Music
Music education at Keys exposes students to a wide variety of experiences that help develop an appreciation of the arts. Activities include singing; playing rhythm instruments; learning music history and theory; reading and creating music; and playing Orff instruments, the recorder, and three-string dulcimers. The program builds upon concepts and skills established in kindergarten, which increase in complexity, depth, and variety each year. Music studies often are integrated with other subjects, such as social studies and Spanish.
Kindergarten / First Grade
- » Listen & respond to music
- » Learn to sing in pitch by ear training, solfeggio tones, singing, & games
- » Develop rhythmic dexterity by echoing rhythm & melodic patterns
- » Learn music notation
- » Learn musical terms
- » Recognize patterns of quarter notes & rests
- » Play Ostinato patterns on rhythm & Orff (xylophone-like) instruments using both hands simultaneously
- » Play pentatonic patterns on Orff instruments
- » Coordination from moving to music
- » Act-out songs
Second / Third Grade
- » Sing independently in correct pitch, rhythm, timbre, diction, tempo, and posture
- » Sing solo with partners and in rounds
- » Develop rhythmic dexterity through Ostinato patterns & pentatonics
- » Continue ear training
- » Learn more musical notation
- » Learn soprano recorder (3rd grade)
- » Pitch ear training through solfeggio tones, singing, & games
- » Recognize patterns of whole, half, dotted half, quarter, notes & rests
- » Mor e musical terms, i.e. sonata allegro
- » Learn lines & spaces of treble clef
- » Movement in folk dances
Fourth / Fifth Grade
- » Two-part singing
- » Build on rhythmic dexterity
- » Expand ear training
- » Understand musical notation
- » Learn 3-string dulcimer, pan flutes
- » Learn music from other cultures
- » Learn about historical periods in music
- » Identify orchestral & multicultural instruments
- » Learn syncopation
- » Write rhythmic notation and take rhythmic dictation
- » Play pentatonic, diatonic patterns on Orff instruments independently and in groups using two-hand crossover patterns
- » Build vocabulary of musical terms
Sixth Grade
- » Refine rhythmic dexterity, ear training, & musical notation
- » Add 3-part singing
- » In-depth knowledge of jazz, blues, gospel, & spirituals
- » Develop previous musical skills
- » Music composition on the computer
- » Add rhythm patterns to learned notes
- » Rhythm & 5-note melodic dictation
- » Use research methods, various media, & Orff instruments to explore jazz & other genres
Seventh / Eighth Grade
- » SAB singing (3 part)
- » Curriculum integrates English and Social Studies curriculum
- » Specialized units
- » Introduction to computer music