Music
Music at RCS
Music is an integral part of the RCS experience!
Music classes begin in Kindergarten and are a required element of our curriculum through 7th grade and serve as a fine arts elective in high school. Building a strong foundation in music theory along with an appreciation of music is at the heart of our music education program. Students not only learn how to sing, read and write music, and recognize a variety of music styles, but they learn music performance skills and use their talents to bless others and honor the Lord.
Music is a wonderful way to share the gifts that God has given us and to praise Him who is worthy of our praise!
Elementary Music
Like in learning a spoken language, students will work to become fluent musicians by engaging in music through reading, writing, listening, singing/saying, and vocabulary use. Students will explore the artistic side of music through performance, improvisation, and composition. Students will play instruments, including the recorder, metallophone, xylophones, and percussion instruments.
The RCS music curriculum pulls from various resources to find what works best for the students in each class. One of the highlights of our year is the Christmas programs where parents, grandparents, and friends all turn out to support and enjoy the students’ performances.
Middle School Music
Every student has a God-given instrument – the voice. This is a gift worth exploring through training and practice. The goal of our choir is to learn to sing. Singers develop beautiful tone and precise intonation as they learn to think, hear, and see musically through the use of hand signs and solfege syllables (do, re, mi, etc.).
In Middle School Music students continue to build on musical concepts already mastered. This course is divided into four areas:
- Music fundamentals include musical staff, notes, names, pitch, note values, tempo, dynamics, articulation, time, and key signatures.
- Music history and literature of particular eras in World and US History.
- Performance skills such as diction, ear training, sign singing, and performance etiquette.
- Knowledge and recognition of musical genres such as jazz, blues, opera, and musicals and their influences.