Music

From our youngest boys to our senior students, all students at Hale School have opportunities  to engage in a diverse music education. In addition to the abundance of research on the benefits of music to academic and social success, it is also a wonderful, creative outlet.

With more than 700 students involved in the School’s various bands, ensembles and choirs, Hale boys are part of one of the most highly regarded school Music programs in the nation. Our philosophy is to provide the widest range of musical opportunities to the greatest number of students and to strive for musical excellence in all that we do.

Music is offered within the curriculum from Pre-primary to Year 12 through a practical, hands-on approach – arguably the gold standard in Music education. Our complementary classroom, ensemble and instrumental music programs are designed to develop well-rounded musicians and provide an authentic music education for all boys at Hale. 

During the early years, boys attend specialist music classes, developing their music skills through singing, listening, moving, creating, reading, writing and playing music. In Year 2, boys commence formally learning an instrument through the Beginner String Program, receiving tuition from specialised tutors in paired instrumental lessons, and a group ensemble classroom program. From Year 4, students can continue to study their selected string instrument, or they may choose to begin a new instrument through the Year 4 Beginner Woodwind and Brass Program. Instrumental tuition occurs in small groups and is integrated with the ensemble-based classes. In addition, from Pre-primary through to Year 4, we integrate our custom ‘Sing 2 Learn’ program, designed to support and enrich classroom literacy and numeracy concepts taught in the classroom. During Years 5 and 6, boys continue to learn in an ensemble-based setting, complemented by classroom music.

In Year 7, boys are given the opportunity to learn a concert band instrument within a class ensemble setting, join a singing-based class, or continue to take part in the string ensemble class. From Year 8 onwards, Music becomes an elective subject and students are able to choose multiple pathways for musical growth within our curriculum program, including Western Art Music (classical), Jazz or Contemporary. Hale currently offers ATAR Music in two classroom contexts (WAM and Jazz) and performance contexts are offered in Contemporary, Musical Theatre, Jazz and WAM.