Music 

In Music at Cash, all students have the opportunity to experience and make music together.  Students work together to develop a strong foundation in singing, folk dance, playing instruments, reading music, and acting through music. In addition to this, students at all levels will have the opportunity to perform for their parents and peers at least once during the year.  We also have a 4^th and 5^th grade Cougar Chorus that meets before school.

Like regular movement, many studies have demonstrated the effect participating in music has on learning, memory, productivity, energy, and general overall happiness.

In Kindergarten, students work to develop an understanding of pitch and rhythm.  We explore different ways we can make music, and often make music through play.  Students work to develop an understanding of how to use their voices, and how to sing in a healthy way.  Students also learn to read music using rhythmic patterns of quarter notes and quarter rests.

In 1^st grade, students continue to work on developing and expanding their sense of pitch and rhythm through experiencing and making music.  We begin to study parts of the tritonic scale as well as reading music that uses eighth notes, quarter notes, and quarter rests.  In first grade, students begin to accompany their singing in our classroom percussion orchestra.

In 2^nd grade, students continue their journey into pitch and rhythm through singing and reading music that uses the pentatonic scale.  Students also begin to compose their own rhythmic patterns to perform on rhythm instruments.  They continue to accompany their singing on our classroom percussion orchestra to give students the experience of playing music as an ensemble.

In 3^rd grade, students continue to work toward building a solid vocal and instrumental foundation through performing and experiencing music from diverse cultures and trough reading and playing melodies using the diatonic scale.  Students also begin to work on responding to the gestures of a conductor when singing and playing instruments to perform as a group.  Beginning in 3rd quarter, 3rd grade students will begin learning to play the mountain dulcimer. Students will have the opportunity to audition for Cougar Chorus at the end of the school year.  

In 4^th grade, students will begin learning to play music on the baritone ukulele.  A step toward playing a full size guitar, baritone ukulele’s are wonderful tools to help students learn to read music, work on musicianship, and prepare to possibly play in orchestra in middle and high school and beyond.  Students will work to develop foundational string techniques as they play, and have the opportunity to incorporate playing into performances with the classroom percussion orchestra.  Students will also learn to read music on the treble clef staff to learn to play their music, and get to experience singing and playing harmony in two parts.  At the end of the year, students get to learn about North Carolina Jugband music.  They will make their own wash boards and learn to play the spoons as they perform traditional Appalachian Folk Songs.  Fourth Graders also have the opportunity to participate in Cougar Chorus and audition for North Carolina Elementary Honors Chorus.

By 5^th Grade, students have experienced what it is like to perform as a band, a chorus, and as an orchestra.  Students work on responding to conductor gestures as an ensemble, and on applying the techniques they have learned to perform as an ensemble.  Fifth grade students continue to expand their percussion and baritone ukulele technique, and work toward combining these skills to perform as a unified ensemble. Fifth grade also continues to work on reading music and interpreting musical score, as well as training their ears to recognize rhythmic and melodic patterns and the sounds of instruments from the brass, woodwind, string, and percussion families.  In February, fifth graders will get to go on a field trip where they get to sing along with the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra.   The goal at the end of fifth grade is to foster a love of music through performance and to prepare and inform students who wish to pursue making music beyond the elementary school setting.  Fifth Graders also have the opportunity to participate in Cougar Chorus, audition for North Carolina Elementary Honors Chorus, or participate in Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools All-County Chorus.

Cougar Chorus is a special learning environment designed to provide a rich and rewarding musical experience for each child.  The children will study and perform a variety of music, from simple unison folk songs to contemporary musical literature.  Our mission as a chorus is to encourage our students’ many gifts and talents as people from diverse backgrounds to raise our voices together in harmony and to give the gift of music back to the community by singing, learning and performing beautiful music together. 

Students in 4^th and 5^th grades will have the opportunity to participate in chorus.  Rising 4^th and 5^th graders may audition to be a part of Cougar Chorus at the end of their 3^rd or 4^th grade years, and current 4^th and 5^thgraders have the opportunity to audition at the beginning of the year.  If your child is interested in Cougar Chorus, I will give them more information as we approach audition times. Cougar Chorus performs at various times and venues throughout the school year.  Performance appearances for the 2022-2023 school year will include the Kernersville Christmas Stocking benefit concert, the Cash Elementary Holiday Sing-a-long, a potential Wake Forest Basketball national anthem sing, the Cash Elementary Spring Concert, and the return of the Kernersville Junior Choral Festival. 

The North Carolina Elementary Honors Chorus is a group of approximately 150 students who are chosen from across North Carolina to perform at the NCMEA Conference each year. The purpose of this Honors Chorus is to provide students with the opportunity to develop their abilities to the greatest possible extent. Teachers who are members of NCMEA are permitted to send in auditions from six of their students. Adjudicators are hired to select the members of the Honors Chorus. Teachers then work with their students in preparation for the concert and students spend the day before the concert working with the clinician. Participating in the North Carolina Elementary Honors Chorus is very rewarding for teachers, students and their families.  Candidates to audition are identified during the chorus audition process and selected at the end of May for the following year.