In the Primary lesson, the focus is on our five voices, matching the beat while playing instruments, and identifying what we hear when listening to music. Our five voices are singing voice, talking voice, whisper voice, brain voice (inner hearing), and calling voice.
Starting in Full Day Primary and through Upper Elementary we follow the Kodály Today curriculum. Lessons follow a sequence of learning concepts through kinesthetic activities, asking questions about what they hear, building their own representations of what they hear, labeling the sound, and then finally looking at musical notation. Once they have gone through this sequence with a concept then we are able to read, write, and compose with this new concept. In every lesson, a review is built in so that wherever they are on their musical literacy journey they are able to participate and connect with the lesson. There is a focus on singing, which is how students can feel and understand concepts of pitch. Playing barred instruments (Orff instruments) are used to accompany the voice. By the end of Upper Elementary students understand intervals, scales, meter, and chord structure.
Middle School is an extension of the Kodály Today curriculum with a focus on performance through choir, brass, or percussion ensembles.