This Unit at a Glance:

Grade Band:

Grades 5-8
 

Integrated Subjects:
(click to view more lessons in these areas)

 
 

Other National Standards:

Language Arts III (6-8) Standard 1: Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process

Language Arts III (6-8) Standard 2: Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing

Language Arts III (6-8) Standard 3: Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions

Language Arts III (6-8) Standard 4: Gathers and uses information for research purposes

Language Arts III (6-8) Standard 8: Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes

Mathematics III (6-8) Standard 1: Uses a variety of strategies in the problem-solving process

Mathematics III (6-8) Standard 2: Understands and applies basic and advanced properties of the concepts of numbers

Mathematics III (6-8) Standard 9: Understands the general nature and uses of mathematics

 

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Music Composition

 
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Unit Overview:

This nine-week unit in music composition covers elements of rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic composition. It is designed to meet the needs of students with varying music backgrounds. This unit can be taught with or without the use of music composition software. Each lesson builds on skills learned in the previous lesson; however, each lesson can be adapted to stand alone.

 

Lesson Overviews:

First Rhythmic Composition

This lesson introduces rhythm concepts, including the names and symbols associated with music notation.

 

Syncopated Duet

Students will compose a duet that contains syncopated rhythm sequences.

 

Set a Poem to Music

Students will set a favorite poem to a rhythmic meter, and assign an original melody to the rhythm.

 

Harmonic Composition, An Essay

This lesson introduces students to jazz or the blues by reading and writing about a jazz or blues musician.

 

Twelve-Bar Blues

Students will compose a melody using a 12-bar blues progression.

 

A Simple Melody

Students will learn the notes of the treble clef staff, play simple melodies, and complete a short melodic composition.

 
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