Division:  Middle School

Department: Fine and Performing Arts:  Band

Course Title/Code:  Instrumental Music Exploration – Band  ARTMUEXW

(6^th grade/ 2 days per week for  1 trimester)

Course Description:  Students will explore music through experience and creativity, develop basic musical literacy, and learn to value music and perceive themselves as musical.  Activities will include:  reading and writing music notation, playing simple melodies on recorder, trying out a variety of wind and percussion instruments, creating an original piece of music using Finale Notepad software, creating a web page about a favorite instrument using FrontPage software, and experimenting with creating music using ACID music mixing software.

Goal

Students will explore music through experience and creativity, develop basic musical literacy, and learn to value music and perceive themselves as musical. 

 Skills

• Reading and writing note values (whole note, half note, etc.)
• Reading and writing pitch names (A,B,C,D,E,F,G)
• Coordinating aural, visual, and motor skills to play the recorder
• Studying how instruments from each family produce sound

• Composing music
• Creating a web site about their favorite instrument

 Activities

• Reading and writing music notation
• Playing simple melodies on recorder
• Trying out a variety of wind and percussion instruments

• Creating an original piece of music using Finale Notepad software
• Creating a web page about a favorite instrument using FrontPage software
• Experimenting with creating music using ACID music mixing software

 Assessment

• Participation in class activities
• Projects (original compositions and an instrument web page)

 No special equipment or supplies are required.

 Resources:

 Internet sites – www.musictheory.com

                        www.makemusic.com (for free download of finale notepad notation software)
                        http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/showproduct.asp?PID=268

                        (for a free copy of ACID, music creation software)

 Intranet sites - https://web1.caryacademy.org/facultywebs/eric_grush/minors.htm

 Computer software – Finale Notepad (music writing software)

                                    Musition (Music Theory software)