The overarching purpose of the co-curricular Instrumental Music Program is to provide students with the opportunity to become musicians and experience the expressive qualities of music through learning to play a band or orchestral instrument and to participate in performance ensembles such as concert bands and orchestras.
The Instrumental Music Program seeks to extend a student’s musical experience through the development of music literacy, technique and performance. The curriculum offered includes band and orchestral instruments, organised in families, as follows:
- Strings – violin, viola, cello, double bass, bass guitar;
- Woodwinds – flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, saxophone;
- Brass – trumpet, French horn, trombone, baritone, euphonium, tuba;
- Percussion – tuned (mallets and timpani) and untuned (snare, auxiliary and drum kit) instruments.
Core Components
As part of the program, Instrumental Music students participate in three course components – home practice, group lessons and performance ensembles.
Home Practice
It is expected that students will complete regular home practice to make musical progress on their instrument.
Group Lessons
Students are expected to attend one 35-minute group lesson a week, with these lessons rotating weekly. Small group lessons are the avenue through which music literacy, techniques and performance skills, specific to the instrument and level of the student, are explicitly taught. Lesson groupings are arranged according to the learning needs of the student and the school context. Most often, these are like-instrument and/or like-ability levels
Performance Ensembles
Students are required to attend one hour of rehearsals for their allocated ensemble each week. These ensembles provide the opportunity to demonstrate instrumental music learning in real-life contexts. The Caloundra State High School co-curricular Instrumental Music Program ensembles offered are:
Concert Band
This ensemble is compulsory for students learning a woodwind, brass or percussion instrument. The Concert Band rehearses on Mondays in M02 from 7:40-8:40am.
String Ensemble
String Ensemble is compulsory for students learning a string instrument (violin, viola, cello, double bass) and rehearses each week on Monday afternoons in M01 from 2.40 to 3.40pm.
Attendance
Students enrolled in Instrumental lessons are required to attend their lesson every week. If a student is unable to attend a lesson due to assessment in their regular class, they should first see their Instrumental Music teacher and attempt to organise an alternative time. Likewise, should a student miss an ensemble rehearsal, it is an expectation that the student or their parent contact the ensemble director to inform them of the student’s absence. If a student misses a number or rehearsals or lessons without sufficient explanation, they may be withdrawn from the program.
Fees
There is a fee of $100 per year per instrument for students who have use of a school instrument. This covers an annual service and repairs for woodwind and brass instruments, and re-stringing for string instruments.