Music teacherI am Julian Goff, AFIA’s Music Teacher. This is my 4th year teaching and my first year at AFIA. Outside of teaching, I perform around Kansas City in many different ensembles. We’ve learned so much in the first part of our year and I am over the moon to share our experiences.

In the first quarter we explored how music shows up around us using cartoons as study pieces. The Pink Panther and Tom and Jerry were our starting points because they use very little, if any, dialogue. These cartoons are great references because they use music as the main storytelling element to accompany the pictures on the screen. During our animated musical journey we also experienced the music of Motown and The Beatles. Your students were challenged with the idea of “music telling the story” and they were very receptive. We’ll revisit these ideas later in the year. I hope they are as excited as I am!

“The world is about to feel something that they’ve never felt before.”

-Pharrell Williams

The past few weeks have been really action-packed with DRUMS! AFIA students are learning to read rhythms and play drums. Our 1st to 6th graders are experiencing rhythm recognition and opportunities to do small-group performances in class. Drumming skills have taken me all over the world and I would like to see your students take advantage of the same opportunities I have been granted through music. 

Music Class

I see great things in the future for our students and look forward to providing a well-rounded, enriching musical experience. Thank you for sharing your wonderfully talented students with me, I’m super pumped to share my love for music with each and every one of your students.