Students in grades 5-8 are encouraged to take instrument lessons and join the Mount Carmel Band. We have weekly lessons and weekly band rehearsal . Any instrument is welcomed into the group.

The Choir is made up of students from grades 3-8 who just like to sing. The choir is responsible for leading the music during our weekly school Liturgies. They practice once a week and learn the songs for Mass. From the choir we choose several students with exceptional singing skills to become cantors and help the classroom students with the Psalm and the Alleluia.

Percussion Ensemble also new this year is a group that is all percussion, drums, xylophones, percussion toys like the triangle, claves and tambourine, chimes and many other percussion instruments. This is a brand new group and we are in the early stages of putting it in place.

Students attend weekly student Liturgies which are prepared by the classroom teachers. The students in each grade are responsible for the readings, the opening prayer , intercessions, and cantoring. The Masses are on a rotating schedule so that each class has a turn preparing Liturgy.

We have added a new element to the student Liturgy this year by starting a choir. The Mount Carmel Singers sing for Mass each week and we have several students in the choir who are also cantors who help the classroom students sing the Psalm and the Alleluia. The music is selected according to the readings and the students learn any new music in music class and the choir practices it on Tuesday mornings during choir practice.

In music classes we cover a variety of topics. The students learn theory, we sing, we dance, we compose music, we compose accompaniments, we integrate technology where we can for certain projects. Classes involve journaling, singing, some work in the computer lab, some research, group projects, individual projects which give the students hands on experience to help them learn about music theory and musical concepts.

Certain grades use recorders to begin teaching them notes and note values so they can move into instrumental lessons in the upper grades. This also gets them going in case they would like to be in the band or percussion ensemble.

The band, percussion ensemble, choir, and 3rd and 4th grade recorders are all part of the spring concert in May. We also include solos by students who have been playing their instruments for several years.