Introduction to Music– Grade 7
Course Description: Students will learn the elements of pattern and structure in music, including: rhythm, melody, dynamic, and timbre. They will learn tone production (vocal and instrumental), how to read and write musical notation, and to identify elements of a composition. As a culminating task, each student will compose an original song. Students will perform their songs in small ensembles.
Area of Interaction: Human Ingenuity
Around the world, people express themselves through song. Songs are created by all people, in all cultures, to record events in the human and natural worlds.
MYP Aims addressed in this course:
- Experience and develop curiosity, interest and enjoyment in your own creativity and that of others
- Develop the skills needed for the composition of an original piece of music
- Use the language, concepts, and principles of the performing arts in your creative process
- Communicate your thoughts and ideas through your song
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Time
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Instructional Focus
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Guiding Question
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Area of Interaction
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Assessment
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Week 1-2
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Listening
Rhythms
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What are the elements of music?
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Approaches to Learning
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Quiz: Identify dominant traits of audio selections
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Week 3-4
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Ear training (Kodaly)
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What is pitch, and how is it produced?
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Human Ingenuity
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Identify 1/3/5 triads and produce a simple melody
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Week 5-6
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Musical Notation – Rhythms (Kodaly)
Identify rhythms in lyrics and poetry
Drumming and rhythm instruments, body percussion
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How do you notate a rhythm pattern?
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Produce rhythmic notation for a poem; break from words to Kodaly syllables
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Week 7-8
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Jazz structures
Introduce brass, wind, and percussion families; Identify I/IV/V chord structure
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What is jazz?
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Human Ingenuity
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Identify the melody, bridge, and improvisations
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Week 9-10
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Folk music
Solfeggio
Numbered solfege
Chord structures (I/IV/V)
Major and minor keys
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Why do we sing?
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Select a traditional folk tune; short essay, cultural historical context
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Week 11-12
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Classical music (homophonic textures)
Introduce strings family
Continue solfege work
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What is harmony?
What is a score?
Why are stringed instruments universal?
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Health and Social Education
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Read a simple melody
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Week 13-14
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Focus on major and minor keys;
Reading diatonic melodies
Inventions – writing a diatonic melody
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How does music affect us emotionally?
What is a dynamic, a tempo?
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Human Ingenuity
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Students compose 4 bar melodies, to be read in small groups
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Week 15-16
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Songs as social commentary
Writing lyrics
Set a pattern (Kodaly)
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What do songs say that cannot be said in mainstream media?
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Social Education
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Notate your rhythm pattern and lyrics
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Week 17-18
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Writing melodies for your lyrics
Notation (we will all work in C)
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How do you align the rhythm and the melody? (Text underlay)
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Human Ingenuity
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Produce your score
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Week 19
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Ways to perform your song – vocal, instrumental
Forming ensembles
Performance strategies
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What musical resources do we have?
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Social Education
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Group Interactions, Cooperation
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Week 20
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Ensemble performances
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What does it feel like to present your original work?
How do you give positive feedback to artists?
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Social Education
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Selected songs will also become part of the fall theatrical touring presentation “Our Rock”
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