Music

Music lessons at the Gronau comprehensive school

Our basics

For people, music is very often part of their daily experience, whether unconsciously in the background and integrated into everyday life or in conscious empathic attention. Accordingly, we see music as an important part of a holistic education at our school.

The starting point in a teaching project is the individuality of the people we work with. In this way, the pupils' level of perception is specifically integrated into our practical and receptive/reflective work. Movements, dances, drawings to music as well as dramatic play, compositional exercises, active music-making and other methods from our comprehensive repertoire of teaching methods are intended to make this work lively, particularly in view of the heterogeneity of our student body. The value-based education with regard to the cultural diversity of our world requires the study of a broad spectrum of music from all countries of the world as well as from our cultural area.

Making music together and working intensively with music promotes sensitivity for one's own body as well as empathy for others. Listening to, helping and supporting others in a musical sense promotes the social fabric of the class community with the aim of respecting the individual limits and abilities of fellow learners. Through regular musical exercises and presentations in our lessons, we also promote self-confidence in front of the class. We want to take away the fear of making mistakes by seeing them as a welcome and necessary basis for further joint work. Different musical abilities and learning levels are analyzed according to our differentiation system and performance is assessed on this basis, as well as on the basis of the core curriculum.

Our music lessons

Music lessons at Gronau Comprehensive School follow the binding requirements of the core curriculum for North Rhine-Westphalia.[1] In addition to acquiring the skills listed there, it is important to the music department to focus on practical music-making in particular. For this reason, a wind class was set up from the 2017/2018 school year. The establishment of a choir class is also planned for the coming years. The specially designed training of our music teachers is also intended to enable further instrumental and vocal practice at our school.

Individual support for particularly talented musicians is also to be guaranteed through professional, musical and technical support during rehearsals for school performances.

The increasingly lively musical life at our school is reflected in our projects (choir and wind class) but also in the existing ensembles. In addition to a school choir (directed by Ms. Jeschke) and a school band (directed by Mr. Manchen), small groups of pupils are constantly forming to rehearse and perform musical performances with the willing support of the teaching staff. Requests in this regard are always welcome.

Music lessons take place in our music room or the classrooms. The music room is currently equipped with the most necessary instruments and equipment: piano, keyboard, electric bass, electric guitars and drum sets. Small instruments, such as glockenspiels, Orff building blocks, percussion and boomwhackers are available in expandable quantities. From the 2018/2019 school year, we will have a much larger area for musical work in the new part of the building and finally an auditorium as a performance venue.

In addition to the regular two-hour lessons in Year 5, there is a music section consisting of a wind class and a choir class (from the 2018/2019 school year).

The wind class

In this learning group, we teach with an increased number of lessons (e.g. the AG lesson is used for the concept) within the curricular framework of the core curriculum. The IP (instrumental pedagogy) or, in future, the VP (vocal pedagogy) area is carried out in cooperation between teachers, parents and the support association. Pupils are given instruments that they can use for learning. They also receive additional instrumental lessons from experts outside the school. In the wind class itself, the pupils work together as a big band and rehearse pieces to be performed.

The choir class

For this group of learners, we again teach with an increased number of lessons (e.g. the AG lesson is used for the concept) within the curricular framework of the core curriculum. The choir class from the future Year 5 and the current choir club perform their repertoire on a variety of occasions and thus gain musical experience. The choir lessons of the choir class can also be attended by pupils who have not decided to attend the music branch, provided there are no other school commitments that prevent this.

Annual work plan / longer-term goals

• Improving the equipment in the music room
• Establishment of further music classes
• Development of the in-house curriculum and planning of further U-series

Classes 5 to 9 are taught according to the following table (participation in the AGs remains voluntary):

Information on the lesson plans  

In Year 5, three different teaching projects (approx. 10-12 hours each) are carried out per semester in order to meet the developmental level of the pupils with a wide variety of content. In years 6 and 7, two lesson plans are carried out per semester, each lasting the length of a quarter. These are followed by a further six lesson plans in regular lessons : In year 8, a total of four teaching projects (two per semester) and in year 9 two large teaching projects are carried out.

Notes on teaching the wind classes:

In the wind class, an introductory phase precedes the lessons in year 5, in which organizational matters (choice of instrument, instrument care, seating arrangements, assembly and disassembly, distribution of instrumental lessons, etc.) are regulated. Lessons in the wind group may deviate from the lesson plans, but all subject-specific content and skills are taught through the more extensive instrumental music-making. The wind group course is completed at the end of year 6.