Our goal is to enable the student to gain an understanding of the musical elements and how they work in order to help enrich their musical experiences, whether that is playing an instrument or just turning on the radio.
The musical elements that we strive to gain an understanding of are: Pitch, Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Tempo, Dynamics, Timber, Articulation, Form, Texture, Style, and Affect. All of these of course are suited for different grade levels and levels of understanding. Students will demonstrate their understanding of the elements learned through activities which involve performing (singing and playing instruments), creating (improvising and composing), and analytical listening of musical selections (analyzing and evaluating musical performances from recordings, their own musical performances and musical performances of their peers – including performances of students’ original music).