Music Curriculum Guide
(Updated Summer, 2011)
MENC NATIONAL STANDARDS:
1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments; composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
4. Reading and notating music.
5. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
6. Evaluating music and music performances.
7. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
8. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
OVERARCHING ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS (BIG IDEAS)

Music‐making is one of the oldest, most intimate and basic forms of communication and cultural expression.

Singing and playing an instrument provide people with the means of learning musical and developmental skills.

Through composing and improvising, people learn to connect ideas with symbols, sound patterns, and musical elements.

Reading and notating music are essential to music literacy.

Educated music listeners learn to describe, analyze and evaluate music and music performances as an expressive art form.

Critical listening and thinking skills learned through music are essential to a successful, comprehensive educational experience.

Music is an important element of the historical and cultural record of humankind.
OVERARCHING ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Why and how do people create music?

How do people sing and play an instrument?

How is music communicated?

How is music analyzed and understood?

How is a music performance evaluated?

What is the relationship between music and other disciplines?

How does music reflect as well as shape history and culture?
Effective Components of a Middle School Music Program

Actively engages and motivates students in the process of learning music through a variety of best-practices (Kodaly, Orff, Folk Dancing)

Provides learning activities that are appropriate in complexity and pacing

Models and demonstrates accurate and artistic musical technique

Selects challenging yet realistic literature for performance

Introduces and expects appropriate use of music vocabulary

Provides opportunities for individual and multiple groupings

Differentiates music instruction to meet wide range of student needs

Reinforces effort and provides recognition, assesses frequently
 Integrates music with other content areas with an emphasis on literacy, history and culture
MS GENERAL MUSIC
Content
Standards
1
Essential Questions
Essential Learning
How can music representing
different cultures and history
be performed with accurate
expression?
How can music representing
different cultures and history
be performed with accurate
expression?
How can improvisation and
creation be used to express
ideas?
How is music written and
read?
Sings music representing
diverse cultures and
historical periods
5
How is music heard and
described?
6
What criteria are used to
evaluate a composition or
performance for critical review
or personal preference?
What is the same in music and
other subjects?
Embedded throughout the year
2
3
4
7
8
What does music tell us about
people and cultures?
Content
Objectives
Sings with expression and style
Performs music
representing diverse
cultures and historical
periods
Creates songs using a
variety of sound sources
Plays instruments with expression and style
Identifies and defines
basic elements of music
Identifies and defines pitch, rhythm, dynamics,
tempo, articulation, and expression
Analyzes the use of
musical elements in
diverse genres of music
Develops criteria to
evaluate music
Identifies and describes elements of music from
diverse cultures
Articulates the
connections made with
music and other subjects
Compares and classifies,
and performs music
from different cultures
and history
Uses math, literacy, social studies, science,
dance, and art concepts and terms during music
activities
Identifies the functions of music in different
settings and conditions
Describes the unique characteristics of songs
from various times and places
Improvises an answer to a melodic question
using voice or instrument
Uses stylistic elements to evaluate the
effectiveness and quality of music
Iowa Core
Connection
Graduate Ends
MS VOCAL MUSIC LEVEL I
Content
Standards
1
Essential
Questions
How can singers
perform
independently and
in groups with
proper technique?
How can
instruments assist
with singing?
How do musicians
create vocal music?
How are solfege
and hand signs used
to learn music?
What do you hear
in music?
What criteria are
used to evaluate
music?
Essential Learning
7
What is the same in
music as in other
subjects?
8
What does music
tell us about people
and cultures?
Articulates the
connections made
between music and
other subjects
Recognizes that music
comes from different
places in the world and
serves
different purposes
Embedded throughout the year
2
3
4
5
6
Sings a varied
repertoire of songs
with proper vocal
production
Content
Objectives
Uses proper technique to produce a relaxed, open sound
Uses proper technique to achieve accurate intonation
Uses proper technique for breathing
Uses proper technique for vowel sound shaping
Sing with instrumental
accompaniment
Sing with proper intonation and balance with instrumental
accompaniment
Composes short
melodies or lyrics
Sight-reads short scalewise passages
Creates lyrics to a given melody, or melody to given lyrics
Identifies musical
phrases
Develops criteria to
evaluate a piece
Identifies solfege syllables
Applies syllables to standard music notation
Reads pitches on treble and bass clefs
Describes characteristics of a phrase
Uses stylistic elements to evaluate the effectiveness and
quality of music
Uses math, literacy, social studies, science, dance, and art
concepts and terms during music activities
Recognizes same and different sections - story sequence
(form)
Performs and listens to musical pieces from diverse times,
cultures and traditions
Demonstrates performance and audience behavior
appropriate for the context and style of the music performed
Iowa Core
Connection
Graduate Ends
MS VOCAL MUSIC LEVEL II
Content
Standards
1
Embedded throughout the year
2
3
4
Essential Questions
Essential Learning
How can singers
perform with
expression and
technique?
How can
instruments assist
with singing?
Sings a varied
repertoire of songs in
3-part harmony
Sing with instrumental
accompaniment
Sing with proper intonation and balance with instrumental
accompaniment
How do musicians
create vocal music?
How are passages
using skips sightread? How do
musicians detect
errors?
Composes short
melodies or lyrics
Sight-reads short
passages containing
do-mi-sol intervals
Creates lyrics to a given melody, or melody to given lyrics
5
What do you hear in
music?
6
What criteria are
used to evaluate
music?
7
What is the same in
music as in other
subjects?
8
What does music
tell us about people
and cultures?
Detects errors in the
music using aural skills
Identifies and analyzes
vocal timbre and form
in musical
performances
Develops criteria to
self-evaluate
performances
Articulates the
connections made
between music and
other subjects
Performs and listens to
music from a variety of
cultures and traditions
Content
Objectives
Sing expressively while maintaining good vocal production
Identifies intervallic skips in music
Identifies notational cues to aid in aural error detection
Describes timbre and form using appropriate musical terms
Formulates questions related to criteria
Uses math, literacy, social studies, science, dance, and art
concepts and terms during music activities
Recognizes same and different sections - story sequence
(form)
Performs and listens to musical pieces from diverse times,
cultures and traditions
Demonstrates performance and audience behavior
appropriate for the context and style of the music performed
Iowa Core
Connection
Graduate Ends
Embedded throughout the year
HS VOCAL MUSIC
Content
Standards
1
Essential Questions
Essential Learning
How can singers
perform
independently and in
an ensemble?
Sings a variety of
musical styles alone
and in ensembles
2
How can
instruments assist
with singing?
Sing with instrumental
accompaniment
3
How do musicians
create vocal music?
Why is an
understanding of
music theory
relevant to choral
singing?
What must be heard
to properly analyze
music?
Composes short
melodies or lyrics
Reads with accuracy
pitch, rhythm, form,
and structure
Creates lyrics to a given melody, or melody to given lyrics
Analyzes music using
musical vocabulary
While judging a
performance, how
can one be fair, yet
critical?
What is the same in
music as in other
subjects?
Develops criteria to
evaluate performances
Utilizes technical vocabulary
Hears errors while performing in 2-3 part structure
Identifies compositional techniques such as tension, release,
unity, variety
Determines what elements contribute to the quality of a
performance or composition
4
5
6
7
8
What does music tell
us about people and
cultures?
Articulates the
connections made
between music and
other subjects
Performs and listens to
music from a variety of
cultures and traditions
Content
Objectives
Sings accurately level 2-4 repertoire (on a scale of 1-6)
Sings with understanding of phrasing, breath support,
projection
Sings various styles authentically
Sings in English and other languages
Sings parts independently in 3-5 part harmony
Listens for balance and blend and adjusts accordingly
Responds to conducting patterns in various meters
Monitors intoation
Sing with proper intonation and balance with instrumental
accompaniment
Reads a vocal score in 3-5 part harmony
Identifies the shape of a musical line as related to pitch and
phrase
Sight-reads melodic lines in major keys
Uses math, literacy, social studies, science, dance, and art
concepts and terms during music activities
Recognizes same and different sections - story sequence
(form)
Performs and listens to musical pieces from diverse times,
cultures and traditions
Demonstrates performance and audience behavior
appropriate for the context and style of the music
performed
Iowa Core
Connection
Graduate Ends