Music Curriculum

VME Music Curriculum for 2nd-7th Grade

General music classes are part of the curriculum and are attended once a week

2nd Grade Students: Read and perform rhythm patterns; Hear and sing various melodies; Play various classroom instruments to accompany songs and maintain a steady beat; Learn how sound is produced; Identify by sight and sound instruments of the string, woodwind, brass, and percussion families and discuss similarities and differences in timbre and construction; Learn about instruments of the orchestra; Identify fast/slow tempos; Identify loud/soft dynamics; Identify melody alone verses melody with accompaniment; Identify note and rest values/lengths; Identify note names on the treble staff; Play various songs and melodies on recorder (perform solo and unison with a group)

3rd Grade Students: Distinguish between beat and rhythm; Maintain a steady beat; Create and play rhythmic ostinati on various classroom instruments; Compose brief rhythms to be played on instruments; Understand and use note values and rests to compose; Recognize melodic contour through sight and sound (show through movement); Sing and move with expression to a piece of music; Sing various melodies; Identify, move and sing to different dynamic levels (p, mp, mf, f ); Begin to recognize the form of a piece (AB, ABA form and/or verse/refrain); Begin to recognize D.C. Al Fine; Listen to music from various cultures and style; Form opinions about listening selections; Compare/contrast musical selections; Identify various instruments in listening selections; Create listening maps/drawings to describe the mood of a piece; Identify solo verses group singing; Begin to identify and describe different timbre of voices, including their own; Recognize a listening selection with melody alone verses melody with accompaniment; Begin to understand the term ostinato; Identify and describe different tempo words; Identify a tie; Begin to identify syncopated rhythms; Begin to listen to and identify step, skip, repeats; Identify and perform an echo; Identify and perform songs with thick/thin texture; Identify and listen to songs legato and staccato; Show expression of a piece through movement; Review instruments in the string family and techniques used to play (pizzicato vs. bowed)

4th Grade Students: Read and respond to dynamic markings; Recognize the appropriateness of dynamics used in a song; Move to show dynamic levels and create appropriate dynamics in a piece; Identify time signatures; Create short rhythmic patterns in; Identify duple meter/strong and weak beats in a measure; Review note and rest values; Create a story to go along with a listening selection; Identify a song in call and response form; Identify solo verses chorus; Describe the timbre of instruments in a piece; Recognize intervals of step, skip, repeat (in a piece of music and on a listening map); Begin to learn the pentatonic and the diatonic scales; Use solfege syllables; Listen to and sing music from other cultures; Begin to recognize tonal center; Listen to timbre of voices from other cultures and describe; Play ostinati on rhythm instruments; Recognize, perform, and move to various tempos (adagio, andante, moderato, allegro, presto); Experiment with a metronome; Identify a tie; Compare/contrast rhythms with/without ties; Recognize syncopation in sight; Recognize form of a piece (verse/refrain, AB, etc.); Identify a ledger line; Recognize various ensembles and the instruments found in them (jazz combo vs. band vs. orchestra); Recognize types of ostinati (melodic vs. rhythmic); Recognize legato (slur) and staccato; Identify a barline; Recognize a coda; Learn about scat singing; Learn about string instruments from around the world; Create musical compositions with everyday items

5th Grade Students: Voice opinions of listening selections; Respond to, demonstrate, and recognize different dynamic levels in a piece of music, including crescendo, decrescendo and subito; Read, create and perform patterns in various time signatures; Recognize meter; Recognize and perform syncopated patterns; Recognize and create diatonic and pentatonic patterns and scales; Use solfege syllables; Review contour; Review steps/skips/repeats; Study how the voice works; Recognize different voice types (soprano, tenor, alto, bass); Recognize solo/chorus /duet/ trio; Recognize changed verses unchanged voices; Recognize back up verses lead vocals; Use and recognize ostinati; Review the percussion family and discuss pitched verses non-pitched instruments; Learn about motive and sequence; Recognize a half step and whole step; Recognize a theme and variation; Identify and perform partner songs and the harmony that is created by them; Describe texture of a piece; Listen to patriotic songs; Identify legato/staccato/marcato (articulation); Create choreography to accompany a song; Conduct patterns; Listen to pieces in ABA form; Perform on various classroom instruments; ; Listen to and sing music from different cultures and periods, concluding with a “musical maps” project

6th Grade Students: Listen to, describe, and recognize the vocal timbre of different cultures; Recognize changed verses unchanged voices; Recognize harmony in a piece; Create harmony by singing ostinati; Identify the texture of a piece and create different textures by adding or subtracting instruments; Discuss how tempo and dynamics effect musical expression; Show the expression of a piece by creating and playing patterns on instruments; Learn the meaning of fine, and dc al fine; Recognize AB form; Know the difference between verse and refrain; Use solfege syllables; Identify/construct/perform diatonic and pentatonic scales; Recognize, describe, and show through movement melodic contour ; Listen to melodic, harmonic, rhythmic ostinati; Perform ostinati on rhythm and melodic instruments; Review dynamics; Review articulation (symbols and accents); Review time signature; Identify a pickup/anacrusis; Conduct patterns; Listen to jazz improvisation, including scat singing; Listen to songs with and without ornamentation (ex. trills); Begin to identify major/minor scales and key signatures; Learn about and listen to power chords; Compare and contrast multiple versions of the same song (vocal and instrumental); Begin to use and understand augmentation and diminution; Experiment with a metronome; Identify multiple forms of a piece; Write short compositions in AABA form and perform on classroom instruments; Listen to bass lines, including the “boogie woogie”; Listen to and understand a 12-bar blues pattern; Listen to and recognize chord progressions; Sing and listen to songs from various cultures and periods, concluding with a cultural dance project

7th Grade Students: Learn about and recognize various careers in music including singer, songwriter, vocal coach, sound/recording engineer, record producer, transcriptionist, copyist, orchestrator/arranger, typesetting editor, critics; Differentiate between various musical styles; Describe how vocal timbre, dynamics, tempo, diction, articulation and facial expressions/movement affect the mood of a piece; Listen to and identify chord progression; Learn how copyrights and public domain work, as well as the different types of licenses; Discuss how different venues and a sound engineer affect acoustics of a performance; Learn how a track is recorded in a studio; Discuss the progression of listening and recording devices since the 1800’s; Compose songs, with and without lyrics; Create songs on a computer program using loops and MIDI files; Create a “press kit” used to promote a musician(s); Listen to and discuss popular American music, both current and past, and the influence of other cultures on American music styles and vice versa; Discuss their own preference of musical style; Discuss the instruments commonly heard in American popular music (including those that came from other cultures); Discuss differences/similarities between an original and a cover song; Listen to music that includes a fusion of styles; Learn about and demonstrate various dances that were popular throughout the 20th century; Listen to and discuss different blues styles; Recognize the 12-bar blues pattern in a piece of music; Listen to examples of stride piano; Listen to and discuss rhythm and blues, soul, and Motown; Listen to and recognize expansive and the “Bo Diddley” rhythms; Listen to and recognize “falsetto” voice; Listen to music in the Jazz style and differentiate between various jazz ensembles; Listen to and discuss rap and hip-hop; Listen to and discuss rock n’ roll and how it has progressed since its birth in the 1950’s; Listen to and discuss country music, including its crossover into rock n’ roll; Discuss, describe and listen to reggae music; Play various songs and melodies on guitar; create compositions on guitar (chord progressions)

Extra Curricular Activities:

Choir open to 4th-8th grade;
Annual musical production(s) open to 2nd-8th grade;
Private guitar lessons open to 2nd-8th grade.
Private voice lessons open to 4th-8th grade.