“You do not have to love a work of art or a style to criticize it, but you do need to understand its attraction for someone who does…Criticism has no significance and not importance if it is not accompanied by understanding – and that implies the comprehension of at least the possibility of love.” – Charles Rosen, music critic
Music at St. Giles
Human beings have been making music for thousands of years. In that time, countless styles of music have been created to fulfill countless purposes. In studying music, we gain a greater appreciation for the many ways that different people and cultures have responded to their own life journey and cultural moment. Studying music gives students a chance to compassionately engage with the unfamiliar, while music performance gives students an opportunity to learn the value of discipline while gaining poise and self-confidence.
Each student at St. Giles has a music class once each week – 30 minutes in grades K-4 and 50 minutes in grades 5-8 (students may also opt to participate in the Band Program). Weekly music classes combine singing, Orff instrument performance, music theory, and music history to provide students with a grounding in basic musical concepts. Each grade level has its own area of focus:
- Kindergarten: steady beat, high/low, fast/slow, loud/soft, comfort with using the voice, nursery rhymes.
- First Grade: Musical Instruments, African and Native American folk music
- Second Grade: Medieval and Renaissance periods, Chinese and Japanese folk music
- Third Grade: Baroque and Classical periods, European folk music
- Fourth Grade: Romantic and Modern periods, American folk music
- Fifth Grade: World Music (Central Asia, Middle East, North and South America, Africa, India, East Asia, Indonesia)
- Sixth Grade: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods
- Seventh Grade: Classical, Romantic and Modern periods
- Eighth Grade: Music Careers, Electronic Music, Musical Creativity. Eighth graders also produce a full musical theater production.