Grade 4 students at ISB receive two 45-minute music classes every 6-day cycle with specialized elementary music teachers.
In Grade 4, students continue to learn many pieces for recorder and are soon able to play simple canons and two or three part recorder songs. They learn a variety of songs from different parts of Asia, and learn to sing these as well as play them on recorder. They compose their own pieces of music for recorder using the “Finale” music program on laptops, and these pieces are compiled and put into a book that each student receives. Students get excited to teach their own pieces to one another, and learn the songs of their friends as well. One big thrill in Grade 4 is to finally learn how to play the beautiful “Thai King’s Anthem” on recorder (in two parts, with an Orff ensemble accompaniment).
In Grade 4, students are introduced to handbells, and learn some beginner pieces during the course of a 6-class unit of study. Handbells provide a wonderful other option to recorder playing for strengthening note-reading ability and ensemble playing, and students enjoy the beautiful sound they make. Students also study different types of percussion ensembles and techniques during a 6-class unit of study on drumming. During this time, they learn how to play hand drum canons, conga ensembles, Japanese Taiko drumming and a little sample of “Stomp!” style.
Grade 4 students are able to play a vast variety of rhythms, and expand their rhythmic vocabulary through many singing games and Orff ensembles. They now know how to read, compose with and play “tika-tika” (the 16th notes), combinations of eighth and sixteenth note patterns, and syncopated rhythms.
Grade 4 students learn to sing a variety of songs from all over Asia, and with them, a little bit about each country that the songs come from. The theme of the Grade 4 Celebration of Learning concert, for the past 2 years, has been “The Music of Asia”, and students have showcased Balinese Gamelan music, Thai dance, Angkaloong playing, Tiningkling from the Philippines, Japanese Taiko drumming, and folksongs from China and Korea, just to name a few.
Grade 4 Music class opens the door for much cultural musical learning, as well as more sophisticated rhythm and melodic vocabularies. In Grade 4, we have become self-directed musicians, and look forward to the new challenges that Grade 5 will bring us.
