“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord,” is a phrase that we implement intentionally in the Middle School Music Program.
Music learning is one of exploration, participation and the development of skill. Every student learns that they are able to express themselves musically and they begin to discover different facets of music in which their gifts may lie.
In Grade 6, students spend a term exploring three completely different instruments (all requiring different skills). For one term, students will learn the basics of guitar. They will discover proper picking and strumming technique and learn chord patterns and individual notes located on the guitar strings. They also will discover that a boomwhacker is an instrument very similar to a xylophone. The only difference is that the class makes up the xylophone with very bizarre and interesting looking colourful tubes that are used to create some whacky and rhythmic pieces of music. Students also have the opportunity to become part of a recorder “ensemble.” While the learning of the soprano recorder happens in elementary school, students have the opportunity to learn how to play alto, tenor and sopranino recorder for one term. This develops confidence in playing different melody lines and harmonies.
In Grade 7, all students are required to take Band. This presents students with the awesome opportunity to learn a wind ensemble instrument that they can further study throughout their middle and high school experience. At the end of their Grade 6 year, students will be given a chance to choose an instrument that they would like to study in Grade 7. In Grade 7, students begin learning the fundamentals in regards to proper set-up, breathing and tonguing technique for their instrument, as well as the notes and fingering for the Concert B flat scale. As their learning continues, they are challenged to play their own melodic lines in basic band arrangements.
In Grade 8, students are given the option of taking Band or Drama and Art. Band is offered all year long and is taught by our high school music teacher, Mr. Workman. Band 8 is a continuation of development on the instrument studied in Grade 7 and students learn to extend their instrument range through chromatics and scale studies. Students are also engaged in learning more difficult band arrangements and are challenged to play more difficult rhythms and melodic lines independently.
In addition to music study that happens during our regular music curriculum, a voluntary Knight Sounds Choir is also offered. This program differs from year to year based on student interest, and represents the Middle School at school program functions as well as at community events.