BY STEPHEN BEALE

High school bands, move on over. Now elementary schools are getting into the marching band act, beginning here in Goffstown.

The 68-student Maple Avenue Elementary marching recorder band made its debut at the town Memorial Day parade in May, marching along with its Goffstown High School counterpart.

The school said it is the first and only marching recorder band composed of elementary school students in the country.

Chris Gantner, the music teacher who organized the band, said he reached that conclusion after extensive online research and conversations with colleagues. The closest equivalent he found was in Singapore. None was in the United States.

Gantner said the marching recorder band became a way for him to engage more students in music.

“I wanted to do something different to still spark the interest of kids who may not be the best singers,” Gantner said. So far, the response has been more than he expected. Because the band – which is limited to third- and fourth-graders – is not part of the regular school curriculum, Gantner had to work with students outside of the time for music class, running drills and teaching them marching moves during recess.

Most students, he said, are eager to show up and participate. “When you push them to different levels, then they can exceed your expectations,” Gantner said.

In just a short period of time, they have learned how to march while playing their recorders and they have memorized six songs, including “Yankee Doodle,” Taps,” and the theme song for “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

“When kids have fun and they like what they’re doing, they learn,” Gantner said. Normally, students in public school elementary music programs begin playing band instruments in the fifth grade, and they do not march until middle school, according to Gantner.

The marching recorder band, Gantner said, gives a similar experience to students earlier, at the elementary level. Students in the two lower grades, he added, are already excited about being able to be in the school band when they get older.

“It sounded like it would be a big challenge, and I really like to be challenged, so I liked it,” said Rebecca Olson, 10, a fourth-grader. Directing a band is also something of a career aspiration for Gantner, who has been a music teacher at the Maple Avenue Elementary School for three years. Many music teachers, he said, start out in the elementary setting and do not get a band until they move on to high school.

But Gantner said he is happy being at an elementary school. “I said, ‘I can create my own band,’” he recalled.

He said what he first thought of as an experiment has turned out to be a success. He has big plans for the future.

“I’m hoping that one day we might get good enough to march in the parade in New York,” Gantner said. “Then Londonderry High School won’t be the only one there.”

Already, the elementary marching band is attracting attention outside of the Granite State. Gantner said he had been contacted by a music teacher in Indiana who wanted to form her own.

“It made me proud that she wrote me and wanted to do something like that,” Gantner said.

The activity has also been really popular with parents, he added. He said he receives emails almost daily from parents with positive feedback on the program. One father, he added, who is a colonel in the military, even complimented Gantner on his marching calls.

More information about the Maple Avenue school’s music program is available online at www.aluraensemble.com/music1.html.