As the last days of summer wind down, fifth graders anxiously wait for the start of something new: band. Many middle schoolers at St. Robert school participate in band. However, the St. Robert band experience starts before 6th grade for many instrumentalists. The beginning band for fifth graders allows students to be introduced to the band experience outside of school hours in preparation for the band classes they may take in the following years.  Beginning Band commences at the start of 5th grade, when students do not even know how to put their instruments together, but by the end fifth grade, the musicians are playing harmonies across varying genres of music.  

The band teacher, Mr. Zolinski says, “The spring concert will show the audience how hard the students have worked and how much they have grown musically, particularly if they compare it to the November concert, especially when it comes to the beginners; at the first concert, the students played simple tunes like ‘Go Tell Aunt Rhodie’ in unison out of their method books, but now they are playing full sheet music pieces with both melody and harmony.”

Learning melodies and harmonies is a big step up from playing everything in unison. This marks significant growth amid the band students.

The beginning band is playing  ‘‘Ode to Joy’ by Ludwig van Beethoven. ‘Ode to Joy’ is the familiar theme from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.” Mr. Zolinski also said that  “Ode to Joy” is “one of the most recognizable and most famous pieces in history.”

Another song that the fifth graders will be playing is “‘Court of the Noble Trumpeteers’, which will feature  four Beginning Band trumpet players–Ava Harwood, Flannery O’Keef, Win Williams, and Nick Womack–playing a bright and majestic melody as the band plays with them.”

The last song that the Beginning Band will play at the Spring concert is one called “Synergy March” which “is a spirited concert march with a crisp melody and bold accompaniment, with brass and woodwinds featured separately and percussion serving as a link between the two.” These are some of the hardest pieces that the Beginning Band has played yet.

It is amazing to see these players develop into wonderful musicians and “graduate” into Intermediate Band.