a joyous adventure!

 

Nursery School, Pre-School, and Pre-K

“Introduction and Acclimation”

 

Students are introduced to group music making activities, which include singing, dancing and playing handheld percussion instruments. Students develop a repertoire of loved activities through which they can explore their voices, their movement (gross and fine motor), and their musicality. Group music making, a group activity that doesn’t involve competition, is a valuable way students explore their relationships with one another.

 

Nursery schoolers begin to use their voice in a way that is different from speaking. They are encouraged to listen to instructions that are sometimes not spoken, but sung. Engagement is the main objective. They may bang or shake things in time with what they are hearing.

 

Pre-schoolers know some songs, movements or chants and can experience the feeling of proficiency with them. Movement songs become more complex and require gross motor coordination and safe use of personal space.

 

Pre-kindergarteners imitate vocal patterns and four-beat rhythmic patterns with percussion instruments. They start to move in a more organized dance-like fashion.

 

Kindergarten and First Grade

“Mastery and Transition”

 

Students at this level are accustomed to group singing and motivated to learn new and more complex songs. They sing confidently and are proficient in most classroom musical activities. Kindergarteners are transitioning into elementary level and first graders are being introduced to the cognitive/representational aspect of reading music notation.

 

Kindergarteners develop a large repertoire of songs they love to sing. They are proud of their independence. Kindergarteners create their own rhythms to be copied by their classmates. They enjoy participating in line dance activities. Kindergarteners are introduced to the concept of “reading” rhythms represented by physical objects placed in patterns before them. This is an exciting first step toward reading notes on a printed page.

 

First graders explore folk music, Motown, and pop songs. This music introduces them to the concepts of verse, chorus, bridge, and instrumentals. They learn some beginning “modular” dance steps that can be learned one at a time and linked together into longer sequences. First-graders begin reading simple rhythmic notation.

 

Second Through Fifth Grade

“Cognition and Notation”

 

Students at this level love to sing independently through a large list of song arrangements. Students start to train their voices for accurate, in-tune singing and range expansion. Students are introduced to and become comfortable reading music notation. Students begin to develop the listening skills necessary to play instrumentally in a group. Students become accustomed to playing their part while listening to other parts that are different.

 

Second graders begin playing recorder and reading xylophone  music. This involves a new set of symbols that must be decoded, converted into fingerings on the instrument, and played in time with the accompaniment. They sing five-note scales with the piano seeking to match pitch.

 

Third graders expand their note range and add more intricate melodic phrases to their playing. They are exposed to polyphony through the use of two-part xylophone songs. They expand their singing range to a full major scale.

 

Fourth graders have facility with music notation and are confident readers. They read quarter and eighth note patterns and are able to adjust and correct mistakes without stopping. They can sing a major scale mostly in tune with and without the piano providing the underlying pitch.  During the fourth grade year, students are introduced to the marimbas (wooden diatonic keyboard instruments).  

 

Fifth Grade

“Ensemble and Musicianship”

 

Fifth graders continue to work with marimbas. Students at this level memorize rhythmically complex arrangements of songs based on the Shona music of Zimbabwe. This music presents a unique opportunity for young players to develop the concentration, cooperation, and listening skills that are essential for ensemble playing. They further develop their fine motor skills and their ability to play while being rhythmically-aware of the overall group. Fifth graders begin playing three-part marimba songs that are spontaneously arranged by the teacher. This facilitates a new level of listening necessary to play polyphonic music. They sing and move to “current” pop songs with which they may be familiar. Fifth-graders sing two-part songs and/or add backing vocals.

 

Students, Parents, Faculty, and Administration

“Community Music Making”

 

We make music as a community. We celebrate Grandfriends Day, Winter Break and the last day of school with all-school sing-alongs. From the youngest students to the oldest adults, all join in the fun of singing out and learning new songs as well!