Music is alive and well in Term 2, and our JB students are relishing the opportunity to make music together once again. Some of the term highlights include:
Peripatetic Music Lessons
Back in full swing, it’s lovely to hear the Music Department filled with the sound of instrumental music lessons once again. Learning a musical instrument improves brain function, spatial awareness, memory & abstract reasoning skills, all transferable skills to areas such as maths and science (1), as well as supporting creative development, building confidence, patience and persistence. If this isn’t enough to entice you to take up an instrument, it’s also a lot of fun! Our highly qualified and experienced peripatetic music teachers are working with students from across the school, teaching instrumental and vocal skills, and musicianship. It’s wonderful to see the excitement of the students as they arrive for their lessons, make progress on their instruments and learn new pieces of music.
Music Moments
We are so excited that Music Moments has returned to a face-to-face format again in Term 2. Students have had the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience of their fellow performers, as well as an online audience of their peers. For some of our students, this has been the first time they have ever performed in front of a live audience which is an incredibly important and exciting milestone. Music Moments gives our young musicians the opportunity to practice more transferable skills developed through music education (2) - the opportunity to set goals, to share the product of their hard work, and to experience and overcome pre-performance nerves. To receive positive feedback from a supportive audience helps to build confidence and gives a sense of accomplishment. All performers should be very proud of their efforts this term! Music Moments will run again in Term 3 with dates TBC. Term 2 performances have been shared on the JB Music Website for you to view.
Class Band Project
Year 5 and 6 students have been working together to prepare live performances to share at the end of the term. These class band projects are extremely practical units of learning based on the Musical Futures model, in which students work together to prepare and perform a song of their choosing. Students develop their practical music-making skills, learn new chord progressions, read different styles of music notation and learn skills on a variety of instruments. Coming together to create a cohesive performance piece requires collaboration and teamwork, taking responsibility for oneself and others, the ability to think in and recognise structure and patterns (3), and provides students with leadership opportunities. What a fantastic set of skills these students are developing, all while playing a piece of music they love!
Look out for their performances on the JB Music Website later in the term.
Kodaly Musicianship
A strong focus on Kodaly-inspired musicianship has been a defining feature of Term 2. Kodaly was a Hungarian musical innovator who inspired a worldwide following of his teachings in Music Education.He was concerned with providing excellent musical training to all students, with a particular focus on starting this musical training as early as possible. Our younger students have been immersed in Kodaly-inspired teaching and learning, with a strong focus on developing the singing voice, the use of rhythm syllables to support rhythm learning, and the use of moveable do solfa and the Curwen hand signs to support pitch work and intonation. Students have been able to make use of these tools in the classroom to demonstrate and deepen their musical understandings, and also in their instrumental music lessons, helping them to decode the music they are reading and playing. What an exciting tool kit for our students to be developing!
Maxine Lee-Morath
Primary Music Leader
