Pentucket Regional High School

Teacher__John DiTomaso Subject_Music Foundations I

Time Frame	Essential Question	Content/Concepts	Skills/Thinking Processes	Assessment
September	Why do people create music? How is it used? Why is music written down? What advantages does written music have over recorded music? How do I remember the clefs and their meanings/usage? What standards and principles does rhythmic notation follow? What are “beats” and “measures” in music? What are intervals and how do I name them? What are musical shapes (forms)? What is melody? How does it relate to a line? What is musical contour?	Introduction to music theory concepts. Physics of sound Notation of sound Musical time Notation of time Staff, clefs, note (basic pitch) reading and pitch name memorization (Bass and treble clefs) Introduction to ear training (intervals: unison, octave, perfect fifth, perfect fourth) Simple meters Basic shapes of musical ideas: form (ABA, AABA, ABACA) Melody First composition (8-12 bars)	Reading/writing clefs and pitch names Reading/writing basic rhythms (up to eighth notes and dotted notes) Listening skills: hearing and identifying intervals. Hearing and identifying basic forms. Basic composition skills: putting sound on paper and matching musical “image” Discussion & language skills- basic musical vocabulary Identifying pulse and performing tempo changes- discovering relationship between fundamental pulse and sub-division.	Written workbook exercises and reviews Written notation quizzes Ear training quizzes Written musical composition. Neatness and clarity. Adherence to notation rules. Classroom discussion of musical expression, rhythm and meter Demonstration and discussion of compositions Group exercises in beat tempo and basic rhythmic performance.
October	What is a scale? What are tetra-chords? Where are the whole steps and half steps in the major scale? How do flats and sharps change notes. What do they look like? How do they sound? What are “enharmonics”? What are key signatures rules and how do they change written music? How can the sound of a beat pattern affect the listener? What elements of beat patterns are most easily perceived? What is rhythmic dictation and how does it help us create music? How does syncopation change rhythmic flow?	Major scale construction Whole steps/half steps The tetra-chord Second composition –major mode Key signatures Third composition –major mode Ear training : intervals Major and minor seconds/sevenths Rhythmic Dictation Rhythmic syncopation Third composition - syncopation	Scale concepts- dividing the octave into stepwise patterns. Listening skills- hearing in detail to distinguish between major and minor seconds (whole step and half step) Music reading – identifying flats sharps and enharmonics. Mathematical and spatial concepts of division and proportion in sound. Connecting the science of sound with music-i.e. sound-waves and pitch relationships. Creating beat patterns with accents both expected and unexpected.	Written workbook exercises and reviews Written notation quizzes Ear training quizzes Written musical composition Classroom discussion and drills of Key signatures, intervals and rhythmic syncopation Demonstration and discussion of compositions Rhythmic dictation exercise- whole, half, quarter notes and syncopation.
November	What is special about the intervals of a major and minor third? What is unique about the sound of music in Minor mode when compared to music in Major mode? What do progressions sound like. How does it compare to “static” music. How do composers create complex meters? What affect do they have on the listener? How can musical phrases create a sense of balance or symmetry? - How can progressions and meter each affect this sense of symmetry?	Triads- basic chords Ear training- intervals: (major & minor thirds Major& minor sixths) Intro: musical analysis- Harmonic Analysis Chord Progressions (I-V-I , I-IV-I, I-IV-V-I) Fourth composition – basic progression Modes – alternate scale constructions Major and Minor mode/chord recognition Intro: Complex meters Rhythmic dictation of more complex meters Fifth Composition in Minor Mode	Spatial concepts- dividing the octave using thirds. Music reading skills- interval recognition of major and minor thirds. Identifying Tonic, Dominant and Sub-dominant chords. Musical logic- Building basic harmonic progressions. Hearing modes by identifying scale patterns and location of whole and half steps. Identifying and performing complex meter patterns. Rhythmic dictation skills- notating complex meter from sound.	Written workbook exercises and reviews Written notation quizzes Ear training quizzes- intervals, triads and basic progressions Written musical composition Classroom discussion of chord construction - triads Dictation of harmonic progressions Demonstration and discussion of compositions
December	What do we mean by voice leading? What rules does the concept of voice-leading follow? How do we build seventh chords? What are the different types of seventh chords? How is each type seventh chord used in music? What is thematic material? What is a musical motif? What is a musical cell and how is it different from a motif? What is a row and how is it used? How is this different from motifs and cells? How did Bach, Haydn and Mozart use thematic material differently? What is the role of a conductor? How does this help a performance? When is a conductor needed?	Voice leading intro Non-chord Tones Seventh chords V7 I7 IV7 iii7 vi7 ii7 vii7 Sixth composition- seventh chords and non chord tones Thematic material- cells, rows, motifs Harmonic analysis- cadences Classic pieces – Bach, Haydn, Mozart Basic conducting skills Seventh Composition- thematic focus using rows, cells and/or motifs.	Following voice-leading rules. Identifying non-chord tones in music. Using non-chord tones effectively. Identifying and building seveth chords. Using seventh chords in composition to outline voiceleading. Hearing cadences and identifying using proper historical terms. Performing basic conducting patterns effectively to give tempo and dynamics. Creating musical motifs using cells and rows.	Written workbook exercises and reviews Written notation quizzes- non-chord tones and seventh chords Ear training quizzes Written musical composition Classroom discussion of cells, motifs and themes Discussion of form and analysis of classic pieces. Conducting pattern quiz Demonstration and discussion of compositions
January January	What is musical texture? What is counterpoint? Is it used today in music? If so, How? How do I create a composition that shows everything I’ve learned so far? What is my musical voice, and what do I have to say with it?	Melody and counterpoint Final composition workshop Presentation of final composition	Listening to and identifying musical texture. Intro to Counterpoint techniques. Creating and editing a larger, more extended musical idea to achieve structural integrity Identifying distinct characteristics of a composer (the student composer)	Listening practice sessions, discussion and quiz Written extended musical composition. Quality and content, neatness and clarity of presentation. Final exam – listening for and identifying elements of counterpoint and musical texture. Listening for and identifying stylistic traits of composers. Solving musical counterpoint problems/questions.
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