Overview: Kindergarten students receive music instruction once every 6 days for 45 minutes with the music teacher and take part in a yearly spring concert. Major goals are: (1) fostering musical literacy; (2) gaining an understanding of our musical heritage and those of other cultures; and (3) developing the building blocks of musicianship (in tune singing, steady beat, active listening, etc.) In kindergarten music, we spend a lot of time finding our singing voices with our friend Arioso, following paths with our voices, and discovering steady beat and rhythm in music. Also important in kindergarten is understanding and establishing the procedures and routines in the music room. Activities include: listening, creating/improvising, moving, rhythm, singing, reading and writing notation, and evaluating and understanding artistic culture.
Units:
Instrument families (Young Persons’ Guide to the Orchestra)
Carnival of the Animals
Roles (composer/performer/improviser/audience member)
Groups (solo/duet/trio/quartet/quintet)
Expressive elements
same/different
loud/soft (forte/piano)
fast/slow (andante/allegro)
short/long (legato/staccato)
high/low
sound/silence
Singing
Arioso
5 voices (sing, speak, whisper, call, inside your head)
Vocal paths
Singing in tune with self
Solo vs. group
Form
AB/binary
Strophic
Rhythm
Steady heartbeat vs. the way the words go (steady beat vs. rhythm)
Quarter notes/eighth notes (ta and tadi)
Overview: 1st grade students receive music instruction once every 6 days for 45 minutes with the music teacher and take part in a yearly spring concert. Major goals are: (1) fostering musical literacy; (2) gaining an understanding of our musical heritage and those of other cultures; and (3) developing the building blocks of musicianship (in tune singing, steady beat, active listening, etc.) In 1st grade music, we widen our musical literacy and vocabulary as we discover solfege (so and mi), meter, and dynamics. Activities include: listening, creating/improvising, moving, rhythm, singing, reading and writing notation, and evaluating and understanding artistic culture.
Units:
Peter and the Wolf and Farkle McBride (review instrument families, brass family)
Dynamics (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, cresc, decresc)
Singing
Arioso
Singing in tune with others
Call and response
Ostinato
Drone
Form
Measure/bar line
Double bar line
ABA/ternary form
Rhythm
4/4 meter and conducting
Quarter note rests, half notes, whole notes (sh, ta-a, ta-a-a-a)
• Solfege
So and mi (2 line staff)
Overview: 2nd grade students receive music instruction once every 6 days for 45 minutes with the music teacher and take part in a yearly spring concert. Major goals are: (1) fostering musical literacy; (2) gaining an understanding of our musical heritage and those of other cultures; and (3) developing the building blocks of musicianship (in tune singing, steady beat, active listening, etc.) In 2nd grade music, we spend a lot of time learning the procedures and history, as well as the technique to play the Orff instruments like xylophones and drums. We also add to our knowledge of solfege (la) and rhythm (sixteenth notes or takadimi). Activities include: listening, creating/improvising, moving, rhythm, singing, reading and writing notation, playing Orff (classroom) instruments, and evaluating and understanding artistic culture.
Orff instruments (review instrument families, percussion family)
Singing
Partner song
Vocal mechanics
Form
Repeat sign
Rondo
Rhythm
3/4 and 2/4 meters and conducting
Whole note rest, half not rest, 16th notes (takadimi)
Solfege
La (3 line staff)
Overview: 3rd grade students receive music instruction once every 6 days for 45 minutes with the music teacher and take part in a yearly spring concert. Major goals are: (1) fostering musical literacy; (2) gaining an understanding of our musical heritage and those of other cultures; and (3) developing the building blocks of musicianship (in tune singing, steady beat, active listening, etc.) In 3rd grade music, we learn about the string instrument family by playing ukulele. We also start 2-part singing and begin to use the typical 5-line staff to learn about the pentatonic scale. Activities include: listening, creating/improvising, moving, rhythm, singing, reading and writing notation, playing Orff (classroom) instruments, and evaluating and understanding artistic culture.
Units:
Recorder (review instrument families, woodwind family)
Tempo (Largo, adagio, andante, moderato, allegro, presto, accelerando, ritardando)
Singing
Canon/round
2 part singing
Form
1st and 2nd endings
Theme and variations
Rhythm
2/2 meter and conducting
Fermata
Dotted half note, syncopated eight notes, eighth note rest, tadimi, takadi
Solfege
Do
Re
Low so/low la
High do
Pentatonic
5 line staff
Overview: 4th grade students receive music instruction once every 6 days for 45 minutes with the music teacher and take part in a yearly spring concert. Major goals are: (1) fostering musical literacy; (2) gaining an understanding of our musical heritage and those of other cultures; and (3) developing the building blocks of musicianship (in tune singing, steady beat, active listening, etc.) In 4th grade music, we learn to play the recorder as we learn about the woodwind family and how to read the G/treble clef. We lalso earn the final solfege scale degrees of fa and ti to complete our major scale. Activities include: listening, creating/improvising, moving, rhythm, singing, reading and writing notation, playing Orff (classroom) instruments, and evaluating and understanding artistic culture.
Units:
G clef
Ukulele (review instrument families, string family)
Singing
3 part singing
Form
D.C. al coda
D.S. al coda
Coda
Segno
Rhythm
6/8, 9/8, 12/8 meters and conducting
16th note rests, tami, taka, dotted quater note, tripolet, dotted quarter/eighth
Solfege
Fa and ti (major scale)