COURSE TITLE: Advanced Chorus (Grades 9-12); Advanced Choral Ensemble (Grades 9-12) CONTENT AREA: MUSIC EDUCATION GRADE/LEVEL: 9-12 COURSE DESCRIPTION: COURSE TITLE: ADVANCED CHORUS I- IV Advanced Choral Ensemble I-IV COURSE NUMBER: 54.02310 54.02320 54.02330 54.02340 53.07310 53.07320 53.07330 53.07340 COURSE LENGTH: YEAR LONG PREREQUISITE(S): Permission of Director/Intermediate Chorus MASTER LIST: STANDARDS AND ELEMENTS STANDARDS: Recognized National Standards MENC Content Standards 1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. 2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. 3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments. 4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines. 5. Reading and notating music. 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. 7. Evaluating music and music performances. 8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. 9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture. A. Skills and Techniques/Performance MHSAC.1 - Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music a. Produce a clear and free tone with the body and breath working together using accurate intonation. b. Sing with purity of vowels and clarity of consonants. c. Perform assigned vocal line in three or more parts, with and without accompaniment. d. Apply listening skills to adjust intonation in solo and ensemble singing e. Adjust blend and balance independently within the ensemble throughout the vocal range. f. Perform level-appropriate literature reflecting expressive qualities and FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION WORKING COPY COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE 1 OF 7
textual meaning. g. Respond to various conducting patterns and interpretive gestures. h. Create movement for warm-ups and repertoire to distinguish various musical ideas. MHSAC.2 - Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music a. Utilize classroom instruments and body percussion with expression and technical accuracy to enhance music learning. MHSAC.3 - Reading and notating music a. Read by sight an individual voice part using a melodic and rhythmic language. b. Notate rhythms, pitches, and harmonies from aural examples. c. Utilize available music instructional and notational software. B. Creation MHSAC.4 - Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments a. Improvise simple rhythmic variations and melodic ideas and phrases. MHSAC.5 - Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines a. Create original rhythms and/or melodies. b. Create harmonies for warm-ups and various melodies. c. Explore musical possibilities by making creative decisions. C. Critical Analysis/Investigate MHSAC.6 - Listening to, analyzing, and describing music a. Compare and contrast various genres and styles of music. b. Analyze music utilizing knowledge of the choral score. c. Interpret emotions and thoughts communicated through music. MHSAC.7 - Evaluating music and music performances a. Evaluate and offer constructive suggestions for improvement of personal and group performances. b. Identify criteria and describe the quality of a composition. c. Exhibit commendable performer and audience etiquette. D. Cultural and Historical Context MHSAC.8 - Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts a. Demonstrate and articulate an awareness of the collaborative nature of the choral art. MHSAC.9 - Understanding music in relation to history and culture a. Interpret how music relates to personal development and enjoyment of life. FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION WORKING COPY COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE 2 OF 7
b. Discuss how distinguishing characteristics of repertoire connect us to history, cultures, heritage, and community. Explain how participation in music can become a lifetime pursuit and/or develop analytical and creative thinking skills. BENCHMARKS: Vocal techniques 1. Students demonstrate proper posture for singing while standing or sitting 2. Students demonstrate proper breathing technique and abdominal support while singing 3. Students demonstrate an understanding of how the body is used for support and projection 4. Students identify basic terminology of the vocal mechanism and physical elements of vocal production 5. Students sing with appropriate vowel shapes and correct articulation of consonants and words 6. Students demonstrate basic knowledge of vowel modification 7. Students demonstrate tone quality resulting from proper support and vocal technique Performance aesthetics and techniques 8. Students sing in ensemble with correct balance 9. Students sing in ensemble with correct blend 10. Students sing alone or in ensemble with correct dynamics 11. Students sing major, minor, and chromatic scales, arpeggios and vocalizes 12. Students demonstrate appropriate rehearsal techniques 13. Students demonstrate appropriate performance etiquette 14. Students perform selected repertoire with music or from memory 15. Students sing with varied timbre as appropriate to the style of the music Music reading and sight singing 16. Students perform at sight varied rhythms in simple and compound meters 17. Students identify and demonstrate strong and weak beats 18. Students identify metric groupings of 2, 3, and 4 19. Students recognize and demonstrate conducting patterns in 2,3, and four 20. Students demonstrate knowledge of a counting system 21. Students perform rhythms in simple and compound meters, complex meters, and rhythms that use triplets and quintuplets 22. Students describe the Grand Staff 23. Students identify note names on the Grand Staff 24. Students describe the pattern of whole steps and half steps in the major scale 25. Students describe the pattern of whole steps and half steps in the natural, harmonic and melodic minor scales FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION WORKING COPY COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE 3 OF 7
26. Students identify major and minor key signatures 27. Students demonstrate understanding of the circle of 5ths including major and relative minor keys 28. Students recognize the major, minor, and chromatic scales by ear 29. Students identify all major, minor, and perfect intervals within an octave by ear 30. Students sing all major, minor, and perfect intervals within an octave correctly 31. Students relate intervals to the diatonic scale using either a number system or solfeggio 32. Students sight sing melodies that move mostly by step or within the primary triads 33. Students sing at sight melodies with increasing range, skips and leaps and melodies in minor 34. Students describe the meaning of terms relating to meter, rhythm, tempo and dynamics 35. Students identify expression marks and other symbols 36. Students demonstrate correct usage of terms and expression in singing Music literature, styles and history 37. Students describe music from other cultures 38. Students demonstrate understanding of performance practices of other cultures 39. Students demonstrate knowledge of how music relates to the text 40. Students interpret meaning of texts 41. Students demonstrate knowledge of composers and periods in music history COURSE TITLE: Advanced Chorus and Advanced Choral Ensemble (Grades 9-12) UNIT 1: Tone Production Concepts: Ongoing STANDARDS AND ELEMENTS: MHSAC.1 b UNIT RESOURCES: Fulton County Approved texts Exploring Choral Music (Glencoe-McgasXXXXX) ISBN XXXXXXXX Octavos, a variety of sheet music and literature from the standard choral repertoire Rubrics and resources approved by MENC, GMEA, ACDA Staff-developed vocal warm up guides FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION WORKING COPY COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE 4 OF 7
SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES: Continue to develop the head voice through various warm up techniques. Continue to develop tone through the use of the chest/head mix (and falsetto for boys). Continue to use of Latin vowels in tone production and development. Continue to teach vocal placement through various vocal exercises. Using literature of the proper tessitura for the young singer, develop appropriate tone quality through emulation and demonstration. SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS: Authentic Performance assessments of singing through a variety of methods including technological means. Written assessments Group Performance Evaluations COURSE TITLE: Advanced Chorus and Advanced Choral Ensemble (Grades 9-12) UNIT 2: Reading and Notating Music Concept: Ongoing STANDARDS AND ELEMENTS: MHSAC.3 a, b, c, d UNIT RESOURCES: Fulton County-approved textbooks for singing and reading Exploring Choral Music (Publisher) ISBN:XXXXXXX Use of Solfege, Kodaly, numbers, and other techniques to prepare students for accurate interval singing. Handbooks and articles as resources for rubrics & plans as developed by MENC, GMEA, ACDA SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES: Identify higher level music vocabulary and symbols. Read and notate higher level rhythms including dotted rhythms and more pitches and higher level intervals using a melodic and rhythmic language. Notate higher level rhythms and pitches from aural examples. Utilize available music instructional and notational software. FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION WORKING COPY COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE 5 OF 7
SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS: Authentic performance assessment using a variety of methods including technology such as Smart Music program and Finale. Authentic Performance assessments of singing through a variety of methods including technological means. Written assessments Group Performance Evaluations COURSE TITLE: Advanced Chorus and Advanced Choral Ensemble UNIT 3: Listening and Evaluating Music and Performance PACING: Ongoing STANDARDS AND ELEMENTS: MHSAC.6 MHSAC.7 UNIT RESOURCES: Listening examples on CD,Tape Experiencing Choral Music- Macmillan isbn:12416t3870 SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES: Students should be provided with examples of music forms from a variety of musical periods. Listening examples should include a best practices example along with a less than best practices example for compare and contrast. A vocabulary should be established on order to describe the analysis. SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS: Authentic performance assessment using a variety of methods including technology such as Smart Music program and Finale. Authentic Performance assessments of singing through a variety of methods including technological means. Written assessments FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION WORKING COPY COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE 6 OF 7
Group Performance Evaluations FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION WORKING COPY COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE 7 OF 7