DECATUR -- During lunch you will hear the sound of recorders playing in the music room. That is when the Recorder Club meets to practice.
Fourth-grade students at Decatur Northside Elementary are learning more basic music skills by learning to play the baroque soprano recorder, a small woodwind instrument. Recorder Karate is a music curriculum that allows students to earn different colored belts as they learn to play and pass off new songs.
Students work on the nine songs at their own pace and practice at home, during lunch and after school. When they pass a level, they receive a belt of that color to tie around their recorder. The students master more difficult songs as they progress. Students are excited to pass belt tests and move closer to the coveted black belt.
Landen Janes and Edwin Colorado are the first two Decatur students to reach the coveted black belt.
The recorder is a woodwind instrument, similar to a flute, dating back as early as the 12th century. It is an excellent pre-band instrument that helps students become more literate in reading music notation. There are many other skills learned from playing the recorder, such as fingering skills, embouchure development, breath support, articulation skills, and inner ear development.
Two fourth grade students received their Recorder Karate Black Belt certificates this quarter, Landen Janes and Edwin Colorado.
General News on 03/04/2020