Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
Grade Five
Ohio Standards
Connection
Fine Arts – Music
Valuing Music/Aesthetic
Reflection
Benchmark A
Reflect on and describe
how music performance
and settings affect audience
response.
Indicator 1
Describe audience etiquette
associated with various
music performances and
settings.
Fine Arts – Music
Valuing Music/Aesthetic
Reflection
Lesson Summary:
In this lesson, students listen to various genres of music and
identify which elements of music or qualities of each genre
make it unique. Students also learn appropriate audience
responses to performances of various music genres.
Estimated Duration: 120 minutes (Three forty-minute
lessons)
Commentary:
This lesson helps students develop and understand their own
musical preferences and appreciate the musical preferences
of others. Students are encouraged to expand their musical
preferences beyond the most popular music in current
culture to include many styles of music. Learning
acceptable audience behavior or responses to various styles
of music performances prepares the students to participate
confidently and appropriately in many musical settings.
Benchmark B
Reflect on why others may
have different music
preferences.
Pre-Assessment:
Students take a vocabulary quiz to review the definitions
of the elements and aesthetic qualities of music. See
Attachment A, Elements of Music Vocabulary Quiz.
Indicator 4
Identify elements of music
that contribute to aesthetic
qualities in a specific
music work.
Scoring Guidelines:
Each question is worth 10 points.
Post-Assessment:
Using Attachment C, What Makes It Unique?, students
decide which elements of music make each genre unique.
Students also choose an appropriate audience response for
each genre as a group.
Scoring Guidelines:
See Attachment D, Guideline for Assessing Attachment C.
Instructional Procedures:
Day One
1. Complete the pre-assessment.
2. As a class, discuss each of the vocabulary words on
the pre-assessment to ensure that students are familiar
with the elements of music.
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Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
Grade Five
3. Use students’ responses on the pre-assessment and during the discussion to determine if
any students need remedial help.
Instructional Tip:
The elements of music, lyrics, mood and audience response are taught as kindergarten
through fourth-grade indicators. If students are not familiar with them and do not perform
well on the pre-assessment, you must review these terms before continuing with the
instructional procedures.
Day Two
4. Distribute Attachment B, Qualities of Various Musical Genres.
5. Play one video example of a specific genre of music such as a symphony concert.
6. Have students briefly describe the elements listed on the worksheet for that genre of
music, and an appropriate audience response for that genre.
7. Repeat, using three other genres such as a marching band performance, a rock concert
and a Broadway musical.
8. Have students keep these worksheets for the next class.
Instructional Tips:
 The genres that work well for this lesson are marching band, symphony, rock and
musical, but you may choose any genres to meet the needs of your students.
 You may use fewer than or more than four examples.
Day Three
9. Divide students into groups of four.
10. Assign or have students choose a recorder for each group.
11. Have each group decide which qualities make each genre different from the others using
group members’ copies of Attachment B, Qualities of Various Musical Genres. Have
each recorder write the group’s ideas on Attachment C, What Makes It Unique?
12. Tell groups to decide the appropriate audience response for each genre and write the
responses on Attachment C, What Makes it Unique?
13. Collect Attachment C, What Makes it Unique?
14. Use Attachment D, Guideline for Assessing Attachment C, to assess each group’s work.
Instructional Tips:
 Adapt the assessment to meet the needs of your students.
 Take more than three days to complete this lesson if your students are less experienced
with the different genres of music or music terminology.
Differentiated Instructional Support:
Instruction is differentiated according to learner needs, to help all learners either meet the
intent of the specified indicator(s) or, if the indicator is already met, to advance beyond the
specified indicator(s).
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Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
Grade Five




Students can work in groups that support their learning styles.
Students can watch and listen to examples.
You may read the quiz to students.
You may provide word banks for all worksheets.
Extensions:
 Have students practice the appropriate audience responses to other video examples that
were not used in the lesson.
 Revisit this lesson whenever a new music style is introduced in music class or is
experienced in a concert.
 Have students role-play various audience responses.
 Take field trips to live concerts.
 Have students interview other teachers and administrators in the building to discover their
favorite genres of music and how they respond to them.
Home Connection:
 During these lessons students can keep lists of all the music genres or styles they hear
outside the music classroom.
 Students could plan to watch television with their families for one evening and list all the
music styles they hear during that time.
 Students and parents could explore all the AM- and FM-radio stations that they receive at
home or in the car and identify the styles or genres of music each one plays.
 Students could examine the program offerings on satellite radio to find out which music
genres are represented and how many stations are dedicated to each genre.
Materials and Resources:
The inclusion of a specific resource in any lesson formulated by the Ohio Department of
Education should not be interpreted as an endorsement of that particular resource, or any of
its contents, by the Ohio Department of Education. The Ohio Department of Education does
not endorse any particular resource. The Web addresses listed are for a given site’s main
page; therefore, it may be necessary to search within a site to find the specific information
required for a given lesson. Please note that information published on the Internet changes
over time; therefore, the links provided may no longer contain the information related to a
given lesson. Teachers are advised to preview all sites before using them with students.
Note: Some Web sites contain material that is protected by copyright. Teachers should
ensure that any use of material from the Web does not infringe upon the content owner’s
copyright.
For the teacher:
four video examples of different genres of music, television, VCR
For the student:
pen or pencil
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Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
Grade Five
Vocabulary:
* Term in the Fine Arts Academic Content Standards Music Glossary
 dynamics*
 form*
 harmony*
 lyrics – the words of a song
 melody *
 mood – the expression of feeling (i.e. happy, sad, nervous, etc…); the impression of the
listener
 pitch*
 rhythm*
 texture*
 timbre – the quality of the sound which distinguishes different instruments; tone quality
Technology Connections:
 Use video equipment to show the examples of music genres.
 Have students use the Internet to do research about the genres presented in class.
 Encourage interested students to prepare presentations of their findings using presentation
software.
 Use satellite radio to explore the range of music genres offered and the number of
stations dedicated to each genre.
Library Connections:
Teach students how to check out music from the public library and encourage them to find
videos of music performances, with your approval, that they can share with the class.
Research Connections:
Brent, Rebecca & Patricia Anderson. “Developing Children’s Classroom Listening
Strategies.” The Reading Teacher, pp. 122-126
LeBlanc, A., Sims, W.L., Siivda, C., & Obert, M. (1996), “Music style preferences of
different age listeners.” Journal of Research in Music Education, 44, 49-59.
Hash, Phillip. “Introducing Unfamiliar Genres: Recommendations Based on Music
Preference Research.” Update Applications of Research in Music Education, Fall-Winter
2002, Volume 21, Number 1
McKoy, Constance L. “A Review of Research on Instructional Approach and World Music
Preference.” Update Applications of Research in Music Education, Fall-Winter 2003,
Volume 22, Number 1, pp. 36-43
Flowers, Patricia. “What Was That? – Talking About What We Hear in Music.” Update
Applications of Research in Music Education, Spring-Summer 2003, Volume 21, Number 2
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Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
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Attachments:
Attachment A, Elements of Music Vocabulary Quiz
Attachment B, Qualities of Various Music Genres
Attachment C, What Makes It Unique?
Attachment D, Guideline for Assessing Attachment C
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Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
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Attachment A
Elements of Music Vocabulary Quiz
1. pitch __________
2. rhythm __________
A. the quality of the sound which
distinguishes different instruments;
tone quality
3. melody __________
B. highness or lowness of a sound
4. harmony __________
C. the words of a song
5. dynamics __________
D. a logical, organized sequence of
music notes
6. timbre __________
7. texture __________
8. form __________
9. mood __________
10. lyrics __________
E. patterns in music that are produced
by altering the emphasis and
duration of notes; the way the
music moves through time
F. the expression of feelings (i.e.
happy, sad, nervous, etc.); the
impression of the listener
G. the volume (loudness or softness) of
sound in music
H. the structure and organization of a
music composition (such as AB,
ABA, call and response, rondo or
theme)
I. two or more different tones sounded
at the same time
J. the pattern and quality of sound
created by the elements in a music
work, including the number of
instruments, voices or chordal tones
in a specific section
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Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
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Attachment B
Qualities of Various Music Genres
Name: ________________________
Genre of Music ___________________________
Listen and watch the video example, then, briefly describe the following elements for that
example:
Pitch ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Rhythm ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Melody ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Harmony ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Dynamics ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Timbre ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Texture ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Form ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Mood ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Lyrics ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Appropriate Audience Response______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
Grade Five
Attachment C
What Makes It Unique?
What are the qualities or elements of a symphony that make it different from the other video
examples?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the appropriate audience response for a symphony performance?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What are the qualities or elements of a marching band that make it different from the other video
examples?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the appropriate audience response for a marching band performance?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What are the qualities or elements of a rock band that make it different from the other video
examples?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
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Attachment C
What Makes It Unique?
Continued
What is the appropriate audience response for a rock band performance?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What are the qualities or elements of a Broadway musical that make it different from the other
video examples?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the appropriate audience response for a Broadway musical?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
Grade Five
Attachment D
Guideline for Assessing Attachment
What are the qualities or elements of a symphony that make it different from the other
video examples?
1. Harmony in many different instruments
2. Melody jumps from instrument to instrument
3. Timbre varies a lot; more than ten different instrument sounds
4. Very thick texture; many layers of instruments even in one section
5. No lyrics
What is the appropriate audience response for a symphony performance?
Audience in seats, applause only—no cheering after selections, no noise during selections
What are the qualities or elements of a marching band that make it different from the
other video examples?
1. Dynamics frequently loud
2. Timbre - many different instruments, but no strings
3. Thick texture many different brass, woodwind and percussion sounds
4. Mood is exciting
5. No lyrics
What is the appropriate audience response for a marching band performance?
Audience sitting or standing in bleachers, clapping and cheering throughout performance,
applause and cheering after selections
What are the qualities or elements of a rock band that make it different from the other
video examples?
1. Melody and harmony mostly in vocal parts
2. Dynamics frequently loud
3. Timbre – mainly electronic
4. Texture not as thick as other examples; fewer instruments and not as many things happening
at the same time
5. Most songs have lyrics and the form is similar in most songs
What is the appropriate audience response for a rock band performance?
Audience stands most of the time, cheering during songs, clapping or singing along with the
band, clapping and cheering after songs
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Music Style -What Makes Each One Unique?
Grade Five
Attachment D
Guideline for Assessing Attachment
Continued
What are the qualities or elements of a Broadway musical that make it different from the
other video examples?
1. Melody and harmony mostly done in vocal parts
2. Timbre includes vocals as well as instruments of the orchestra
3. Texture and form vary from song to song – solos, duets, chorus numbers
4. Mood tells a story
5. Lyrics tell a story and are very important in this genre
What is the appropriate audience response for a Broadway musical?
Audience is seated, applause after songs only, no noise during songs
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