Grade 5 students at ISB receive two 45-minute music classes every 6-day cycle with specialized elementary music teachers.
In Grade 5, students continue to learn many pieces for recorder, and are able to play more complex canons, and two or three part recorder songs, as well as challenging one-line melodies using a wide vocabulary of melodic material. Later in the year, they are introduced to the alto and tenor recorders, and experience playing in a full consort, with different sizes of recorders playing on different parts simultaneously. This is an excellent way to prepare students for the ensemble playing that goes with joining Middle School Band or Strings the following year.
Students move from handbells to learning the lovely Thai instrument called Angkaloong. Angkaloongs are made from bamboo, and are played using the same basic principle as handbells – each one has one note, and the player waits for their turn in the music, and then plays their note. It’s a wonderful and child-friendly way for students to have some first experiences with playing Thai music.
Other units of study that a student beginning Grade 5 music class can look forward to are Jazz, an Introduction to Music History, Native American/Canadian Music, Creative Movement, (which involves a group movement composition at the end of this unit), Harmony, Music of the Renaissance, Instruments of the Symphony Orchestra, as well as an extensive study of a particular composer, which varies from year to year.
By the time students come to the end of Grade 5, they are well prepared for what may lie ahead for them in Band, Choir or Strings in Middle School. By the time a student moves on from fifth grade, we hope that they are confident in their musical skills and abilities, and are ready for the next musical challenge that Middle School will bring them.
Grade 5 Music
