Music
Creative Self-Expression
Music education is essential to the physical, emotional, intellectual, and social development of every Westside student, and develops confidence, cooperation, and coordination in our students. They learn about beat, rhythm, pitch, melody, harmony, dynamics, and form. They do before they label. By the time they learn the name of a musical concept, they will have already experienced it.
Lower School
Students from preschool to kindergarten explore music through creative self-expression, guided by the National Core Arts Standards. Inspired by Kodály and Orff methods, they learn folk songs, nursery rhymes, and singing games to develop skills like finding voice and pitch and keeping a steady beat. They engage in creative movement, improvisation, and composition at a developmentally appropriate level.
As they progress, students build on these foundational skills by learning to play various instruments, including pitched and non-pitched percussion. They study composers, the function of music in societies, and its connections with other arts and content areas. Performances, both informal and formal, are integrated into their learning process, with opportunities aligned with child development best practices.
Middle School
Fifth and sixth graders have year-round music classes, continuing to develop their singing voices and learning to sing in 2- and 3-part harmony. They study instruments like the marimba, ukulele, guitar, piano, and percussion, and delve into music theory, improvisation, and composition. They explore the role of music in human culture, including the history of Western art music and modern American music.
Seventh and eighth graders choose from mixed-grade Arts Elective classes in visual art, theater, technology, and music, taking two electives per semester. Options include Instrumental Ensemble and Choir, where students learn to read music, play instruments proficiently, and perform as part of an ensemble. In Choir, they develop singing techniques, sing in multi-part harmony, and learn diverse choral music.