Grades 3–5
Students will
Students will
Students will
Students will
Students will
A. Read and write rhythmic notation incorporating syncopation as well as whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes and corresponding rests.
B. Read and write short melodic notation in pentatonic, major, and minor tonalities.
C. Identify symbols and terminology for dynamics, tempo, and articulation and interpret them correctly when performing.
D. Write notation using standard symbols for meter, rhythm, pitch, and dynamics.
Students will
A. Identify examples of music forms including motive to phrase, 4-bar phrase, canon, rondo, AABA, 12-bar blues, and theme and variation.
B. Demonstrate perceptual skills by moving, answering questions, and describing selections representing diverse musical styles.
C. Use appropriate terminology to explain pitch, notation, meter, chords, voices, instruments, and performances.
D. Explain music using the appropriate terminology for pitch, notation, meter, chords, voices, instruments, and performances.
E. Identify by sight and sound a variety of instruments including orchestral, band, multicultural, and digital.
F. Demonstrate movement and emotional response to prominent music characteristics while listening.
G. Identify music in pentatonic, major, and minor tonalities.
Students will
A. Devise criteria for evaluating performances and compositions based upon musical concepts, ideas, and values.
B. Use appropriate music terminology to explain their personal preferences for specific musical works and styles.
C. Apply music concepts when judging the quality of their own performances and those of others and when offering constructive suggestions for improvement.
VIII. MAKING CONNECTIONS. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Students will
Students will
A. Listen to examples of music from various historical periods and world cultures and identify the pieces by genre or style.
B. Describe how elements of music are used in music examples from various cultures of the world.
C. Identify various uses of music in daily experiences and describe the characteristics that make a particular type of music suitable for each use.
D. Identify and describe the roles of musicians in various settings and world cultures.
E. Demonstrate audience behavior appropriate for the context and style of music being performed.
Grades 6–8
Students will
A. Sing with stylistic accuracy and good breath control, alone or in small and large ensembles.
B. Sing with expression and technical accuracy unison songs and two- and three-part songs, including some by memory.
C. Demonstrate skills for singing in various type of ensembles, including small (duet, trio, quartet) and large (all male, all female, and mixed voices) configurations.
Students will
A. Play an instrument, both alone and in ensembles, using proper techniques and posture.
B. Play a repertoire of moderately easy instrumental literature on at least one instrument with expression and technical accuracy.
C. Play music representing diverse genres and cultures with expression appropriate for the particular work they are performing.
D. Use notation and ear instincts to play simple melodies and accompaniments on classroom instruments.
E. Participate in organized ensembles such as the Stewart Orff Ensemble and World Music Drumming.
F. Play classroom instruments accurately and independently in small and large ensembles and alone.
Students will
A. Improvise simple harmonic accompaniments.
B. Improvise simple rhythmic variations and melodic embellishments on melodies in pentatonic and major keys.
C. Improvise short melodies both without accompaniment and with basic rhythmic accompaniment.
D. Improvise melodies using accurate and consistent style, meter, and tonality.
Students will
A. Compose short pieces within specified guidelines, using basic music elements to achieve expressive qualities.
B. Arrange short pieces using a variety of voices and instruments.
C. Compose and arrange simple pieces using traditional, nontraditional, and electronic sound sources.
Students will
A. Read and write rhythmic notation in simple and compound meters.
B. Sight-read simple melodies in both the treble and the bass clef.
C. Identify and define standard notation symbols for pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, articulation, and expression and interpret them correctly when performing.
D. Record the musical ideas of others through the use of standard notation.
Students will
A. Use appropriate terminology to describe music.
B. Analyze the use of basic music elements when listening to examples representing diverse genres and cultures.
C. Demonstrate a knowledge of the basic principles of meter, tonality, intervals, chords, and harmonic progressions when analyzing written and/or aural examples of music.
D. Compare and contrast the sound sources (e.g., reeds, strings) of a variety of musical instruments including orchestral, band, multicultural, and digital.
E. Explain emotional responses to various musical effects.
Students will
A. Develop criteria for evaluating the quality and effectiveness of music performances and compositions and apply the criteria to their personal listening and composing, their own performances, and the performances of others.
B. Apply specific and appropriate criteria for evaluating and improving performances, compositions, arrangements, and improvisations.
C. Develop criteria to judge the quality of their own performances and those of others.
VIII. MAKING CONNECTIONS. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Students will
A. Explain the similarities and differences in the meanings of common terms used in the various arts disciplines (e.g., “texture,” “color,” “form”).
B. Explain how the principles and subject matter of other arts disciplines interrelate with those of music.
C. Explain how the principles and subject matter of disciplines outside the arts interrelate with those of music.
IX. RELATING TO HISTORY AND CULTURE. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Students will
Grades 6–8/9–12 Intermediate
Students will
A. Sing with stylistic accuracy and good breath control throughout their singing ranges, alone or in small and large ensembles.
B. Sing with expression and technical accuracy a repertoire of vocal literature with a level of difficulty of 2 on scale of 1 to 6, including some songs performed from memory.
C. Sing music representing diverse genres and cultures with expression appropriate for the work they are performing.
D. Sing music written in two, three, and four parts.
E. Sing in groups, blending vocal timbres, matching dynamic levels, and responding to the cues of the conductor.
II. PERFORMING ON INSTRUMENTS. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
Students will
A. Play a classroom instrument accurately and independently in small and large ensembles and alone.†
B. Play rhythmic, melodic, and chordal patterns with a level of difficulty of 1 to 2 on a scale of 1 to 6 accurately and independently on various types of classroom instruments
C. Play music representing diverse genres and cultures with expression appropriate for the particular work they are performing.†
D. Play simple melodies and accompaniments on an instrument.†
III. IMPROVISING. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
Students will
A. Echo simple rhythmic and melodic patterns.
B. Improvise rhythmic and melodic ostinato accompaniments with a level of difficulty of 1 to 2 on a scale of 1 to 6.
C. Improvise simple rhythmic variations and simple melodic embellishments on familiar melodies.
D. Improvise short songs and instrumental pieces (4 to 8 measures) using a variety of sound sources, including traditional sounds, nontraditional sounds available in the classroom, body sounds, and sounds produced by electronic means.
IV. COMPOSING AND ARRANGING. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
Students will
A. Create compositions in large group settings.
B. Compose short pieces within specific guidelines.
C. Arrange simple pieces for voices and/or classroom instruments.
D. Compose and arrange using a variety of traditional and nontraditional sound sources, including sounds produced by electronic means.
V. READING AND NOTATING. Reading and notating music.
Students will
A. Read whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and dotted notes and corresponding rests in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 3/8, and alla breve meter signatures.
B. Sight-read simple melodies in the appropriate clef with a level of difficulty of 2 on a scale of 1 to 6.
C. Identify and define standard notation symbols for pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, articulation, and expression.
D. Use standard symbols to notate meter, rhythm, pitch, and dynamics in simple patterns presented by the teacher.
VI. ANALYZING. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
Students will
A. Identify simple musical forms including verse/refrain, canon, AB, and ABA.
B. Use appropriate terminology to describe specific music events in a given aural example.
C. Analyze the uses of the elements of music in examples representing diverse genres and cultures.
D. Analyze music by identifying basic principles of meter, rhythm, tonality, intervals, and chords.
E. Identify the sounds of a variety of instruments as well as children’s voices and adult male and female voices.
F. Use purposeful movement to respond to selected prominent music characteristics or to specific music events.
VII. EVALUATING. Evaluating music and music performances.
Students will
A. Develop criteria for evaluating the quality and effectiveness of music performances and compositions and apply the criteria to their personal listening, composing, and performing.
B. Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their own performances and those of others.
VIII. MAKING CONNECTIONS. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Students will
A. Explain the similarities and differences in the meanings of common terms used in the various arts disciplines (e.g., “texture,” “color,” “form”).
B. Explain how the principles and subject matter of other arts disciplines interrelate with those of music.
C. Explain how the principles and subject matter of other disciplines interrelate with those of music.
IX. RELATING TO HISTORY AND CULTURE. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Students will
A. Describe distinguishing characteristics of representative music genres and styles from a variety of cultures.
B. Classify by genre and style (and, if applicable, by historical period, composer, and title) a varied body of high-quality musical works and explain the characteristics that cause each work to be exemplary.
C. Compare and contrast the functions that music serves and the situations in which music is typically performed in various cultures of the world.
D. Identify the various roles of musicians in society, name representative individuals who have functioned in each role, and describe their activities and achievements.
E. Demonstrate audience behavior appropriate for the context and style of music being performed.
Music Glossary
AABA. A design sometimes called rounded binary form. Originally used for short pieces such as dances. It was this rounded binary form that, during the late eighteenth century, developed into sonata form.
AB. A basic musical form, often called binary form, consisting of two sections, A and B; usually they are repeated, creating the form AABB.
ABA. Ternary form. A basic musical form consisting of three sections (A, B, and A), the third section being virtually identical to the first. If it is exactly identical, the third section often is not written out, the performer simply being directed to repeat the first section (usually marked da capo or D.C.) such as in the da capo aria and minuet or scherzo with trio.
accidental. (1) A flat, sharp, or natural that is not a part of the key signature. (2) The symbol that appears before a note to indicate how the pitch for that one note should be changed from the original key signature.
aural/aurally. By ear; without reference to or memorization of written music.
articulation. Clarity in vocal and instrumental performance.
body percussion. The sounds created by using body parts as percussion instruments (e.g., a clap of the hands, a stamp of the foot).
color. Timbre; the blend of harmonics (overtones) that distinguishes a note played on a flute from the same note played on the violin.
canon. A composition for two or more voices in which one voice enters after another in exact imitation of the first.
chord. Three or more pitches sounded simultaneously or functioning as if sounded simultaneously. Adjective form, chordal.
descant. A high vocal part sung above the melody.
dynamics. The louds and softs in music.
embellishment. A note or group of notes added to a basic melody as ornamentation.
form. The design or structure of a musical composition.
genre. A type or class of music; an established form of musical composition.
harmony. (1) The pattern of intervals and chords in a composition. (2) The ways in which chords and intervals are related to one another and the ways in which one interval or chord can be connected to another. Adjective form, harmonic.
improvisation. The creation of music in the course of performance. Verb form, improvise.
interval. (1) A pair of notes sounded at the same time. (2) The distance between the pitches of two musical tones. The smallest interval in conventional Western music is the half tone, for example the distance from C to C-sharp. Two half tones make up a whole tone. All other intervals are similarly made up of half tones or half and whole tones.
intonation. The degree of accuracy with which pitches are played or sung in tune.
major scale. An arrangement of eight tones in a scale in the following order: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half.
melody. The tune; a series of pitches that moves upward or downward or stays the same. Adjective form, melodic.
meter. The way that beats of music are grouped, often in sets of two or three.
minor scale. An arrangement of eight tones in a scale (natural minor) in the following order: whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole.
mode. A pattern of pitches within the octave that makes up the basic melodic material of a composition. Often the term refers to the medieval modes, which all differ from one another in the arrangement of half tones and whole tones in their scales.
motive. A short melodic or rhythmic pattern.
notation. A system used for writing down music showing aspects of music tones such as the pitches to be sounded (pitch), how long each tone should be held in relation to the others (duration), and the degree of loudness (dynamics) at which the tone should be played.
ostinato. A short music pattern that is repeated persistently throughout a performance Composition or a section of one. Plural form, ostinati.
partner songs. Two or more different songs that are performed at the same time and create harmony.
pentatonic. A scale made up of five tones as opposed to the seven-tone diatonic scale and the twelve-tone chromatic scale. The most common type of pentatonic scale consists of the notes C D F G A. This scale is found in the music of many Asian and African peoples, as well as in some European folk music.
phrase. A division or section of a musical line, somewhat comparable to a clause or a sentence in language.
pitch. The highness or lowness of a tone.
pitched instruments. Instruments that produce various tones; includes the families of brass, woodwind, string, and keyboard instruments.
rhythm. A pattern of long and short sounds and silences in music; the pattern of the duration of a sound. Adjective form, rhythmic.
rondo. The musical form in which the first section, A, recurs after each of several contrasting sections: ABACA.
scale. A selection of tones within one octave, arranged in rising order of pitches, including the twelve tone chromatic scale, the eight tone diatonic scale, the five tone pentatonic scale, and the whole-tone scale.
solfège. A kind of musical training involving both ear training and sight singing. The student learns to recognize clefs, intervals, rhythm, signatures, and all elements of musical notation and to translate them into actual sounds. Often solmization syllables (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti) are used.
style. The composer’s manner of treating the various elements that make up a composition—the overall form, melody, rhythm, harmony, instrumentation, and so forth—as well as for the performer’s manner of presenting a musical composition.
syncopation. An effect of uneven rhythm that results from changing the normal pattern of accents and beats.
tempo. (1) A steady succession of units of rhythm; the beat. (2) The speed at which a piece of music is performed or written to be performed.
texture. The number and relationship of musical lines in a composition.
timbre. The distinctive tone quality of a particular musical instrument.
theme and variation. A musical form consisting of a main idea followed by changed versions of that idea.
tonality. The use of a central note, called the tonic, around which the other tonal material of a composition (notes, intervals, chords) is built and to which the music returns for a sense of rest and finality. Tonality refers particularly to harmony, to chords and their relationships.
unison. The performance of the same pitches by all players or singers. The pitches may be in the same octaves or in different ones.
unpitched instruments. Instruments that do not produce various tones; includes such percussion instruments as claves, maracas, and wood blocks.