Our internationally recognized music program is based on the philosophy and practice of Orff Schulwerk, a dynamic approach to music education developed by the composer Carl Orff and his colleague, Gunild Keetman.

This approach begins from the premise that every child is innately musical and naturally loves to play, sing and dance. Children not only learn hundreds of songs, many set dances and instrumental pieces from all over the world on Orff instruments, but they also add their own ideas to each experience through improvisation, composition and choreography.

Activities call forth children’s intellect, imagination, senses, emotions, social and physical skills in ways that contribute significantly to their total educational experience.

MUSIC BY GRADE

OVERVIEW

Music is part of every child’s school experience throughout the entire eleven year span at The San Francisco School. The preschool children come to the specialist music class one or two times a week and sing once a week with the entire preschool. In these classes, children learn the routines of working together in musical ways (from dancing in a line to sitting in a circle to caring for an instrument). They work and play with their voices, bodies and simple props (scarves, paper plates, puppets, toys and percussion instruments), develop a vocabulary of movement and engage their fantasy life through improvisation, story and drama. This is the “romance” phase of their musical development, freely exploring the possibilities of musical expression at their level of thinking and feeling.

The lower school students come twice weekly for 45 minute classes. They begin ensemble playing on specially designed xylophones known as Orff instruments, learn vocabulary for the various musical concepts they have experienced and enlarge their repertoire of musical pieces, songs and folk dances. Here they move into the “precision” phase of musical training, learning the details of musical grammar, fundamental concepts and correct techniques while still maintaining a playful and exploratory approach in each new learning. Improvisation and composition enlarge both their involvement and understanding. In addition to the music classes, the entire lower school participates daily in a 20 minute singing time and/or lower school chorus. There are also after-school lessons available for strings, band instruments and drum set.

The middle school music program continues the practice of Orff-Schulwerk at higher levels of development. The commitment to music as a basic part of every student's education continues, while simultaneously providing some elective choices for those with special interest and talent. Learning through hands-on music-making and creating one's own music remain at the core of the experience while simultaneously demanding more academic understanding of both music history, style and theory. While Orff instrument ensemble is primarily featured, folk dance, movement, song, speech and body percussion remain an integral part of the program.

Music in all three levels of the school is an essential part of the celebration calendar – a song, piece or dance for every occasion! Children perform in a variety of venues – Winter plays, Spring concerts, an annual CD and throughout the year in various sharings.

Preschool Music

At three years old, the school music class takes a child’s naturally propensity to chant, sing, move and fantasize and guides it into form. They learn to focus their abundant energy, build awareness of the group and become comfortable with music class routines and procedures.

Rhythm: Chanting names, lists and rhymes, clapping the rhythms of words, patting the beat to songs, moving to the beat, understanding phrasing through games.
Melody: Singing, singing and then, more singing.
Movement and dance: Master basic locomotor movements (walk, march, jump, hop, gallop, etc.) and non-locomotor movements (swing, shake, sway, etc.) Learning songs with motions, creating motions to songs, dancing out stories.
Instruments: Freely explore percussion instruments, improvised duets with teacher.

The four year olds come twice a week to music class for 30 minute classes. Comfortable with the music class routine, they refine their abilities to move rhythmically, sing expressively and begin to learn a repertoire of games.

Rhythm: Develop a repertoire of rhythms, express beat, explore elements of time.
Melody: Pitch-matching games, vocal exploration and learning more lyrics to songs.
Movement and dance: Review basic movements, explore movement elements (time, space, energy), begin to learn set dances.
Instruments: Free exploration of barred instruments, simple little pieces.

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Kindergarten Music

At five years old, the ability to notice the patterns of music-making emerge. They now have a growing repertoire of songs, games, dances and speech pieces. Near the end of the year, they often put on a little play folding their repertoire into a story.

Rhythm: Echo clapping, question-answer, two-part rhythms, reading rhythm.
Melody: Clapping, speaking and singing in rounds.
Movement and dance: Refined and varied expression of locomotor and non-locomotor movements, movement with props, folk dances, play parties and gesture songs.
Instruments: First little pieces on Orff instruments.

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First Grade Music

Most children entering first grade have already had 3 years of the preschool music program in which they experienced the basic elements of music through speaking, singing, moving, playing games, and exploring instruments. The first exciting transition from this experience is the naming of the elements they have been working with. Experiences in rhythm, melody and harmony are now carefully sequenced to provide step-by-step development in both skill and understanding. A brief overview is as follows:

Rhythm: Hearing, naming, understanding and expressing beat in a variety of ways (patting, clapping, gesturing, moving, walking, playing on instrument, etc.). Reading and recognizing basic rhythmic values.
Melody and Harmony Singing in tune. Playing and improvising in the pentatonic scale. Playing and understanding drone bass accompaniment.
Movement and Dance: Structures to evoke expressive movement alone and with partners and small groups are introduced and continued throughout the lower program. Children learn simple circle and line dances from many cultures.
Instrumental Ensemble: Basic technique in a variety of unpitched percussion and mallet technique for barred instruments.

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Second Grade Music

In second grade, the children are solidifying their sense of beat and pitch and are ready for more sophisticated orchestrations, particularly in regards to layers of musical texture. Nursery rhymes and children's poetry continue to provide text for musical improvisation and ensemble pieces. Games are played with greater precision and expertise and more opportunities are given for children to play, sing and dance without the teacher's participation. Second grade is responsible for the music, dance and drama for the Chinese New Year celebration, which is in conjunction with their study of China in the classroom. The following new concepts are introduced:

Rhythm: Hearing, naming, understanding, and expressing the beat in a variety of ways (patting, clapping, gesturing, moving, walking, playing on instrument, etc.). Recognizing, expressing and reading rhythmic values and melodic patterns.
Melody and Harmony: Full pentatonic scale-singing, playing and improvising. The pentatonic modes- beginning on la and re.
Movement and Dance: Basic group choreography with emphasis in formal aspects. (Rondo form). Basic folk dance steps and vocabulary. Simple circle and line dances.
Instrumental Ensemble: Basic technique in a variety of unpitched percussion and barred instruments. Cross-mallet melody playing on barred instruments.

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Third Grade Music

The third grade represents the center of the music program. The five preceding years lead up to the level of skill and understanding the third grader exhibits. The five years following are an extension of these basic skills and understanding to higher degrees of sophistication. The spontaneity and creative freshness of young children is still present in third grade, but now coupled with a greater capacity for intellectual understanding and a more developed physical capability to express musical ideas and thoughts. New skills of precise finger technique, note-reading and the discipline of home practice come with the study of the soprano recorder. The music class supports the cultural studies of Mexico and Bay Area Native peoples with songs, games and dances from these traditions.

Rhythm: New rhythmic skills include the conscious understanding of meter (2/4/,3/4, 6/8, 4/4 time) and the performance of music with multiple rhythmic textures.
Melody and Harmony: Singing in two and three parts. Transposition of pentatonic melodies. Melodic notation through recorder study and chorus.
Movementand Folk Dance: Continued exploration of expressive movement, naming concepts of weight, level, direction, and duration. Folk dances with more complicated steps, performed without teacher modeling.
Instrumental Ensemble: Continued ensemble experiences on percussion instruments. Begin soprano recorder study.

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Fourth Grade Music

The students review the concepts and experiences introduced in the early lower school grades, and continue developing more refined technique on both recorder and percussion. Melodic work shifts to the full diatonic scale and its modes, and this opens the repertoire to music from an even greater variety of sources. The fourth graders study music and dance of West Africa in music class as a part of their classroom unit on Ghana, playing many musical games and learning at least one challenging drum ensemble piece.

Rhythm: Continued beat competency in a variety of tempos and styles. Review all meters, add 6/8. Reading, writing and expression of all basic duration values. Introduce notated syncopation. Continued development of rhythmic independence in ensemble with multiple rhythmic textures. Continued development of rhythmic improvisation.
Melody and Harmony: Review pentatonic scale in various key centers. Learn pieces and improvise in Hexatonic and Modal scales, (Aeolian, Dorian, etc.) through voice,recorder, barred instruments. Drones accompanying modes and moving drones and triads (I II, I VII).
Movement and Dance: Basic group choreography with emphasis in formal aspects. (Rondo and canon form).
Instrumental Ensemble: Continued recorder proficiency, in both reading and improvising. Increasingly challenging mallet work on xylophones. West African percussion ensemble.

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Fifth Grade Music

Fifth grade is the “Golden Age” of the music program – the enthusiasm of the elementary age combined with increased understandings and skills (minus the hormonal distractions of approaching adolescence!). Fifth graders often play the most challenging ensemble music in the lower school program and they are the leaders of the Lower School Chorus.

Rhythm: Reading 6/8 meter, mixed- meters, notated syncopation, clave rhythm
Melodyand Harmony: Improvisation in modes of the diatonic scale. Paraphony (parallel harmony in thirds and sixths), improvisation over I-V chords
Movement and Dance: Group choreography assignments. More challenging folk dances in a variety of meters and styles.
Ensemble: Continued recorder proficiency, in both reading and improvising. Alto recorder added. By the end of fifth grade, mastery of these notes: C, D, E, F, F#, G, A, Bb, B, C, D, E, (F, G, A). 3 mallet xylophone technique and new techniques on hand drum.

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Sixth Grade Music

The sixth grade focus of study is on music from many cultures. The particular cultures and pieces vary from year to year, but select musical styles of the Caribbean, South America, North America, Europe, Africa and Asia are adapted for voice, movement, Orff instruments and our extensive and diverse instrumental collection. Improvisation in a variety of styles remains a key element in the process. Recordings, videos, guest artists, field trips and lectures give vital cultural background to inform the hands-on experience.

Rhythm: Review of basic rhythmic skills and concepts, moving toward syncopation, odd meters, polyrhythms, cross-rhythms,
Melody and harmony: Revisiting pentatonic and diatonic scales and modes, major, minor, chromatic and other scales. Reviewing drone accompaniment, introducing beginning functional harmony (I-IV-V).
Movement and Dance: Introduction to dance styles of various cultures (past examples have included Brazil, Ghana, the Basque Country, Bulgaria), creative movement, body percussion, drama and movement games.
Instrumental Ensemble: Introduction to Orff instruments for new students, advanced techniques (tremelo, three mallets, etc.), introduction to and integration of instruments from various cultures (examples include Javanese gamelan, Thai xylophone and angklung, Ghana drum ensemble, Andean panpipes, Brazilian bateria, accordion, dumbek and more.

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Seventh Grade Music

The seventh grade focus of study is on the elements of music and composition, leading to a deeper understanding of Western Classical music. Students play representative pieces from the Classical repertoire adapted for the Orff instruments, voice and recorder and create music of their own for these same media. Inspirations for composition assignments include visual art, film and video, poetry and dance. In addition to the twice-weekly ensemble classes, there is a third listening class in which students learn about the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Nationalistic, Impressionist and 20th century styles. A research paper on a composer of the student's choice is assigned, and each student gets an opportunity to teach the class about his/her favorite composed music. Videos, guest artists and a field trip to the Symphony and/or Opera enrich the class study.

Rhythm: Review of basic rhythmic concepts, with a focus on the building blocks of Western rhythm- beat, pulse, meter and phrase. Basic conducting patterns for 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4. Score-reading of multi-part music.
Melody and harmony: Review of diatonic modes in the context of Medieval and Renaissance music, including drone accompaniments and improvisation. Functional harmony (I/IV/V), ground bass, theme and variation, major/minor, chromatic scales, special scales (tone-rows).
Movement and Dance: Medieval and Renaissance dances- historical dances from France, Spain and England. Creative movement and choreography exercises to classical repertoire. Experience with elements of classical ballet and modern dance.
Ensemble: Experiences in ensemble singing (unison, canon and multi-part), recorder ensemble (Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass), percussion ensemble (Orff instrumentarium) and special ensembles (e.g. stringed instruments of Renaissance- psalteries, harps and zithers).

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Eighth Grade Music

The eighth grade focus of study is on jazz. Students taste various jazz styles through playing pieces from the repertoire, utilizing the Orff instruments, voice, recorder, piano/keyboard, trap set, assorted percussion and band instruments that students already play. Past examples of these pieces include Jive at Five (swing), Blue Skies (jazz standard), Pent-up House (be-bop), Bag’s Groove (cool), Summer Samba (bossa nova), Soul Sauce (Latin jazz), and Chameleon (jazz-rock).

Students constantly switch instruments from piece to piece and thus, experience the music from many different perspectives. Improvisation is essential and all students are invited to solo. In listening class, students learn the chronological development of jazz, from early roots through Ragtime, New Orleans, Swing, Be-bop and beyond. The great jazz musicians are presented through their recorded music, videos, biographies and their own written words. Guest artists come to play for and with the ensembles (past guests include Milt Jackson, Stefon Harris, Bobby McFerrin and Andy Narell) and there is an annual field trip to a jazz club.

Rhythm: Review and in-depth study of jazz rhythm—offbeat, syncopation, swing rhythm, polyrhythm, jazz phrasing. Basic drum set and Latin percussion rhythms for swing, jazz rock and Lain styles.
Melody, harmony and form: Call and response, blues scale, major, minor and chromatic scales, 7th chords, 12-bar blues chord progression, II-V I progressions, circle of 5ths, chord voicings and inversions, 32 bar AABA jazz standard form and other forms, melodic improvisation in all styles..
Movement and Dance: Roots of jazz body percussion and movement games, Lindy Hop, Salsa dance, expressive movement to select jazz music.
Ensemble: Increased use of chromatic Orff instruments and professional marimba and vibraphone, keyboard and piano, drum set, Latin percussion, integration of band instruments from private study (especially trumpet, saxophone, flute and clarinet), and expressive techniques—bent notes, crushed notes, swoops, and glides.

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