Chester Elementary School students learn to play the recorder

Third-graders in Amy Carola, Katey Frambach, Lori Bonito, and Audra Cutler’s classes at Chester Elementary School have been learning to play the recorder through the Recorder Karate program, an engaging, student-centered approach that helps young musicians build skills while having fun.

Students work at their own pace and receive extra help from their music teacher, Amanda Gribbin, and their peers during each music class. They begin by learning the basics – how to hold the recorder and produce a proper sound – before progressing to reading notes on a page and matching them with the correct finger placements needed to play songs.

”Teaching the recorder through the use of the Recorder Karate program is an engaging way for students to reach their musical goals and learn new musical concepts through active music-making,” said Gribbin.

As students advance through the program, their progress earns them different color belts, the same way martial arts students track their level of understanding and expertise. To achieve the next belt, students must master progressively more challenging music that introduces new notes, rhythms, and hand placements. Students test individually for each level and must successfully complete the goal song at each level before moving on to the next.

Here are the songs that the students learn in the recorder program along with their associated goal songs.

White Belt: Hot Cross Buns

Yellow Belt: Gently Sleep

Orange Belt: Merrily We Roll Along

Green Belt: It’s Raining

Purple Belt: Old MacDonald Had A Farm

Blue Belt: When The Saints Go Marching In

Red Belt: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Brown Belt: Amazing Grace

Black Belt: Ode To Joy

“The colored belts are a tangible way for them to gauge their progress and feel a sense of accomplishment at every level,” Gribbin said. “We are so proud of all our third-graders and cannot wait to see what they accomplish as they continue to work hard on becoming master recorder players!”

Congratulations to third-grader Ethan Piller (Ms. Bonito’s class) on being the first student in his grade level to achieve Recorder Karate black belt status this year!