"The truest expression of a people is in its dance and music."

                                   -- Agnes de Mile (1905-93)
 

            Emphasis is placed this year on singing tunes from our own country, the United States.  Folk, patriotic, and Native American songs will be learned.  We will also experience music from and about Wisconsin, Canada and Australia.   The students will continue developing skills on instruments learned last year but will have more in-depth experiences with the Orff instruments (glockenspiels, metalophones, and xylophones)  and begin learning autoharp (an American folk instrument).  We will listen to a number of selections written by American composers for wind bands. Students will learn to tell the difference between the sound of an orchestra (studied last year) and the sound of a wind band.  Time will be spent  improvising and writing a simple composition and students will begin to learn about concepts related to reading music.