At the beginning of February, the 5th Grade music classes will begin learning about famous historical composers and their different styles of music.  Each class period will focus on a different composer by reading about his life, listening to musical examples by the assigned composer, and then discussing what we hear in the composer's music and comparing that to other composers that we have heard.  This unit will directly address Standard R-1.a Discriminate between both musical (rhythm, melody, tempo) and nonmusical (text, feelings) elements that influence musical performance and preference; Standard R-1.b Discuss the difference between preference versus quality of musical works; Standard R-2.a Describe the use of various timbres and rhythmic patterns and their uses in various historical periods and cultures; Standard R-2.b Communicate similarities and differences in music from various historical periods; and Standard R-2.c Communicate ways in which music has been important to people throughout historical periods.