Thomas County first and second graders at Garrison-Pilcher Elementary School have been exploring some of the solfege pitches (do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do) and using the xylophones to hear the pitches in Donna Sellars’s Music specials rotation.  Students learn that melodic direction refers to pitches going up, down, or staying the same in repeated notes. The students have been singing simple songs with only three pitches (mi, so, la) in the Quaver Music curriculum.  Sellars additionally selected a familiar song, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” for the students to try to play on the xylophone because it is a well-known song.  Sellars led them with each phrase of the song and had them repeat and added additional parts of the song when they were ready.  Pictured:  Garrison-Pilcher Elementary School first graders Ricky Davis and Ja’Zion Kerbo were able to spread out around the room and try to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star independently.  Sellars said that the students loved having the freedom to try and play it by ear or memory.