Fine Arts - Music

FINE ARTS - MUSIC

Scope & Sequence

Seventh Grade

I. Perform / II. Create / III. Analyze / IV. Analyze in Context / V. Analyze and Make Connections /
1. Apply skills and knowledge to perform in the arts.
·  Sing and play with expression and technical accuracy an increasingly diverse repertoire of literature at developmentally-appropriate levels. (ART.M.I.7.1)
-  Expression/ technicality
«  Valid interpretation of musical elements within the piece
«  Follow the cues and nuances of the conductor
«  Choose selections appropriate to the MSVMA class rating and ability levels
«  Choose selections that vary in language, cultural background, time periods, and style
·  Sing a melody in a small group. (ART.M.I.7.2)
-  Melodies
«  Sing in the appropriate tessitura
«  Sing with proper breath support
«  Inspire confidence in your group
«  Accurate pitches
«  Check for aural understanding of the melody line
·  Sing and play accurately as a soloist and in both small and large ensembles with appropriate technique and breath control. (ART.M.I.7.3)
-  Select groups of mixed ability
-  Encourage group members to all attempt the solo line
-  Teach and monitor technique appropriate for this level
-  Breath control
«  Teach proper breath support and breathing choices throughout the piece (e.g. at the end of a phrase)
«  Make breathing exercises a regular part of your day (breath from the diaphragm; indicators of poor breath are shoulders rising, chest expanding, and hearing a breath sound)
·  Use technology in a variety of ways in musical performance. (ART.M.I.7.4)
-  Technology
«  Select compositions that utilize technology/ recorded sounds
«  Encourage students to use Sibelius, Finale, ProTools, GarageBand, etc. to create their own music and integrate it with a performance
·  Sight read basic melodies in treble and bass clefs, using combinations of whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and dotted notes and rests; in simple meter. (ART.M.I.7.5)
-  Sight read
«  Strategies: highlight the meter and key before looking through the piece, look through the piece top to bottom for meter and/or key changes, look for challenging areas and work through it
«  Instrumental strategy: do the aforementioned strategy and then hiss rhythms through the piece while fingering the notes. (The hissing should match the dynamics and be articulated as written) / 1.  Apply skills and knowledge to create in the arts.
·  Improvise tonic accompaniments. (ART.M.II.7.1)
-  Improvise
«  Teach a unison, tonic melody. Take turns improvising an accompaniment to the melody. Be sure to discuss what worked and why
«  Take turns changing the rhythm of a tonic accompaniment
·  Improvise basic rhythmic and melodic variations in various ways. (ART.M.II.7.2)
-  Improvise basic rhythm
«  The notes of the melody should not be changed or altered
«  Take turns having students embellish the rhythm while a group maintains the steady beat
·  Improvise short melodies over given rhythmic accompaniments, each in a consistent style, meter, and tonality. (ART.M.II.7.3)
-  Improvise
«  Set up simple rhythmic accompaniments, take turns improvising melodies. Give struggling students notes that will be safe to use. Monitor for appropriate style, meter, and tonality.
«  Take a section from a piece you are rehearsing and allow students to improvise using the written melody as a starting point
·  Compose short pieces to communicate ideas and/or stories, within defined parameters. (ART.M.II.7.4)
-  Communicate ideas
«  Discuss how styles, tonalities, articulations, etc. can communicate an idea or set a mood
«  Form small groups, write a short story or decide on a mood you would like to portray and create a piece portraying your choice. Notate the composition in traditional or improvised ways. Perform the composition for the group OR hold a composition concert performing all compositions, name a winner at the end of the concert
·  Arrange simple pieces for student’s classroom instrument or voice. (ART.M.II.7.5)
-  Vocal ranges
«  Display soprano/alto and tenor/baritone ranges (developmentally appropriate) highlighting pitch as the determining factor
«  Play a recording or sing passages and practice identifying the range of a singer
-  Instrumental ranges
«  Display and discuss basic ranges for instruments highlighting pitch as the determining factor (e.g. flute is in the high range of the band, double bass is in the low range of the orchestra)
«  Play a recording or instrument and determine what range we can consider this instrument to be
«  Build a hierarchy of instruments with the class based on pitch and how they relate to each other
«  Compose short songs by combining melodies that complement the instrument(s)
·  Use a variety of traditional and nontraditional sound sources when composing, arranging, and improvising. (ART.M.II.7.6)
-  Compose
«  Group project detailing that students are to use traditional and nontraditional instruments and sound sources
-  Arrange
«  Using GarageBand or similar software, outline an arranging project in which students arrange pre-recorded or pre-created loops or segments of music to arrange and organize in generation of a new piece/song.
-  Improvise
«  Make an improvisation exercise a part of your everyday exercises in which students get an opportunity to improvise. Encourage students to use and bring in non-traditional instruments or sound sources (elaborate what this means) / 3. All students will analyze, describe, and evaluate works of art.
·  Identify and describe specific musical elements and events in a given aural example, using appropriate terminology. (ART.M.III.7.1)
-  Musical element identification
«  Play a recording of a selection, sing, or have students sing/play a selection or portion of music and have students identify musical elements and where they lie on the continuum (tempo: largo-moderato-presto)
«  Tempo, dynamic, instruments (identify by timbre), tonality (major/minor), chord functions (I & V), phrasing (beginning and ends of phrases), rhythm (meter, duple or triple, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8)
«  Have students share their findings as a group with teacher serving as the facilitator
·  Analyze elements of music used in music of increasingly diverse genres and styles. (ART.M.III.7.2)
-  Musical element identification
«  Tempo, dynamic, instruments (identify by timbre), tonality (major/minor), chord functions (I & V), phrasing (beginning and ends of phrases), rhythm (meter, duple or triple, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8)
«  Play/sing/listen to diverse genres and identify and describe the above music elements
·  Demonstrate knowledge of the basic principles of tonality, major chords, and I-IV-V harmonic progressions in major keys. (ART.M.III.7.3)
-  Intervals of Major Scale
«  Use solfege to assist in singing a major scale
«  Half step and whole step must be taught and understood (aurally and visually) as a class (alternately, one could use minor 2nd and major 2nd)
«  Confidently indentify and recognize tonal center by ear
«  Identify tonic, subdominant and dominant chords
·  Develop criteria based on musical knowledge and personal reflections to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of music performances. Apply these criteria as self-evaluation when performing and creating. (ART.M.III.7.4)
-  Develop criteria
«  Students should already have experience in evaluating performances and in identifying musical elements
«  Form groups and give each group an element to create a rubric for evaluating their performance or composition. Each element should have a continuum of success (e.g. Intonation, poor=ensemble in tune none of the time, Good=ensemble in tune with each other some of the time, etc.)
-  Evaluate your own performance
«  Students listen to a performance and use the created criteria to evaluate. Each student shares what they have with their group, each group shares what they have with the class
·  Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of one’s own and others’ musical performances and creations by applying specific and appropriate criteria, and offering constructive suggestions for improvement. (ART.M.III.7.5)
-  Evaluate using criteria
«  Perform for each other in class and evaluate using criteria
«  Watch/listen to own recording and evaluate with criteria
-  Offer constructive suggestions
«  After evaluating, discuss how the performance could have been better and what the performers could have done in preparation to improve
«  Have a positive model to offer suggestions (e.g. compliment – suggestions – compliment something else) / 4. Understand, analyze, and describe the arts in their historical, social, and cultural contexts.
·  Describe distinguishing characteristics of a repertoire of music from diverse cultures. (ART.M.IV.7.1)
-  Identify
«  Identify timbres of instruments distinctive to certain cultures
«  Describe the tonalities, forms, and tendencies of music of certain cultures
·  Classify by genre and style (and, if applicable, by historical period, composer, and title) a varied body of exemplary musical works. (ART.M.IV.7.2)
-  Classify genres
«  Describe specific characteristics that make music distinctive to their respective genres and time period
«  Play/sing/listen to selections and decide the genre based on distinctive characteristics
·  Compare, in several cultures of the world, the functions music serves and the roles of musicians. (ART.M.IV.7.3)
-  Functions of music
«  Watch/listen to recordings of music and explore the purpose of the music (e.g. celebratory, dance, enjoyment, art, ceremony, etc.)
«  Compare and contrast the functions of music among similar and vastly different cultures
«  Explore and identify how individual musicians have influenced the evolution of their respective culture
·  Describe the relationship between technology and music. (ART.M.IV.7.4)
-  Technology uses
«  Discuss and display various uses of technology in music (accompaniment, creation, arrangement, mixing, featured instrument, etc.)
«  Listen to selections that utilize technology and identify the role of technology / 5. Recognize, analyze, and describe connections among the arts; between the arts and other disciplines; between the arts and everyday life.
·  Describe and compare the relationships between the art forms and their characteristic materials. (ART.M.V.7.1)
-  Characteristics
«  Identify and describe characteristics of other art forms
«  Identify similarities between art forms
«  Explain how some might be cross related and how others are foreign to each other
·  List musical elements and find a connection to at least two other disciplines. (ART.M.V.7.2)
-  Connection of musical elements
«  Discuss how musical elements connect to other disciplines (e.g. melody/music line can be connected to a line in visual art)
«  Identify roles music has played in subjects like history and math
·  Identify multiple artistic applications of current technology in music. (ART.M.V.7.3)
-  Technology in music
«  Discuss how technology is used in music
«  Bring examples of technology of music
«  Have students identify and explain how technology is used in music they hear every day

Seventh Grade Music Scope & Sequence – May 2012 1