Music
MUSIC AT MARIA MONTESSORI SCHOOL
Through all years of the music curriculum at MMS, the overarching goal is for students to acquire the fundamental knowledge and skills required for expression and creativity through music. Just as in visual arts education wherein the goal is often for students to draw or paint their own original works, the MMS music program is designed to help students make their own music.
A MONTESSORI-INSPIRED APPROACH
For our youngest students, this preparation involves progressive lessons with the Montessori Bells. The Bells provide a self-guided means of learning how to recognize and match pitches, explore harmony, the names of the notes, and even how to compose simple melodies and write them on the musical staff. For our upper elementary students, the Montessori Tone Bars are used to create and experiment with scales, learn and practice singing solfège (Do, Re, Mi…), and as a general tool for learning music theory.
WHAT WE DO
Music classes of all ages involve daily practice of singing, keeping a steady beat, creating rhythms and melodies, ear training, and musical language (names of instruments, concepts, etc.), as well as hands-on use of real instruments.
The early grades (K-3) focus on fundamental skills like timing, pitch matching, basic music notation on the treble clef, and group music-making through musical games and singing.
The upper grades (4-8) spend the beginning of the school year learning how popular music is made and structured, and about scales and chords, then using this knowledge to write their own original lyrics and chord progressions. In the latter half of the year, students form class bands and learn to play a cover song on an instrument of their choice, as well as compose an original song as a band to perform at an end of the year student’s-only recital.