Lower Elementary Music

KINDERGARTEN:

• Discover presence of beat in music and in the world around us         
• Feel, identify, and express a steady beat through movement and singing             
• Develop ability to use shouting, singing, whispering, and talking voices
• Practice vocal ability by singing and moving to a variety of songs                
• Discover the difference between beat and rhythm
• Experience rhythm through playing classroom instruments, singing, and movement
• Get introduced to the musical concept of high, low and matching pitch
• Explore how melodic direction (up/down) affects the musical experience
• Experience melodic direction by singing and playing classroom instruments
• Develop experience with melody by introducing a celebration song               
• Gain understanding of meter by singing and chanting to patterns of 2, 3, and 4         
• Introduce the four families of the orchestra (flute - woodwind family; trumpet - brass family; voilin - string family; drum - percussion family)
• Learn and experience loud and soft dynamics through singing, playing instruments, and movement      
• Get introduced to tempo through movement and singing
• Identify fast/slow tempo through listening
• Play classroom instruments at different tempi 
• Learn about long and short sounds and express through singing and playing instruments
• Distinguish the timbre of singing voices through active listening
• Recognize the sounds of the woodwind and percussion families

1ST GRADE: 

• Review the concept of steady beat as it pertains to a variety of music
• Discover strong and weak beats through singing, playing instruments, and movement             
• Understand and experience music in meters of 2, 3, and 4            
• Experience rhythms through moving, singing, and plating instruments along with a steady beat
• Expand ability to create and perform rhythm patterns     
• Perform ostinatos on classroom instruments                      
• Explore different ways to use the voices and formally begin learning the pitches G and E
• Learn to control breathing for best singing by using their diaphragm/stomach muscles           
• Learn to visualize the relationship between G and E on a two line staff
• Understand the relationship of pitches on the staff and introduce the treble clef
• Experience the aural and spatial relationship between G, E, and A on a two line staff                    
• Experience melodic patterns and directions through singing, playing instruments, and movement
• Define melody through listening, singing, and playing instruments
• Get introduced to the basics of song through listening and singing   
• Learn basic notation through singing and playing classroom instruments.
• Reinforce duration by singing, movement, and playing instruments
• Reinforce the difference between notes and rests            
• Experience and understand the role of tempo through movement, singing, and playing instruments
• Demonstrate various tempos while performing
• Introduce piano and forte through singing
• Recognize the need for dynamic contrast through various activities
• Discover the need for dynamics through listening and playing instruments
• Revisit the four families of instruments in the orchestra, specifically the string and percussion families
• Play non-pitched classroom percussion instruments                    
• Experience and gain understanding of AB and ABA form, as well as the repeat sign

2ND GRADE:            

• Revisit the basics of beat, establish rules and procedures for the music class and concert etiquette Expand ability to perform strong and weak beats using a variety of music
• Develop ability to recognize and perform musical activities in meters of 2, 3, and 4 (with special emphasis on meter 3)
• Develop ability to feel, count, and perform rhythms along with a steady beat
• Improve ability to internalize rhythms through movement, singing, and playing instruments            
• Understand home tone and use of diaphragm for breathing
• Learn the 5 line staff and C, E, and G
• Sing in harmony and strengthen note-reading skills             
• Experience the movement of melodies by steps, skips, or repeated tones
• Learn the pentatonic scale and experience it’s usefulness through improvisation
• Learn about the Baroque period of music and composers from that period
• Learn the quarter note, half note, quarter rest, and half rest
• Understand the need for accent marks in music through singing, movement, and playing instruments
• Recognize notation through listening
• Learn “issimo” as part of dynamic vocabulary
• Explore the use of crescendo and decrescendo in music by singing and playing instruments
• Learn the orchestra seating chart and the role of the conductor
• Discover the members of the brass family and learn to recognize them aurally and visually       
• Explore creating expressive elements to speech pieces and songs
• Explore creating new rhythmic and melodic ideas by using classroom percussion instruments           
• Experience and review AB, ABA form and the repeat sign
• Utilize understanding of previously taught forms to understand rondo form             

3RD GRADE:

• Discover meter through singing and playing instruments
• Create and improvise on various ostinatos within a song
• Learn the four singing voices: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass while exploring the music of South Africa
• Discover the musical alphabet and sing a cumulative song. Sing rounds and canons
• Discover the lines and spaces of the treble clef staff
• Expand knowledge of melodic movement
• Play instruments and improvise on a pentatonic scale
• Explore the Classical period of music through singing and playing instruments. Watch “Handel’s Last Chance”. Identify important classical composers and learn about the classical orchestra
• Get introduced to beamed sixteenth notes, whole notes and rests
• Learn mezzo forte and mezzo piano
• Review crescendo and decrescendo through singing and playing instruments
• Aurally recognize dynamic changes in music              
• Begin to learn how to play the recorder