MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Middle School
Bands

MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course Name:
Grade Level:
Course Length:

Middle School Band

6-8
1-3 yrs

Course Description: This course builds on the introductory experiences provided in 5th grade instrumental
music, developing fundamentals in tone production, articulation, music reading and scales. Middle School
Band provides all interested students who play wind and percussion instruments an opportunity to study
and perform a variety of music. Performances are an integral part of the music curriculum, which may
include concerts, festivals, solos, ensembles, recitals and appearances within the community when
appropriate. Performances outside the school day are required.
Component Goals: Technical Skills
1.

Students will demonstrate proper instrument assembly, care, hygiene, and maintenance.

2.

Refine and enhance proper playing position, posture, tone production, breath control, and
articulation.

3.

Develop technique

4.

Introduce mechanics and methods for tuning

5.

Introduce and develop performance skills

6.

Introduce and develop basic scale patterns

Student Outcomes:
1.

The student will demonstrate:

2.

Proper care and maintenance on a daily basis

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Awareness of reed, mouthpiece, mallet, and accessory options;

Reed and mouthpiece and mallet care;
Proper assembly and stowage of instruments;
Proper lubrication and cleaning practices;
And proper handling and transport of instruments.

3.

A characteristic tone quality with proper playing position, posture, breath control, and appropriate
articulation

4.

Strategies for mastering technical problems

5.

Awareness of intonation and techniques for adjusting pitch

6.

Proper concert etiquette, stage deportment, teamwork, and confident execution

7.

Mastery of scale exercises appropriate for his/her level

Component Goals: Rhythmic Skill

1.

Develop and refine a sense of internal pulse

2.

Develop awareness and understanding of rhythm and meter

MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION
3.

Introduce an oral counting system and its relationship to rhythmic notation

Student Outcomes:
The student will:
1.

Perform with a consistent pulse in various tempi

2.

Recognize and perform written rhythmic patterns of increasing complexity on the instrument and
using an oral counting system

3.

Apply rhythmic understanding to band repertoire.

Component Goals: Listening Skills

1. Continue, develop, and refine goals from K-5
2. Introduce listening skills in the context of a performing ensemble
3. Develop and refine listening skills for critical evaluation of self and others.
4. Understand and respond to the musical terms and instructions used in ensemble rehearsal
THIS IS WHERE WE STOPPED ON AUGUST 28. CONTRIBUTORS: DEB, CAROLYN, MELISSA,
SANDY, TOM, GENE, CARY, DEBORAH.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Student Outcomes:
The student will:
1. Understand and recognize all major scale diatonic intervals
2. Distinguish major and minor 3rds
3. Identify melody, harmony, tonality, sequence, counter-melody, accompaniment, texture, and balance
4. Identify various performance styles
5. Recognize pitch, intensity, timbre, and duration
6. Recognize, anticipate, and adjust to the acoustical environment
7. Identify aurally the instruments of the orchestra and band
8. Evaluate appropriate tone quality, rhythmic interpretation, phrasing, form, expression, and dynamics
9. Evaluate various performance levels

MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Course Name:
Grade Level:
Course Length:

Varsity Band
9-12
1-4

Component Goals: Translative Skills

1. Continue, develop, and refine goals from K-8
2. Student application of stylistic awareness
3. Decipher, interpret, and utilize communication from musical notation and other symbol systems

Student Outcomes:
The student will:
1. Read, count and perform advanced notation.
a. Terms
b. Rhythm
c. Interpretative symbols
d. Articulation symbols
e. Symbols of notation used in new and experimental music
2. Demonstrate standard articulation patterns
3. Recognize, perform, and demonstrate standard performance practices
4. Demonstrate the elements of music in a creative and aesthetic manner
5. Sight read music equivalent in complexity to MSBOA proficiency I by grade 12
6. Demonstrate melodic and rhythmic dictation skills including 8th notes and intervals up to Perfect 5ths

MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Course Name:
Grade Level:
Course Length:

Varsity Band
9-12
1-4

Component Goals: Analytical Skills

1.

Continue, develop, and refine goals from K-8

2.

Integrate theoretical and aesthetic elements of music

Student Outcomes:
The student will:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of motivic development
a. Augmentation
b. Diminution
c. Mutation
d. Sequence (real and tonal)
e. Tonal Centers
f. Ornamentation
g. Cadential extension
2. Understanding historical forms and styles
3. Understanding how compositional techniques effect aesthetic response

MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Course Name:
Grade Level:
Course Length:

Varsity Band
9-12
1-4

Component Goals: Literature

1.

Continue, develop, and refine goals from K-8

2.
a.
b.
c.
d.

The following periods and styles will be studied in depth on a four-year progression.
Renaissance/Baroque
Classical
Romantic
Twentieth Century/Contemporary

Student Outcomes:
Through listening, study, and/or performance experience(s), the student will be able to:
1.

Recognize and demonstrate stylistic elements of a given music period

2.

Demonstrate knowledge of the differences between the basic periods of music

3.

Recognize and demonstrate stylistic elements of a given musical period

4.

Recognize and create a response within the basic periods of music

MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Course Name:
Grade Level:
Course Length:

Varsity Band
9-12
1-4

Component Goals: Historical, Multi-Cultural

The instrumental music faculty is committed to helping students become aware of the historical, cultural,
and social contexts of the music which they study. The faculty will teach music of diverse historic periods
and cultures.
MUSIC IN HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXTS
Music can represent and reflect many things about the cultural aspects of societies. Whether one
examines cultures from a historical perspective or the many contemporary cultures of our present
world, the student can become more sensitive to the differences and similarities of humankind
through music.
The learner should be aware that:
1.

Music is a part of our everyday lives and lifetime experiences.

2.

Music conveys messages and communicates ideas.

3.

Music as a universal language crosses historical, geographical and political boundaries.

4.
5.

Music is a reflection of the nature of the culture, historical period or social context from which it
comes.
Music of each culture has its own set of aesthetic values.

6.

The values of a society are reflected in the musical forms created.

7.

The values of a society determine the status of its creators and performers.

8.

Musical knowledge enables the development of tolerance and respect for tradition and innovation.

9.

Composers and performers are artist creating or expressing their ideas through music.

MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Course Name:
Grade Level:
Course Length:

Varsity Band
9-12
1-4

Component Goals: Performance Skills

1. Continue, develop, and refine goals from K-8
2. Introduce and provide increasing opportunities for a greater variety of individual and ensembles
experiences
3.

Provide developmentally appropriate individual and ensemble experiences

4.

Provide for student demonstration of appropriate musical stylistic characteristics, through

performance

5.

Develop the organization of a personal value system

Student Outcomes:
The student will:
1.

Demonstrate proper protocol as a performer and listener

2.

Perform developmentally appropriate individual and ensemble experiences

3.

Demonstrate ability to interpret conductors gestures

4.

Demonstrate a personal value system by achieving the highest level of their potential

5.

Demonstrate the integration of technical, rhythmic, listening, translative, and analytical skills
through performance

MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Content Outline:
1. Develop tone production skills on student chosen instrument.
2. Develop reading and performance techniques for advanced wind band music.
3. Develop and use tuning, listening and rehearsal techniques for the large wind ensemble.
4. Read, rehearse and perform music from the renaissance/baroque, classical, romantic, and 20th century.
5. Examine individual composers styles and form usage; for example, examine Haydns use of sonata
allegro form in Symphony #102 in D Major The London first movement.
6. Closely analyze a period of music. According to the 4-year progression, study and compare the
historical, musical, and performance practices of the time periods. For example, examine the romantic
period and the concept of national pride in music by playing a concert with German, French, English,
and Italian music from that period.
7. Write a 2-3 page paper on a composer/composition giving an overview. Share this information with
the class.
8. Discuss theoretical and aesthetic elements in each period of music.
9. Discuss the importance of instrumental maintenance through hands-on demonstrations, information
work sheets, and clinics. Attend a concert or listen to prerecorded selections to develop aesthetic
literacy.
10. Perform and evaluate individual/group musical experiences. For example: Perform on a concert,
review concert through audio/video tape, and then follow with discussion/evaluation.
11. Discuss and develop the values of commitment, discipline, determination, team building, selfmotivation, and personal responsibility.

MIDDLE SCHOOL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

COURSE DESCRIPTION

OPTIONAL:
Develop an informal oral presentation on major composers using their works (music) and backgrounds.
Working with a partner present the information in an interview format
Develop a presentation on a major work of the students chosen instrument. Give a lecture demonstration to
class of the history, form and performance of the composition.
When developmentally appropriate, attend music festivals/competitions for additional evaluation.
EVALUATION;
Students will be evaluated through playing tests, research, class participation and individual and ensemble
performances.
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES:
1. Selected tapes, slides, recordings, computer software and other audio-visual aids.
2. Various music theory text/work books.
3. Appropriate representative literature.

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