Music — A Gift For Life

Our district is very fortunate to have a dynamic music educator who is very passionate in providing her students (kindergarten through fifth grade) with an incredible gift in the area of music appreciation. Ms. Diane Bock is an extraordinary educator who works hard to teach all children how to have a lifetime appreciation for loving music. Her instructional programs are exciting and are filled with the exploration of rhythm, beat and singing that excites each classroom from kindergarten through fifth grade.

She has created a wonderful chorus program that meets every Friday at 8:00 a.m. The chorus members come voluntarily and class numbers can swell well over 80 students in her program. There is no lost time when the chorus class meets. Ms. Bock’s students are excited, engaged and they follow her with precision. I was “wowed” when I saw the sheer number of students that show up before school on Friday mornings to partake in this special music opportunity.

The chorus program incorporates many genres that include classical, pop, jazz and folk. Chorus members are accompanied by live musicians who enrich Friday morning singing activities. An added bonus to the long tradition of wonderful music at Soquel Elementary is the parent volunteers who actively support the music program throughout the school year. This wonderful program would not exist without our incredible parents.

Music provides all children with the opportunity to explore different learning modalities. Children who are provided enriched music learning experiences, like the ones at Soquel Elementary School, are given the opportunity to learn to use different quadrants of their brain functions.

The Soquel Music program truly involves the whole child from kinder through fifth grade. In kinder, the music program encompasses the whole body as a music instrument. Students skip, run and jump as they explore different rhythms and singing. Students in first and second grade incorporate hand percussion and simple patterns on our Orff xylophones as they discover melody, harmony, accompaniment and improvisation.

Third grade students apply their skills to more complex compositions. They study musical forms and memorize melodies as well as explore improvisation. They begin harmony singing through partner songs and are introduced to standardized music notation. In fourth and fifth grades, students study recorder and learn to read and write music. They compose music for recorder and xylophone, and study more complex musical forms. They memorize melodies and learn inner-voice harmonies as well as bass patterns.

Fourth and fifth grade students study the blues form, and fifth graders compose and perform their own blues compositions. All students perform individually, in small groups and in grade level concerts. One of the true highlights of our wonderful music program at Soquel Elementary School is the evening concerts performed by all students.

The long-standing tradition of a strong enriched music program is attributed to the sheer talent of Ms. Diane Bock. Soquel Elementary School is known for the exceptional gift of music that all children receive throughout the school year. Music is an essential life-long gift that every child should experience.