Tier Two District

Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District

Elementary Band

The Elementary Band Program offers students an opportunity to learn music through performance on a wind or percussion instrument.  Students learn fundamental instrument skills and become musically literate individuals in small homogenous lesson groups.  As students become more proficient on their instruments, they participate in band where they learn how to create music with their peers.  Overall, the Elementary Band Program strives to develop musical knowledge, technique and appreciation, as well as a variety of life skills such as organization, goal setting and time management, which can be applied to activities both in and out of music.   

TECHNICAL SKILLS: 

  •  Proper Instrument Assembly
  • Parts of the Instrument
  • Instrument Care and Maintenance
  • Good Posture
  • Proper Hand/Arm Position
  • Level Appropriate Tone Quality
  • Level Appropriate Range
  • Correct Embouchure Formation (Winds)
  • Articulation (Winds)
  • Use of Fingering Chart (Winds)
  • Basic Rudiments (Percussion)       
  • Self Evaluative Listening


MUSICAL LITERACY: 
Upon completion of Grade 5, students will be introduced to the function and/or meaning of the following rhythms, terms, and symbols.  In addition, students will 
explore how to figure out rhythms on their own using the traditional counting system.

Rhythmic Notation (Note & Rest Equivalents)
Whole, Half, Quarter, Eighth, Dotted Half, Dotted Quarter, Ties

Time Signatures 
2/4, 3/4, 4/4

Terminology
-Tempo Markings:  
Moderato, Allegro, Andante, Vivo, Largo, Maestoso, Allegretto

Articulation and Expression:  
Slurs, Accents, Staccato, Legato, 
Forte, Piano, Mezzo Forte, Mezzo Piano, Crescendo, Diminuendo

Symbols:  
Accidentals, Sharps, Flats, Natural Signs, Fermata, Measure Repeat, Crescendo, Diminuendo,        Long Rests

Music Vocabulary: 
Staff, Lines/Spaces, Bass or Treble Clef , Bar line, Double bar line, Measure, Time Signature, Key Signature, 1st and 2nd Ending, Ledger Lines, Breath Mark, Duet, Round, Repeat Signs, Internal Repeat, Variation, Ritardando, Pick-up, D.S. al Fine,D. C. al Fine, Divisi, Common Time