Guitar. Harmonizing Instruments strand, Proficient level
DISPOSITIONS
Collaboration
 Students learn to follow the directions of a group leader to provide the best artistic product.
Flexibility
 Students learn how to listen to others with whom they are performing, and adjust
Goal Setting
 Students are aware of and plan adequately to meet the needs of the class performance schedule.
Inquisitiveness
 Students develop an interest in new music styles and in how to perform them.
 Students develop a personal relationship with music.
Openness and respect for the ideas and work of others
 Students respect one another’s learning styles, pace, musical tastes, and preferences
Responsible risk-taking
 Students develop the idea to sing and play with others
Self-Reflection
 Students learn to observe things about their playing, and learn to figure out how to improve.
Self-discipline and Perseverance
 Students understand the rules for the class and the reasons for the rules, and learn to behave
accordingly.
 Students recognize the importance of and work to implement effective, frequent practice.
CREATING
Imagine
Generate Musical ideas for various purposes and contexts.
Standard: MU:Cr1.1.H.la
Generate melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic ideas for improvisations, compositions (forms such as
theme and variation or 12-bar blues), and three-or-more-chord accompaniments in a variety of
patterns (such as arpeggio, country and gallop strumming, finger picking patterns).
.
Enduring Understanding
The creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musicians’ work
emerge from a variety of sources.
Essential Question
How do musicians generate creative ideas?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Knowledge and Skills
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 1
Structure
 Closed position pentatonic scales
 Power chords
 Major, minor, and Dominant 7 chords
 Some knowledge of other chord types (sus4, diminished,
etc), depending on songs learned.
 Tonality and key
Context
 History of the Blues
 Other selected guitar styles or genres
Performing
 Can play closed position pentatonic scales
 Can play power chords
 Can play open position Major, minor, Dominant 7 chords
Creating
 Identify and play a riff or melodic fragment over a given
chord
Aural & notational skills
 Read tablature and chord diagrams
 Hear and identify major and minor chords
Evaluating
 Identify chord and non-chord tones in a melody
Evaluation Criteria
 Accuracy of performance
Vocabulary
Power chords, major, minor, Dominant 7 chords
Plan and Make
Select and develop musical ideas for defined purposes and contexts.
Standard: MU:Cr2.1.H.la
Select, develop, and use standard notation and audio/video recording to document melodic, rhythmic,
and harmonic ideas for drafts of improvisations, compositions (forms such as theme and variation
or 12-bar blues), and three-or-more-chord accompaniments in a variety of patterns (such as arpeggio,
country and gallop strumming, finger picking patterns).
Enduring Understanding
Musicians’ creative choices are influenced by their expertise, context, and
expressive intent.
Essential Question
How do musicians make creative decisions?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure

Performing
 Play required chords in time without disrupting beat of
music
 Use drum machines, Garage Band, Make Music, other
appropriate technologies.
12-bar blues and simple (e.g., AABA) forms
Context
Evaluation Criteria
Creating
 Improvise a melody over a simple 3-chord (e.g., blues)
progression
Aural & notational skills
Evaluating
Vocabulary
Evaluate and Refine
Evaluate and refine selected musical ideas to create musical work that meets appropriate criteria.
Standard: MU:Cr3.1.H.la
Knowledge and Skills
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 2
Develop and apply criteria to critique, improve, and refine drafts of improvisations, compositions
(forms such as theme and variation or 12-bar blues) and three-or-more-chord accompaniments in a
variety of patterns (such as arpeggio, country and gallop strumming, finger picking patterns).
.
Enduring Understanding
Musicians evaluate, and refine their work through openness to new
ideas, persistence, and the application of appropriate criteria.
Essential Question
How do musicians improve the quality of their creative work?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
Performing
 Play with fluency an improvised melody over a 3-chord
(e.g., blues) progression
Context
Creating
Evaluation Criteria
Aural & notational skills
 Perceive the rhythmic and tonal fit of a melody to a give
chord progression
Evaluating
Vocabulary
Present
Share creative musical work that conveys intent, demonstrates craftsmanship, and exhibits originality.
Standard: MU:Cr3.2.H.la
Perform final versions of improvisations, compositions (forms such as theme and variation or 12-bar
blues), and three-or-more-chord accompaniments in a variety of patterns (such as arpeggio, country and
gallop strumming, finger picking patterns), demonstrating technical skill in applying principles of
composition/improvisation and originality in developing and organizing musical ideas.
Enduring Understanding
Musicians’ presentation of creative work is the culmination of a process
of creation and communication
Essential Question
When is creative work ready to share?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
 Blues progression
Performing
 Perform improvised or “head arrangements” in class or in
public
 Use various strumming and picking patterns appropriate
for the music
Context
 History and current contexts for performance of blues and
other popular styles
Evaluation Criteria
 Stylistically appropriate sense of rhythm, tonality.
Creating
 Improvise a melody, using pentatonic scale, over a threechord (e.g., blues) progression
Aural & notational skills
Evaluating
 Evaluate quality of performance and of created work
Knowledge and Skills
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 3
Vocabulary
PERFORMING
Select
Select varied musical works to present based on interest, knowledge, technical skill, and context.
Standard: MU:Pr4.1.H.la
Explain the criteria used when selecting a varied repertoire of music for individual or small group
performances that include melodies, repertoire pieces, improvisations, and chordal accompaniments in a
variety of patterns (such as arpeggio, country and gallop strumming, finger picking patterns).
Enduring Understanding
Performers’ interest in and knowledge of musical works, understanding
of their own technical skill, and the context for a performance influence
the selection of repertoire.
Essential Question
How do performers select repertoire?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
 4/4, ¾, 2/4, cut time meters
 12-bar blues and simple forms such as AABA
 Relation of melody to accompaniment
Performing
 Tuning the guitar (with or without technology)
 Ability to replace a string
 Ability to care for the guitar
 Ability to sing along to a chord progression
Context
 Levels of difficulty in guitar performance
Creating
Aural & notational skills
 Read standard notation up to the 4th fret on all 6 strings
 Read tablature and chord diagrams
 Apply a counting system to written notation, and be able
to recognize the difference aurally between duple and
triple meter.
Evaluation Criteria
 Accuracy of performance
Vocabulary
Analyze
Analyze the structure and context of varied musical works and their implications for performance.
Standard: MU:Pr4.2.H.la
Identify and describe important theoretical and structural characteristics and context (social, cultural, or
historical) in a varied repertoire of music that includes melodies, repertoire pieces, improvisations, and chordal
accompaniments in a variety of patterns (such as arpeggio, country and gallop strumming, finger picking patterns).
Enduring Understanding
Analyzing creators’ context and how they manipulate elements of music
provides insight into their intent and informs performance.
Essential Question
How does understanding the structure and context of musical works
inform performance?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
 Compound vs Simple meter
 Tonality and Key
 Difference major and minor chords
 Notation for formal elements including repeats, endings,
etc.
Performing
 Play swing vs straight rhythms
Knowledge and Skills
Creating
Aural & notational skills
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 4


Context
Able to play with fluency G major scale
Ability to hear and identify major and minor chords
Evaluation Criteria
 Choice and execution of appropriate pulse, tempo, and
dynamics
Vocabulary
Knowledge and Skills
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 5
Interpret
Develop personal interpretations that consider creators’ intent.
Standard: MU:Pr4.3.H.la
Describe in interpretations the context (social, cultural, or historical) and expressive intent in a varied
repertoire of music selected for performance that includes melodies, repertoire pieces, improvisations, and
chordal accompaniments in a variety of patterns (such as arpeggio, country and gallop strumming, finger
picking patterns).
Enduring Understanding
Performers make interpretive decisions based on their understanding of
context and expressive intent.
Essential Question
How do performers interpret musical works?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
Performing
 Finger-style sound production to include rest stroke, free
stroke, and rudimentary strumming
 Pick-style sound production to include down and alternate
picking and strumming patterns
 Control of tone color (where on string to play, rest stroke
or free stroke)
 Proper seated position, proper guitar support, and proper
use of the right and left hands.
Context
 Appropriateness of finger- or pick-style to given literature
Evaluation Criteria
 Dynamics, tone color
Creating
 Choose and execute various strumming and arpeggio
patterns to accompany a melody.
Aural & notational skills
Vocabulary
Rehearse, Evaluate, Refine
Evaluate and refine personal and ensemble performances, individually or in collaboration with others.
Standard: MU:Pr5.3.H.la
Develop and apply criteria to critique individual and small group performances of a varied repertoire of music
that includes melodies, repertoire pieces, improvisations, and chordal accompaniments in a variety of
patterns (such as arpeggio, country and gallop strumming, finger picking patterns), and create rehearsal
strategies to address performance challenges and refine the performances.
Enduring Understanding
To express their musical ideas, musicians analyze, evaluate, and refine
their performance over time through openness to new ideas, persistence,
and the application of appropriate criteria.
Essential Question
How do musicians improve the quality of their performance?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
 Manipulations of tempo (accelerando, ritardando)
Performing
 Listening for ensemble (following a group leader)
 Ability to perform solo and duets, in addition to in
ensemble.
 Control of rushing, dragging
 Mastery of basic rhythms to include the note values of
whole, half, quarter, beat groups of eighth notes, and
dotted quarter-eighth combinations
Context
Evaluation Criteria
 Sense of ensemble
Knowledge and Skills
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 6

Able to play all open position chords (Major, Minor, and
dominant 7th) using the proper bass note for each.
Creating
Aural & notational skills
Vocabulary
.
Knowledge and Skills
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 7
Present
Perform expressively, with appropriate interpretation and technical accuracy, and in a manner appropriate to the audience and context.
Standard: MU:Pr6.1.H.la
.
Perform with expression and technical accuracy, in individual and small group performances, a varied
repertoire of music that includes melodies, repertoire pieces, improvisations, and chordal accompaniments
in a variety of patterns (such as arpeggio, country and gallop strumming, finger picking patterns), demonstrating
sensitivity to the audience and an understanding of the context (social, cultural, or historical).
Enduring Understanding
Musicians judge performance based on criteria that vary across time,
place, and cultures. The context and how a work is presented influence
the audience response.
Essential Question
When is a performance judged ready to present? How do context and
the manner in which musical work is presented influence audience
response?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
Performing
 Ability to maintain a sense of ensemble
 Perform a solo as well as three ensemble pieces
Context
 Performance etiquette
Creating
 Create a sung or played solo over a progression
Evaluation Criteria
Aural & notational skills
Vocabulary
RESPONDING
Select
Choose music appropriate for a specific purpose or context.
Standard: MU:Re7.1.H.la
Apply criteria to select music for specified purposes, supporting choices by citing characteristics found in the music and
connections to interest, purpose, and context
Enduring Understanding
Individuals' selection of musical works is influenced by their interests,
experiences, understandings, and purposes.
Essential Question
How do individuals choose music to experience?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
Performing
Context
 Where to find performances online
 The parts of the guitar, the difference between different
styles of guitar construction, the application of each
instrument to various styles (including knowledge of
electric guitars and amplifiers).
Creating
Knowledge and Skills
Aural & notational skills
 Ability to evaluate the level of difficulty in a guitar part
heard in a recording or live performance
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 8
Evaluation Criteria
Vocabulary
Analyze
Analyze how the structure and context of varied musical works inform the response.
Standard: MU:Re7.2.H.la
Compare passages in musical selections and explain how the elements of music and context (social, cultural,
or historical) inform the response.
.
Enduring Understanding
Response to music is informed by analyzing context (social, cultural, and
historical) and how creators and performers manipulate the elements of
music.
Essential Question
How does understanding the structure and context of music inform a
response?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
Performing
Context
Creating
Evaluation Criteria
 Awareness of at least four recognized guitarists from
different styles
Aural & notational skills
 Ability to recognize the performing of four different styles of
guitar playing.
Vocabulary
Interpret
Support an interpretation of a musical work tht reflects the creators’/performers’ expressive intent.
Standard: MU:Re8.1.H.la
Explain and support interpretations of the expressive intent and meaning of musical selections, citing as
evidence the treatment of the elements of music, context (personal, social, and cultural), and (when
appropriate) the setting of the text, and outside sources.
Enduring Understanding
Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and
performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
Essential Question
How do we discern the musical creators’ and performers’ expressive
intent?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
Performing
Context
Creating
Knowledge and Skills
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 9
Aural & notational skills
Evaluation Criteria
Vocabulary
Knowledge and Skills
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 10
Evaluate
Support personal Evaluation Criteria of musical works and performance(s) based on analysis, interpretation, and established criteria.
Standard: MU:Re9.1.H.la
Develop and apply teacher-provided and established criteria based on personal preference, analysis, and
context (personal, social, and cultural) to evaluate individual and small group musical selections for listening.
Enduring Understanding
The personal Evaluation Criteria of musical work(s) and performance(s)
is informed by analysis, interpretation, and established criteria.
Essential Question
How do we judge the quality of musical work(s) and performance(s)?
Knowledge:
Skills:
Structure
Performing
Context
Creating
Evaluation Criteria
Aural & notational skills
 Ability to objectively judge accuracy and expressivity in a
performance
Vocabulary
Knowledge and Skills
Harmonizing Instruments Proficient
page 11