Unit Four: The Elements of Music (2024)

What Students Should Know and Be Able toDo in the Arts

Education Reform, Standards, andthe Arts — Summary Statement to the National Standards - What Students Should Know and Be Able to Do in the Arts

There are many routes tocompetence in the arts disciplines. Students may work in different arts atdifferent times. Their study may take a variety of approaches. Their abilitiesmay develop at different rates. Competence means the ability to use an array ofknowledge and skills. Terms often used to describe these include creation,performance, production, history, culture, perception, analysis, criticism,aesthetics, technology, and appreciation. Competence means capabilities withthese elements themselves and an understanding of their interdependence; it alsomeans the ability to combine the content, perspectives, and techniquesassociated with the various elements to achieve specific artistic and analyticalgoals. Students work toward comprehensive competence from the very beginning,preparing in the lower grades for deeper and more rigorous work each succeedingyear. As a result, the joy of experiencing the arts is enriched and matured bythe discipline of learning and the pride of accomplishment. Essentially, theStandards ask that students should know and be able to do the following by thetime they have completed secondary school:

They should be able to communicate at a basic level in the four arts disciplines dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts. This includes knowledge and skills in the use of the basic vocabularies, materials, tools, techniques, and intellectual methods of each arts discipline.
They should be able to communicate proficiently in at least one art form, including the ability to define and solve artistic problems with insight, reason, and technical proficiency.
They should be able to develop and present basic analyses of works of art from structural, historical, and cultural perspectives, and from combinations of those perspectives. This includes the ability to understand and evaluate work in the various arts disciplines.
They should have an informed acquaintance with exemplary works of art from a variety of cultures and historical periods, and a basic understanding of historical development in the arts disciplines, across the arts as a whole, and within cultures.
They should be able to relate various types of arts knowledge and skills within and across the arts disciplines. This includes mixing and matching competencies and understandings in art-making, history and culture, and analysis in any arts-related project.

As a result of developingthese capabilities, students can arrive at their own knowledge, beliefs, andvalues for making personal and artistic decisions. In other terms, they canarrive at a broad-based, well-grounded understanding of the nature, value, andmeaning of the arts as a part of their own humanity.

These National Standards for Arts Education are a statement of what every youngAmerican should know and be able to do in four arts disciplines—dance, music,theatre, and the visual arts. Their scope is grades K–12, and they speak toboth content and achievement.

Standards - The National Standards for Music
Look through "The School Music Program: A New Vision: The K-12 National Standards, PreK Standards" and locate the standards for the age group you are teaching - A New Vision

If you have neverstudied music, how can you promote your students' musical learning?

Asa classroom teacher, are you able to....

Sing alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music?

Perform on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music?

Improvise melodies, variations, and accompaniments?

Compose and arrange music within specified guidelines?

Read and notate music?

Listen to, analyze, and describe music?

Evaluate music and music performances?

Understand relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts?

Understand music in relation to history and culture?

CaliforniaVisual and Performing Arts Standards

To meet the standards formusic in the classroom, you need to define the elements and explore these keyprocesses....

1.0 ARTISTIC PERCEPTION
Processing, Analyzing, and Responding to Sensory Information Through the Language and Skills Unique to Music

Students read, notate, listen to, analyze, and describe music and other aural information, using the terminology of music.

Read and Notate Music

Listen to, Analyze, and Describe Music

2.0 CREATIVE EXPRESSION
Creating, Performing, and Participating in Music

Students apply vocal and instrumental musical skills in performing a varied repertoire of music. They compose and arrange music and improvise melodies, variations, and accompaniments, using digital/electronic technology when appropriate.

Apply Vocal and Instrumental Skills

Compose, Arrange, and Improvise

4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING
Responding to, Analyzing, and Making Judgments About Works of Music

Students critically assess and derive meaning from works of music and the performance of musicians according to the elements of music, aesthetic qualities, and human responses.

Analyze and Critically Assess

Derive Meaning

Many teachers use background music or have children listen to music. They may even sing along with a tape or CD, but the student involvement tends to be passive. But...we know that the more actively involved we are doing the real thing, the more we learn and remember! So...let's make the music ourselves - not just listen passively!

How can you involve the whole brain in musical activity?

Frontal Lobe - judgment, creativity, problem solving, and planning

Parietal Lobe - higher sensory and language functions

Temporal Lobe - hearing, memory, meaning, and language

Occipital Lobe - vision
See Also
The Music Guide: What You Should Listen To While Studying - Essential Student Living How frequently do students listen to music and what genre of music do students usually listen to? | 4 Answers from Research papers How to Find The Best Music to Study or Do Homework To – CUNYverse Music and Learning: Why Teachers Should Consider Music in the Classroom - The Inspired Classroom

Students are most successful in music when all three traditional learning styles are used.

Auditory learners: benefit most from traditional teaching techniques. Auditory learners succeed when information is presented and requested verbally. Auditory learners are tuned in to the sounds of music. They can hear melodies and rhythms easily.

Visual learners: Some students rely upon a visual learning style: "Show me and I'll understand." Visual learners benefit from diagrams, charts, pictures, films, and written directions. Visual learners will be more successful with visual cues, musical notation, watching a performance, and looking at instruments as they are played.

Kinesthetic learners: Most students excel through kinesthetic means: touching, feeling, experiencing something with hands-on activities. "Children enter kindergarten as kinesthetic and tactual learners, moving and touching everything as they learn. By second or third grade, some students have become visual learners. During the late elementary years some students, primarily females, become auditory learners. Yet, many adults, especially males, maintain kinesthetic and tactual strengths throughout their lives."(Teaching Secondary Students Through Their Individual Learning Styles, Rita Stafford and Kenneth J. Dunn; Allyn and Bacon, 1993). Kinesthetic learners are most successful when totally engaged with the learning activity. They acquire information fastest when participating in a science lab, drama presentation, skit, field trip, dance, or other active activity. Because of the high numbers of kinesthetic learners, education is shifting toward a more hands-on approach; manipulatives and other "props" are incorporated into almost every school subject, from physical education to language arts. Hands-on teaching techniques are gaining recognition because they address the challenging needs of kinesthetic learners, as well as the diverse needs of auditory and visual learners. (From FamilyEducation.com - http://www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,3-605,00.html)

See Video of Japanese 3 year old - Mo Kin - http://robpongi.com/pages/comboMOKINHI.html

But the only time I sing is in the shower!

How can you meet thesestandards in the classroom if you are not a trained musician?

Step One: Let's begin by defining the elements of music.

Step Two: Let's learn how the language of music is written in symbols called notation.

Whatis Music?

The Constituent Elements of Music - theBasic Building Blocks of Music

Rhythm - The combinations of long and short, even and uneven sounds that convey a sense of movement. The movement of sound through time. Concepts contributing to an understanding of rhythm are
- regular vs. irregular
- strong vs. weak
- long vs. short,
- equal vs. unequal
Melody - A logical succession of musical pitches arranged in a rhythmic pattern. An important part of melody is rhythm. The notes vary in pitch and duration. Form also applies to melody. Melodies include repetition as well as contrast. Pitch characteristics of melodies include:
- Direction - up, down, stay the same
- Range - wide or narrow spectrum of notes ranging from low to high
- Position - Maybe use notes of high pitches or transposed to low pitches, but as long as the intervals between notes is consistent, the melody can be placed with the total pitch continuum.
- Intervals - The distance between the pitches of the melody may be steps from one note to an adjacent note, or skips where pitches leap from one to another skipping a tone or tones.
Harmony - The vertical blocks of different tones that sound simultaneously; a progression of chords.
- Vertical structure - hom*ophonic with chords connected to and supportive of the melody
- Horizontal structure - polyphonic with chords created by simultaneously sound melodies.
Form - The design of music, incorporating repetition, contrast, unity, and variety. The organization of music, its shape or structure.

The Expressive Elements ofMusic - Add variety and contrast to music

Timbre - The distinctive quality of tone of a sound.
Dynamics - The volume of sound; the loudness or softness of a musical passage.
Tempo - The pace at which music moves, based on the speed of the underlying beat.

See Morton Subotnick's CreatingMusic CD - http://www.creatingmusic.com/

TheSymbols of Music - Music Notation

A good way to learn more aboutthe elements of music is to learn the symbolic system of musical notation.How do composers of music write down on paper what they hear or want themusician to play?

Howard Gardner stated that themusical intelligence qualifies as an independent and separate intelligencesbecause music has a symbolic system in the form of music notation. Hestates that "symbol use has been key in the evolution of human nature,giving rise to myth, language, art, science: it has also been central in thehighest creative achievements of human beings, all of which exploit the humansymbolic faculty." He states that the 20th century philosophersfocused on the "symbolic vehicles of thought. Thus, much ofcontemporary work in philosophy is directed toward an understanding of language,mathematics, visual arts, gestures, and other human symbols."

Go through each musical elementfolder in the unit four course documents. I have included a basicexplanation of each and some examples of the types of activities you can do withyour students.

1. Rhythm

2. Melody

3. Harmony and Form

4. Timbre, Dynamics, and Tempo

Read the introductory lecture ineach of the four folders. Once you have read through the material, examinethe activities included within each folder. You will be creating your ownlesson activities for your students based on each of these elements. Youlesson activity will need to incorporate all three learning styles - auditory,visual, and kinesthetic. You will be designing a hands-on musical activityfor a small group, classroom, or individual. A sample emplate is at thebottom of this page. Examine the national standards (or state musicframeworks) and specify which music standard/s are being met with thisactivity. Included below are the National Music Standards for GradesK-4. For other grade levels, go to the standards page at MENC - A New Vision

Select an activity that youcan use with your students that involves all three learning styles and meets thefirst seven national standards.

Auditory
Visual
Kinesthetic

GRADES K-4

Performing, creating, and responding to music are the fundamental musicprocesses in which humans engage. Students, particularly in grades K-4, learn bydoing. Singing, playing instruments, moving to music, and creating music enablethem to acquire musical skills and knowledge that can be developed in no otherway. Learning to read and notate music gives them a skill with which to exploremusic independently and with others. Listening to, analyzing, and evaluatingmusic are important building blocks of musical learning. Further, to participatefully in a diverse, global society, students must understand their ownhistorical and cultural heritage and those of others within their communitiesand beyond. Because music is a basic expression of human culture, every studentshould have access to a balanced, comprehensive, and sequential program of studyin music.