Dear Students and Families,

 

 The music department is established on the premise that its reason for existence is to assist in the preparation of the youth living in the community for wholesome, active, creative and constructive citizenship, which, in turn should provide for complete and intelligent living in a complex and changing society.

Music is a Science - it is exact, specific, and demands exact acoustics. A conductor's full score is a chart, or graph, which indicates frequencies, intensities, volume changes, melody and harmony all at once with the most exact control of time.

Music is Mathematical - It is rhythmically based on the subdivisions of time into fractions, which must be done instantaneously, not worked out on paper.

Music is a Foreign Language - Most of the terms are in Italian, German or French; and the notation is certainly not English - but a highly developed kind of shorthand that uses symbols to represent ideas. The semantics of music is a complex and universal language.

Music is History - Music usually reflects the environment and times of its creation, as well as the country of its origin.

Music is Physical Education - It requires fantastic coordination of finger, hand, arm, lip, cheek, and facial muscles. In addition, it requires extraordinary control of the diaphragmatic, back, stomach and chest muscles, which respond instantly to the sound the ear hears and mind interprets.

Music is All These, BUT most of All, MUSIC IS ART - It allows a human being to take all of these dry, technically boring (but difficult) techniques and use them to create emotion. That is one thing science cannot duplicate.

Why do I Teach Music?
Not because I expect everyone to major in music.
Not because I expect everyone to play all of their life.
Not so everyone can goof off and have a free period.

BUT

so you can learn to be sensitive.

Sincerely,

Mr. Patrick Manuel