Lower School students at MacLaren receive six years of daily music training using the internationally-recognized Kodály method. Named for a Hungarian composer and teacher, Zoltán Kodály, the method is designed to help students fall in love with music, using the human voice as the primary instrument.
In this method, students learn that music is meant to be enjoyed and that singing together is a joyful exercise. Applying a child development approach, music literacy becomes accessible for even the youngest students.
While learning to sing folk songs in a group setting, students are also learning music theory. MacLaren’s music educators teach the names of notes on staff, the duration of various notes and rests, and how to sing ascending notes on a scale. The latter introduces a concept called the solfège, sometimes recognized as the “do re mi scale,” and teaches students to use hand signs to navigate various pitches along the scale. Rhythm instruction uses clapping, marching, and percussion instruments to teach concepts of proportion, pattern, and ratio.
With these skills, students are learning to sight-read music. These skills also translate to math learning, and incorporate students' ability to learn through play.
During the later years of their Kodály method training, students progress to learning, singing, and performing composed music. MacLaren’s morning assembly gatherings provide opportunities for our grade-level choirs to bring the beauty of music to parents, school staff, and students in both the Lower and Upper School. In 2024, MacLaren’s fifth-grade choir was selected to perform at the 2024 Colorado Music Educators Association clinic and conference at the Broadmoor Hotel.
Whether singing in the classroom, the hallways, or performing for parents, MacLaren Lower School students grow as musicians, listeners, creative thinkers, and collaborators.