Music

At John Pritchard School, in both the primary and intermediate levels, music is taught by covering the concepts of rhythm, melody, form, harmony and tone colour. Under these five headings it is possible to group all the skills that deal with making music, from reading music (rhythm and melody) to recognizing the instruments by sound (tone colour) to chord structure (harmony). It is hoped that knowledge of music will lead to increased enjoyment and participation, now and later in life.

The learning experiences for children emphasize participation and the activities are sequenced to allow the song materials and skill development at one stage to become the basis for further development at a later stage. Over the six years of elementary school, the children will have learned to read simple melodies, heard a wide range of recorded music, explored the relationship between music and movement, played a wide variety of percussion and simple melodic instruments (e.g. recorder), and sung a variety of songs.