Welcome to 6th Grade!

---

Learning to play an instrument and belonging to the school orchestra opens a whole new world of friendship and fun.  Your child will be able to take advantage of music performances and field trips with orchestras at the middle and high school levels as well as other performing opportunities around the county and state. Orchestra classes will continue to be available to your child through the 12th grade. All 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Orchestra students have several field trips throughout the year.  The 8th Grade Orchestra performed at the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference in Savannah, Georgia in 2007, 2011 and 2015.  They were one of only 3 middle school orchestras from the state selected to perform at this event. This is the highest musical honor that any musical ensemble can receive in the state of Georgia.  In March 2017, the Dodgen Chamber Orchestra was invited to compete at the National Orchestra Festival.  The Dodgen Chamber Orchestra earned First Place—Middle School Division at the National Orchestra Festival.  This is the highest honor for any orchestra in the nation.  The Chamber Orchestra was selected to perform at the 2018 G.M.E.A. In-Service Conference in Athens, GA in January 2018.  The 7th and 8th Grade Orchestras consistently receive SUPERIOR ratings at their annual G.M.E.A. Large Group Performance Evaluations.  The 8th Grade Orchestra also travels annually in the spring to Walt Disney World Florida to perform. The opportunities for playing a stringed instrument after high school are abundant with many universities offering scholarships for orchestra participation.   In addition to each grade level class, there are numerous morning ensembles that orchestra students can choose to participate in. 

You will find many concert videos for 6th, 7th and 8th grade orchestras as well as  some amazing individual instrument links.  

Did You Know? 

1. The part of the brain responsible for planning, foresight, and cooperation is substantially larger for instrumental musicians than for the general public. – “Music On the Mind.” – Newsweek, July 24, 2000 

2. Students who participate in school band or orchestra have the lowest levels of current and lifelong use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs among any group in our society. – H. Con. Res. 266, United States Senate, June 13, 2000 

3. Taking a music elective course is a better indicator that a student will stay in college than high SAT scores or high GPA. – Dr. Denise C. Gardner, Effect of Music Courses On Retention, Georgia Tech, 2000 

4. Students with good rhythmic performance ability can more easily detect and differentiate between patterns in math, music, science, and the visual arts. – “Rhythm seen as key to man’s evolutionary development, “ TCMAS Professional Resource Center, 2000 

5. On the 1999 SAT, music students continued to out perform their non-arts peers scoring 61 points higher on the verbal portion and 42 points higher on the math portion of the exam. – Steven M. Demorest and Steven J. Morrison, “Does Music Make You Smarter?,” Music Educators Journal, September, 2000 

6. Students who participate in All-State ensembles consistently score over 200 points higher and the SAT than non-music students.  This figure indicates that students can pursue excellence in music while also excelling academically. – Texas Music Educators Association, 1988-1996 

7. Music students demonstrate less test anxiety than students who do not study music. – “College-Age Musicians Emotionally Healthier than Non-Musician Counterparts,” Houston Chronicle, 1998 

8. The average scores achieved by music students on the 1999 SAT increased for every year of musical study.  This same trend was found in SAT scores of previous years. – Steven M. Demorest and Steven J. Morrison, “Does Music Make You Smarter?,” Music Educators Journal, September, 2000