First Semester Upper School Music Blog - by Rebecka Roberts

What an incredible first semester it has been working as a Music Guide at Abintra!

Before heading on maternity leave, I want to take the opportunity to share some of our lessons.

LS3/US1

We have been working with movement and music, learning to listen and demonstrate what we hear through movement and notation. The students have been learning Orff-Keetman’s rhythm building bricks connected to different animals, tying together language and rhythm through syllables and notation. We have played on the school’s new pitched percussion instruments (xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels), learning instrument technique and the C-major scale by playing songs with individual parts for the different instruments.

US

We have been using the new ukuleles regularly, and if you have not had a chance to see the beautiful ukulele-wall installation, feel free to peek into the music room the next time you are on campus. 

We have had an open music lesson on Tuesday afternoons with ukulele/singing, which has seen high participation. We have been learning everything from Woodie Guthrie and The Beatles to Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift. The students also learned how to make chord charts and the music theory behind chord structure. 

With the younger US students, we started learning music notation on the staff with the help of using our pitched percussion for direct practical implication. They have composed their own rhythms and melodies and taught them to each other. We have worked a lot with finding and staying on the beat through playing various games.

With the older US students, we worked on percussion and notation at the beginning of the semester. For the last few weeks, we tied the music curriculum into their work with Civil Rights. This has led us to explore calypso, military music, music form the early colonies as well as learning a 19th century British Country Garden Dance to the Shaker song ”Simple Gifts."

Ensembles

This semester we had two ukulele ensembles (one for LS3/U1 and one for US), and one choir. With the older ukulele ensemble, we combined ukulele with some pitched percussion for a few songs, which is what you will see in their video.

I am looking forward to being back with full force in March to keep working with the ensembles. We will continue with two ukulele ensembles and have two choirs, one for older students and one for younger students.

Private Lessons

The private lessons have been such a wonderful experience. We get to really zone in on personal musicianship and development and spend time exploring music. I have taught piano, voice, ukulele and electric guitar this semester. The private lessons will pick back up in March and there will be an opportunity to sign-up for new students in January.