Instrumental Music - General Information

Centennial offers Instrumental and Vocal music courses in grades 9-12, and Guitar courses in grades 10-12. Instruments for the courses are provided to students for free by the school and school board.

 Each first year course is a beginner course open to anyone interested in learning music. No previous skills or knowledge are required. Subsequent courses are no longer beginner courses and will build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in the previous courses. Towards the end of each semester, students in each performing Arts class perform a few songs at the annual Winter or Spring Concert, which is open for parents, families and friends to attend.

All Arts courses have three main components: Creation, Analysis, and Foundations. In music, the Creation component involves playing, composing and improvising. This section is worth the most marks, as students will spend the majority of course time playing their instruments. Analysis involves critically listening to a wide variety of music (i.e. world music, music history, genre study, etc.). Foundations involves learning the symbols, concepts and conventions used in music (i.e. music theory).

Grade 9 Instrumental Music (AMU101) - First Year Music

Grade 10 Beginner Instrumental Music (AMI201) - First Year Music

This beginner course is open to anyone, in any grade, interested in learning how to play an instrument. No previous music knowledge or skills are required. You do not need to own an instrument as most instruments are provided for free by the school. Instruments to learn include: flute, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophones, trumpet, trombone, bass guitar, and drums. Students who already play one of these instruments will learn a different instrument, as it is a beginner level course. In this course: students also learn about the orchestra and are exposed to the various instruments, learn how to develop a practice routine to improve their playing in minimal time, discover the musical elements (pitch, melody, harmony, rhythm, etc.), learn how to perform in a group setting, develop concert etiquette, and more. Students play from Standard of Excellence Book 1, plus other repertoire.    

Grade 10 Instrumental Music (AMU201) - Second Year Music

This open music course is for students who have either taken the First Year Course (i.e. Grade 9 Instrumental) or who have at least 1-semester prior experience on one of the course instruments. While there is no pre-requisite required, it is not a beginner course and will build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in the First Year course. Students may continue on the instrument they played previously, or switch to one of the new instruments offered (i.e. French horn, baritone, tuba, bass clarinet, baritone sax), or play an instrument they have previous experience on. Students play from Standard of Excellence Book 2, plus much other repertoire.

Grade 11 Instrumental Music (AMU3M) - Third Year Music

This open music course is for students who have either taken the Second Year Course (i.e. Grade 10 Instrumental) or who have at least 2-semesters prior experience on one of the course instruments. While there is no pre-requisite required, it is not a beginner course and will build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in the Second Year course. Students play from Standard of Excellence Book 3, plus much other repertoire.

Grade 12 Instrumental Music (AMU4M) - Fourth Year Music

This music course is for students who have taken the prerequisite Third Year Course (i.e. Grade 11 Instrumental). It will build upon the skills and knowledge acquired in the Third Year course. Students play from Standard of Excellence Book 3, plus much other repertoire.