The Gardner school music curriculum is based on the Orff Schulwerk approach to teaching and learning music. This is a process based on what children like to do: sing, chant rhymes, clap, dance and keep a beat on anything they can reach. Instinctually children learn music by hearing and making music first; they then learn to read and write it later. This is the same way we all learned our language.

The Mazama and Kalama classes are be immersed in a musical world of exploration and discovery. They experience a variety of songs, steady beat, melody, tempo, active listening, movement, holiday music, music from world cultures, and the instruments of the orchestra. The Kalama class include “Peter and the Wolf” as part of their study of the instruments. They also begin creating and notating rhythmic patterns using the quarter note (ta), two eighth notes (ti-ti), and the quarter rest (sh).

The Loowit and Wy’East classes add to their understanding of beat, melody, and rhythm. They learn to read and write simple music. They continue learning solfege syllables (do, re, mi...) and begin to create their own accompaniment parts on the Orff instruments. The students do a lot of singing in unison, canon, and even some simple part-singing. They also learn holiday music and music from a variety of cultures as the year progresses.

Wy’East and Klickitat classes play the soprano recorders. Practicing on a daily basis is required for mastery of this instrument (as any other). The school has a “class set” of soprano recorders for the students to play when they’re at school. Students are required to have a soprano recorder of their own at home to practice on. This eliminates the need to transport the recorder back and forth.

The Klickitat and Tahoma classes continue learning to read, write, and perform music. They are introduced to syncopation (complex rhythms that are not on the beat), solfege, canons and part-singing. They play challenging xylophone music, and create music of their very own. They also sing holiday music and learn music from world cultures. They will increase their understanding of the pentatonic, major and minor scales and how the harmonies function within a given tonality.

Dana Harris came to The Gardner School in 2004 and has imbued the school ever since with "the sound of music!" At Gardner, Dana is able to combine her love for music with her love for children, and actualize her musical philosophy—that anyone can learn music and have fun doing it.

Dana holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Portland State University, where she studied vocal performance. She completed her level 2 Orff Schulwerk certification in 2006, and will complete the final level of certification in the summer of 2008. (The American Orff-Schulwerk Association is a professional organization dedicated to the creative teaching approach developed by Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman. It is a teaching method united by the belief that music and movement – to speak, sing and play; to listen and understand; to move and create – should be an active and joyful experience.) Dana serves on the Board of the Portland Orff Schulwerk Association.

Dana teaches private piano and voice lesson and has also been a licensed Kindermusik educator for the past ten years. Her spirit, positive energy, and expertise as a music educator certainly enliven the Gardner music program.