Music: Grades 6, 7, 8

Singing - Students will sing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

Playing Instruments - Students will perform on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

Improvising - Students will improvise melodies, variations, and accompaniments.

Composing - Students will compose and arrange music within specified guidelines.

Reading and Notation - Students will read and notate music.

Listening to, analyzing, and describing music - Students will listen to, analyze, and describe music.

Evaluating - Students will evaluate music and music performances.

Interdisciplinary Connections - Students will understand relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.

Historical and Cultural Relationships - Students will understand music in relation to history and culture.

Demonstrate an understanding of pitch and rhythm through singing musical examples.

Demonstrate an understanding of harmony through singing musical examples of at least two parts in complexity.

Demonstrate proper instrument care and maintenance.

Demonstrate continuing tonal development and an understanding of a characteristic tone quality.

Demonstrate fundamental technique on one's instrument.

Differentiate between correct and incorrect pitch and rhythm.

Demonstrate and understand musicality through style, dynamic control, tempo variation, and phrase shaping.

Apply techniques of sight-reading.

Perform scales (or rudiments) on one's instrument.

Improvise a simple rhythmic or melodic solo, through the medium of a traditional and/or jazz ensemble.

Experiment with variations on a given melody or rhythm.

Improvise a solo over a given chord progression, through the medium of a traditional and/or jazz ensemble.

Compose music that demonstrates creativity.

Create an arrangement for an appropriate performance medium.

Identify and interpret standard musical notation.

Describe musical examples using appropriate vocabulary/terminology.

Analyze specific events in a given musical example.

Describe the quality of a musical performance using selected criteria.

Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of one's own and another's performance using selected criteria.

Identify and explain how elements of music (e.g., color, balance, rhythm, texture) are used in similar and distinctive ways in other arts disciplines.

Compare ways in which the subject matter of other disciplines is interrelated with those of music.

Discuss the role of technology in creating, producing, and listening to music.

Recognize and describe distinguishing characteristics of music from various historical periods.

Describe music from various cultures.

Discuss the role of music in society throughout history.