FOR TEACHERS
 


    THE NATIONAL ARTS STANDARDS

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

 

The Curriculum Guide
  Constructing History
  Educational Standards
  The Curriculum Activity
  Beginning the Unit
  Exercise One
  Exercise Two
  Exercise Three

References
  Bibliography
  History Standards
  Arts Standards
    Dance
    Music
    Theatre
    Visual Arts

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