MUSIC (5-8)
The period represented by grades 5-8 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.
Every course in music, including performance courses, should provide
instruction in creating, performing, listening to, and analyzing
music, in addition to focusing on its specific subject matter.
Content Standard #1: Singing, alone and with others, a varied
repertoire of music
Achievement Standard:
Students sing accurately and with good breath control throughout
their singing ranges, alone and in small and large ensembles Students
sing with expression and technical accuracy a repertoire of vocal
literature with a level of difficulty of 2, on a scale of 1 to 6,
including some songs performed from memory Students sing music representing
diverse genres and cultures, with expression appropriate for the
work being performed Students sing music written in two and three
parts Students who participate in a choral ensemble sing with expression
and technical accuracy a varied repertoire of vocal literature with
a level of difficulty of 3, on a scale of 1 to 6, including some
songs performed from memory
Content Standard #2: Performing on instruments, alone and with
others, a varied repertoire of music
Achievement Standard:
Students perform on at least one instrument (e.g., band or orchestra
instrument, keyboard instrument, fretted instrument, electronic
instrument) accurately and independently, alone and in small and
large ensembles, with good posture, good playing position, and good
breath, bow, or stick control Students perform with expression and
technical accuracy on at least one string, wind, percussion, or
classroom instrument a repertoire of instrumental literature with
a level of difficulty of 2, on a scale of 1 to 6 Students perform
music representing diverse genres and cultures, with expression
appropriate for the work being performed Students play by ear simple
melodies on a melodic instrument and simple accompaniments on a
harmonic instrument Students who participate in an instrumental
ensemble or class perform with expression and technical accuracy
a varied repertoire of instrumental literature with a level of difficulty
of 3, on a scale of 1 to 6, including some solos performed from
memory
Content Standard #3: Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments
Achievement Standard:
Students improvise simple harmonic accompaniments Students improvise
melodic embellishments and simple rhythmic and melodic variations
on given pentatonic melodies and melodies in major keys Students
improvise short melodies, unaccompanied and over given rhythmic
accompaniments, each in a consistent style, meter, and tonality
Content Standard #4: Composing and arranging music within specified
guidelines
Achievment Standard:
Students compose short pieces within specified guidelines (e.g.,
a particular style, form, instrumentation, compositional technique),
demonstrating how the elements of music are used to achieve unity
and variety, tension and release, and balance Students arrange simple
pieces for voices or instruments other than those for which the
pieces were written Students use a variety of traditional and nontraditional
sound sources and electronic media when composing and arranging
Content Standard #5: Reading and notating music
Achievement Standard:
Students read whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and dotted
notes and rests in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, 3/8, and alla breve meter
signatures Students read at sight simple melodies in both the treble
and bass clefs Students identify and define standard notation symbols
for pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, articulation, and expression
Students use standard notation to record their musical ideas and
the musical ideas of others Students who participate in a choral
or instrumental ensemble or class sightread, accurately and expressively,
music with a level of difficulty of 2, on a scale of 1 to 6
Content Standard #6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Achievement Standard:
Students describe specific music events (e.g., entry of oboe,
change of meter, return of refrain) in a given aural example, using
appropriate terminology Students analyze the uses of elements of
music in aural examples representing diverse genres and cultures
Students demonstrate knowledge of the basic principles of meter,
rhythm, tonality, intervals, chords, and harmonic progressions in
their analyses of music
Content Standard #7: Evaluating music and music performances
Achievement Standard:
Students develop criteria for evaluating the quality and effectiveness
of music performances and compositions and apply the criteria in
their personal listening and performing Students evaluate the quality
and effectiveness of their own and others' performances, compositions,
arrangements, and improvisations by applying specific criteria appropriate
for the style of the music and offer constructive suggestions for
improvement
Content Standard #8: Understanding relationships between music,
the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts
Achievement Standard:
Students compare in two or more arts how the characteristic materials
of each art (that is, sound in music, visual stimuli in visual arts,
movement in dance, human interrelationships in theatre) can be used
to transform similar events, scenes, emotions, or ideas into works
of art Students describe ways in which the principles and subject
matter of other disciplines taught in the school are interrelated
with those of music (e.g., language arts: issues to be considered
in setting texts to music; mathematics: frequency ratios of intervals;
sciences: the human hearing process and hazards to hearing; social
studies: historical and social events and movements chronicled in
or influenced by musical works)
Content Standard #9: Understanding music in relation to history
and culture
Achievement Standard:
Students describe distinguishing characteristics of representative
music genres and styles from a variety of cultures Students classify
by genre and style (and, if applicable, by historical period, composer,
and title) a varied body of exemplary (that is, high-quality and
characteristic) musical works and explain the characteristics that
cause each work to be considered exemplary Students compare, in
several cultures of the world, functions music serves, roles of
musicians (e.g., lead guitarist in a rock band, composer of jingles
for commercials, singer in Peking opera), and conditions under which
music is typically performed
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