As the year begins I get a bunch of new, bright eyed year seven students who have a mixture of musical ability. Some have never learnt music, some have played the recorder (poorly) and some have completed up to 3rd grade theory and performed on the violin at the Sydney Opera House!
What to do?
1st – I pretest their knowledge of theory with a quick 1A4 page of basic music theory
2nd – I ask them to fill out a small survey on their musical background, what instruments they learn or would like to learn and their confidence using computers, blogs, itunes etc
Once I have done all of the above I have set the stage for appropriate planning and possible extension opportunities.
3rd – I hand every student the yr-7-introduction-booklet to give them a reference point for learning themes, playing the instruments and remembering what ‘ta,’ ‘ta te’ and ‘ta fa te fi’ mean.
It becomes a very useful tool that they keep in their folders all year long – and though it may seem daunting at first, by the end of year seven they no longer need it!
