Music
Students in Preschool-4th grade participate in a weekly music class. During this time, they use their voices as instruments to learn and perform songs.
They also explore concepts of music, learn to read music, and begin learning a variety of
instruments such as the bells, recorders, ukuleles, and even plastic bucket drums!
In 5th-8th grade, all students take a general music class and a general art class; they also participate in the Arts Program, which provides each student with two arts electives per year that meet twice a week.
Below are descriptions of some of the elective music classes we offer as part of the 5th-8th grade Arts Program:
- Chorus – Students explore the art of singing by learning proper breathing, vowel formation, and musical expression to create a unique blend of voices to share with the school and local communities.
- B Band – Introduces students to a variety of brass, woodwind, string and percussion instruments. Students learn basic note fingerings and instrumental technique. Reading standard music notation is stressed. Students are given an ensemble musical experience.
- A Band – Students work to achieve an ensemble blend. They play music from a variety of genres including light classical, movie/T.V. themes, Latin, Jazz and Rock.
At least five musical performances are given by students each year. One of the most noteworthy is the St. Michael’s hosted All Bands concert, in which our students perform in concert with other Island schools such as Pennfield, Thompson Middle School, Gaudet Middle School, and Portsmouth Middle School. Each band performs both solo and as one unified “Island” band, bringing our wider community together on campus to celebrate Music.
