Specialty Spotlight: Orchestra
Upper Grades Music with Ms. Grace
As our students cross the threshold into fifth grade they are passed from Ms. Autumn to Ms. Grace, embarking on a new musical journey: Orchestra. This shift in music class and what they are learning marks a natural transition, mirrored by their journey from age 9 to 10 and moving to the upper grades. The students get to explore what it’s like to play in an orchestra, with the underlying current of appreciating and experiencing music, started by Ms. Autumn back in first grade, carries them along.
Fifth grade focuses on the foundation of playing a string instrument, learning both by ear and through note reading. In sixth grade, they learn new rhythms and key signatures. The students are introduced to pieces where each instrument section is playing a different part. Seventh grade continues learning more advanced techniques, complex rhythms, while studying longer pieces. Eighth grade is spent perfecting the skills they have learned, learning pieces that challenge them, and preparing students for whatever musical endeavors they explore in high school.
Ms. Grace shares her thoughts on the importance of music education:
I firmly believe music is an integral part of education, benefitting the child in so many ways beyond learning an instrument. It provides an outlet for expression, teaches discipline, and builds confidence and creativity. Music connects our world through a unique shared experience and a love of something bigger than us. It transcends time, passing melodies from generation to generation, keeping stories alive that words and paper couldn’t. Getting to be a part of that magic every day is very special to me. It’s what I’ve wanted to do since my own childhood. I love showing the kids how expansive the world of music is, then watching them get excited at how it allows them to express who they are. As composer Jean Sibelius said, “music begins where the possibilities of language ends”. Although teaching and performing are considered my jobs, it is more apropos to say music is my passion and I am lucky enough to work for my passion every day.
I will end with two quotes from one of my favorite composers, Dmitri Shostakovich:
“In the long run, any words about music are less important than the music”.
“Music is a means capable of expressing dark dramatism and pure rapture, suffering and ecstasy, fiery and cold fury, melancholy and wild merriment - and the subtlest nuances and interplay of these feelings which words are powerless to express and which are unattainable in painting and sculpture”
