The sunny weather has brought great inspiration to the Primary Music department this May. The grade two classes have made great progress, not only in learning Music vocabulary, but in learning Solfege. They are applying their new skills and learning classic songs and rhymes such as; Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row your boat, and even the Star Wars theme song using boomwackers and hand bells.

The grade three classes were introduced to the ukulele and have made great strides in learning how to tune, strum and change chords. Now they have a good repertoire of songs under their belts, allowing them to do collaborative group work.

On Wednesday, May 23^rd the Penguin Class class took their ukuleles outside and played their songs in the sun.  They played London Bridge Is Falling Down, Merrily We Go Around, as well as learning a new chord which will allow them to play more challenging songs before the term finishes in June.

The grade 4 classes have been working on more challenging ukulele songs such as, When the saints go Marching in and Aloha ‘Oe in preparation of their final performance. Because the classes are filled with an incredible number of talented musicians, the collaboration aspect of our Music projects is truly inspiring.

The Shark class have worked as a class, combining their singing, ukulele and recorder skills in a collaborative rendition of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’. They performed their piece in front of Primary and KG during their assembles this week and last. It was well received, especially by KG who had an African themed production on Friday. 

The 5A2 class recently wrapped up their Environment Unit and sang a challenging 3-part harmony with pure confidence. They have since moved onto the final Ukulele Unit where they are being introduced to Music notation and learning to play classic ukulele songs.

Grade 5G have been busy composing their own songs in the Apple lab for the last 6 weeks and the end results are fantastic. The pupils had to follow a template so they could learn about song structure, but the genre of music, choice of tempo, and creative choice was in their control. The project required them to learn a new program, ‘GarageBand’, which involved quite a bit of experimentation and editing. It was great fun to see their musical styles emerge throughout the project.

Grade 5A1 have also been composing their own songs, but the focus has been on writing lyrics, choosing a melody and working as a group, utilizing the many talents in this class. The beautiful lyrics that have been written have been most impressive and we are looking forward to the groups showcasing their song writing skills in their final performance as grade 5 pupils.