Joyfully Cultivating the Music Within

Did you know that our music teacher, Mrs. Lorenz, is a professional recorder player and has performed in concerts all over Europe and locally? Check out her impressive bio here. We are very fortunate to have her as part of our faculty, teaching the grades students how to sing and play instruments.

*Notice her collection of different recorders in this photo, taken at an ensemble performance in Chicago.

A Waldorf music program looks different than music at other schools. Our approach is based on the idea that all children have music within them, and creating music awakens and nurtures that innate gift. While singing, dancing and playing instruments together, we are living our best musical life!  So what does that look like in each grade?

Our kindergarteners have music with their class teacher, which includes learning songs with full-body movement, fingerplays and games, and stories that incorporate gentle, pentatonic tones.  At the end of the year, Mrs. Lorenz visits their classroom to introduce herself and share her music.  When the children return in the fall, Mrs. Lorenz will be there, playing music to welcome them as first graders at the Rose Ceremony.

In 1st grade: 

We sing, we play, we jump, we clap, we stomp, and we learn to listen and calm down.  First graders learned to play a holiday song on the lyre this year so they could accompany the teachers ensemble at the winter concert.

In 2nd grade: 

In December, second grade traditionally brings the holiday of Santa Lucia to Da Vinci. Mrs. Lorenz teaches the children to sing the song, and on Santa Lucia Day, the children visit each class to sing, then hand out freshly baked sweet rolls.  You can hear the song here:

Recently, second grade has been learning and memorizing quite complex songs in English and in German! They enjoy it all: hard, focused work, playing quite silly musical games, and calming down with listening. We are about to start with experimental recorder playing very soon. There is nothing these children can’t do!

In 3rd grade:

Third grade is busy practicing their first rounds and carrying their voices independently in groups. They are also making big steps in recorder playing and music writing. Their first time performing on recorder was at the winter concert, where they played “Ode to Joy”. The children are very proud of their recorders, they even crocheted special cases for them!

 

In 4th/5th grade:

Here’s an example of what happens in 4/5 grade music class!

In 4th and 5th grade, the children are learning to read music. One of their lessons included baking chocolate chip cookies! In a whole cookie they get 4 chocolate chips, or beats, as in a whole note and whole measure. At this point, music ties into fractions. We divided the whole cookies in halves (just like notes),  quarters, 8th. As in one whole measure, there are fractions, but no sharing. You divide, but you get to eat all the fractions :-)!

In Middle school:

Everything ties together in middle school. We sing songs with several voices, add all kinds of different instruments in unusual combinations, just as the talents and interests of the students offer, and even add dance to one of the songs. 

In recorder playing, we combine soprano, alto, tenor, and bass instruments, and are able to play quite complex, beautiful music this way. 

The 7th and 8th graders are also learning to play the ukulele in a combined class.