Music

Grades 6-8 Music Course Description

The period represented by grades 6-8 is especially critical in students' musical development. The music they perform or study often becomes an integral part of their personal musical repertoire. Composing and improvising provide students with unique insight into the form and structure of music and at the same time help them to develop their creativity. Broad experience with a variety of music is necessary if students are to make informed musical judgments. Similarly, this breadth of background enables them to begin to understand the connections and relationships between music and other disciplines. By understanding the cultural and historical forces that shape social attitudes and behaviors, students are better prepared to live and work in communities that are increasingly multicultural. The role that music will play in students' lives depends in large measure on the level of skills they achieve in creating, performing, and listening to music.

Grade 6

Students in sixth grade general music class at Eastern York Middle School will focus on performing and creating music. Students will focus on literacy of the music staff, connecting the music staff to melodic and harmonic differences in music and notating these on the music staff. Students will also work to perform melodic and harmonic examples using boomwhackers, and the concepts of chords. The end goal is the creating aspect, with students composing their own composition demonstrating melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements. The concept of harmony will continue into 7th and 8th grade where students will have the opportunities to demonstrate this concept on different classroom instruments. Students will also learn the components of musical theater while viewing and connecting with those components through the musical “Newsies”.


  • Melodic Pitch Reading

    • Reading and Writing

  • Melody and Harmony

    • Reading, Performing (Boomwhackers), and Composing

  • Rhythmic Elements

    • Reading, Performing (Boomwhackers), and Composing

  • Musical Theater Components

    • “Newsies”

Grade 7

Students in seventh-grade general music class at Eastern York Middle School will focus on performing and creating music. Students will learn the science of sound learning content related to the physical hearing of the ear, as well as the acoustic studies of amplitude and frequency, while connecting these components to music. Students will also continue their engagement in the concept of chords while learning the ukulele, and learning the chord progress that is common in main “pop” songs. Students will engage in a unit of learning various genres of music that have trended and become popular through various generations in the last 100 years. Students will have the opportunity to use the learned chord progressions to perform various genres of songs discussed in this unit. The concept of harmony will continue in 8th grade where students will have the opportunities to demonstrate this concept on different classroom instruments.


  • Science of Sound- Connecting to Music

    • Physical ways we hear music- Ear

    • Acoustic ways we hear music- Amplitude and Frequency

  • Performing- Ukulele

    • Chords, Chord progression for “pop” songs

  • History of Pop music through Modern Generations

    • Connecting music and relationship to other disciplines through changes in social trends, and genres of music developing

Grade 8

Students in eighth-grade general music class at Eastern York Middle School will focus on performing and creating music. Students will focus on literacy and performance of rhythmic concepts, melodic concepts related to the treble clef, bass clef, ledger lines, and grade staff. Students will demonstrate their understanding of these concepts and will learn to navigate and perform on a piano keyboard. Using technology mediums to record the piano keyboard to their chromebooks students will create recordings of their assignments. Students will also learn the harmonic components of chords and demonstrate them on piano. elements. Students will also learn the components of musical theater compared to opera while viewing and connecting with those components through the musical “Phantom of the Opera”.


  • Rhythm Components

    • Reading, Notating, Performing

  • Melodic Pitch Reading

    • Reading and Writing- Treble, Bass, Ledger Lines, Grand Staff

  • Performing- Piano

    • Grand Staff Reading, Chords

  • Rhythmic Elements

    • Reading, Performing (Boomwhackers), and Composing

  • Musical Theater Components

    • “Phantom of the Opera”