Fine Arts

In Music Appreciation, students learn to identify a variety of musical styles. They listen closely to opera, ballet, jazz, classical, symphonic, and choral works to train their ears to notice dynamics, rhythmic patterns, instrumentation, and mood. Students build their vocabulary of musical terminology to intelligently describe what they hear. Simultaneously, students study the biographies of great composers and develop a sense for composers’ individual styles. On occasion, students learn from guest artists, hear music performed in the classroom, and touch and hold various instruments. Finally, students memorize and sing traditional hymns together and experience music-making for themselves.

General music is an amazing way to bring young students into the wonderful world of music-making. All GCCA students in Kindergarten, First, and Second grades will have one general music class each week. This class provides a wide variety of musical experiences including playing various instruments, exploring movement to music in space, working on coordination and dexterity using manipulatives, listening to and analyzing famous classical compositions, and preparing small amounts of music for our two concerts throughout the year. Students are graded on their level of participation in each class.

As students mature, learning an instrument can have such a wonderful impact on their brain development and hand-eye coordination. Learning to read notes on a staff improves literacy and playing an instrument in an ensemble builds teamwork. All third and fourth grade students will get to learn the soprano recorder. This class is designed so that new students to the recorder can start with the basics and students who have been playing the recorder for some time have a chance to accelerate in their learning. Recorder is the perfect precursor to many woodwind instruments, and students will also learn how to read notes on the treble clef staff. Recorder students will have the opportunity to perform in our two concerts throughout the year.

“Singing in a choir is an absolutely unique experience. It is one of the most important things in the world. Where else do you have everyone doing the same thing at the same time without the use of special equipment and for a greater purpose, and no one is sitting on the bench?”

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                -Ian Loeppky

Singing in a choir is one of the most beneficial experiences a young person can have. Teamwork meets focus when trying to bring harmonies together and make them work. Ms. Blakley programs music that is rich in skill-building and contains many musical elements that excite. Choir is for GCCA students in 4th-8th grade. Having a background in choral conducting, Ms. Blakley works hard to make sure she dives deep into each piece with the students, focusing on the music and the text that is set to it.

All of the school music programs in the State of Florida have access to FMEA, or the Florida Music Educators Association. Under this umbrella are sub-groups such as the Florida Elementary Music Educators Association (FEMEA), the Florida Vocal Association (FVA), the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA), and the Florida Orchestra Association (FOA). Teachers who are members of the organizations that correspond to the ensembles they teach get access to enriching extra musical experiences. One of these is called All-State, and it coincides with the FMEA professional development conference in January each year.

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All-State is a student musical experience for grades 5-12 and is one of the most amazing experiences a Florida music student can have. There are dozens of All-State ensembles ranging from choir to guitar, Orff to orchestra. Next year, GCCA will be auditioning students in grades 5, 7, and 8 in choir. The audition process varies depending on age.

Elementary All-State Choir (5th Grade Only)

The elementary school All-State audition includes several sung components that are recorded and sent into the FEMEA board for a blind audition. The audition packets are typically released in May for a September audition.

Middle School All-State Choir (7th & 8th Grades Only)

Students must be in good academic standing to audition. Middle school has 3 audition components spanning over 2 in-person auditions. Dates for these are released during the summer. There is an audition fee averaging about $25 per applicant.

Music Theory: Students will first need to pass a 50-question music theory test in order to move on to the second phase of auditions. This includes ear-training, vocabulary, and basic music theory skills. The link to the practice tests and vocabulary list is below.

Middle School Vocabulary List: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ybbQtBZwVF_hWycPJppVlaaQsHlzbYQp/view?usp=sharing

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Past Musicianship Tests:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yeD_U4YhucFcZKVL3wlm5UszLUVVsane

Sightreading: If students receive a passing score on the musicianship test, they will be taken to a room to sightread some music for judges. There are 4 levels of sightreading, increasing in difficulty. Below is a link to the sightreading practice packet that has examples meeting the criteria for each level.

Sightreading Packet Level 1-3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MD5EPOprOyfQc7wJyCtssUmORmdIgMu2/view?usp=sharing

Sightreading Packet Level 4: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10J4bIZHzQgDKZjBS2gtJ3dsHB0D0xfD9/view?usp=sharing

Musicality Audition: If a student gets a combined score high enough on the first two audition components, they will have the opportunity to complete the last leg of the audition. They will receive the music they will be singing in their All-State choir. Each student must learn their part for each song (not memorized) and attend one more in-person audition. They will sing a small excerpt from each piece (told to them on the day of the audition) and will have it recorded. The recordings will be sent off to the FVA board, and the top scores in the state will be accepted into All-State!

From Kindergarten through Second Grade, students take an art appreciation course which covers the development of Western art through the West’s most famous artists and their greatest works. Students learn how to analyze and appreciate these works, as well as experience the joy of trying to imitate them through their own interpretations. Students in K-2 also create a weekly arts and crafts project based on their literature curriculum, as well as a weekly art class which is offered to all students in K-5th grade. An art history course is offered as an elective to our middle school students. Our art program focuses on learning fundamental principles of art, art appreciation, and self-expression.