A High School General Music Curriculum

1. A High School General Music Curriculum

2. Supporting Philosophy • “In a typical high school the potential population (those not currently enrolled in performance classes) is 85 percent. (Thompson, 2007). • Paraxial (doing) constructivist (students constructing their own knowledge base) model.

3. Bennett Reimer • “When we approach music we should attend to the doings – the actions of musicians – as of primary interest.” (2003, p. 48). • “When we teach music we should do the same, that is to attend to helping people do what musicians do, because those doings, those ‘practices’ are what is valuable about music.” (2003, p. 48).

4. General Music Curriculum Includes • Use of voice, piano, and guitar as adult tools to explore things that musicians do. • Both serious and popular music. • Emphasis on attendance of concerts presented by amateur as well as professional musicians.

5. Students • Rural/Mill Town population. • Low to middle socio-economic level. • Most parents graduated high school but no college. • Country music and pick-up trucks.

6. Strategies • Discovery is a more exciting way of learning than being taught what has already been discovered. (Pogonowski, 2002). • Teaching strategies are authentic, multiple, and collaborative. (Shively, 2002).

7. Susan Farrell on Assessment • “Process of collecting and organizing information or data that make it possible for people to ‘judge’ or evaluate.” (Farrell, 1997, p. 1) • “Match knowledge, skills, and attitudes that teachers are teaching as well as those which the students are expected to learn.” (Farrell, 1997, p. 1)

8. First Year High School General Music (First Semester) Date August September October November December Genre or Topic Intro to General Music and Songs You Need to Know American Indian Music Folk Music ***** Musical Careers Texture and Form December Holiday Traditions: Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa. Symphony Orchestra and Solo Piano Skill Posture, Breathing, Notation, Music Reading, Guitar Tuning Intro to Drumming Easy Guitar: Folk Music Play Easy Piano Mussorgsky. Review and Identify Instruments of Orchestra Composing, Arranging, Conducting, Critique Listening, Mapping, Composing, Arranging Sing and play (piano/guitar) traditional holiday songs/activities. Compare Cultures MENC 9-12 Standard 1, 2, 5 1, 2, 3, 9 1, 2, 3, 9 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9 Concert Option Cherokee Pow Wow, Rome, GA. 9/5/2009. $7.00 Atlanta Symphony, Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, 10/2/2009 $30.00 Rome, GA Heritage Holidays Celebration, 10/17/2009 to 10/24/2009, $4.00 Band and Choral Concerts at High School. Free Three Rivers Singers, Rome, GA. Christmas Concert, Free 12/13/2009

9. First Year High School General Music (Second Semester) Date January February March April May Genre Review of Singing, Guitar, Piano African American Composers, Jazz, 12-Bar Blues ***** Band Festival Music and March Performance Choral Festival Music and Part Songs Opera, Musical Theater Skill Posture, Tuning, review of notation, music reading Improvisation, Composition Singing Canons, Partner Songs, and SAB, Conducting Listening, Conducting, March Form Listening, Singing, Stage Movement/Dance Prepare for “In-formance” MENC 9-12 Standard 1, 2, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 1, 5, 6, 7 6, 7 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 Concert Option MLK Celebration and Concert, Rome, GA, $7.00 • Clock-tower Jazz Ensemble, Rome, GA, Heart, Soul, and Motown, (2/14/2009), $5.00 High School Band and Choral Pre-Festival Concerts Atlanta Opera, Magic Flute, 5/2/2009, $30.00. High School Musical, $5.00 Fine Arts Club NY Trip, 4/22/2009 – 4/25/2009, Broadway Musical, $750

10. Second Year High School General Music (First Semester) Date August September October November December Genre or Topic Review of General Music and Songs You Need to Know Classical Composers Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Folk Music/ American Indian Music World Music, Mexico, Bali, China December Holiday Traditions: Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa. Ballet (Nutcracker) Skill Posture, Breathing, Notation, Music Reading, Guitar Tuning Listening, Research, Begin Part II of Faber Adult Piano Book, Unit 10, p. 98. Listening, Mapping, play “Easy to Play” Beethoven Guitar: Begin Part II of Alfred Book I, p. 56. (Finger Picking) Singing, Accompanying Listening, Describing, Critique Sing and play (piano/guitar) traditional holiday songs/activities. Compare Cultures MENC 9-12 Standard 1, 2, 5 2, 5, 6, 9 2, 5, 6, 7, 1, 2, 3, 5, 9 1, 2, 5,6, 7, 9 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 Concert Opportunity Cherokee Pow Wow, Rome, GA. 9/5/2009. $7.00 Rome, GA Heritage Holidays Celebration, 10/17/2009 to 10/24/2009, $4.00 Radio City Christmas, (Parade of Wooden Soldiers) Fox Theater, 12/9/2010, $30 Band and Choral Concerts at High School. Free Rome Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven V, Overture to Marriage of Figaro, (10/4/2008)

11. Second Year High School General Music (Second Semester) Date January February March April May Genre Review of Singing, Guitar, Piano African Music, Caribbean Music Jazz, 12-Bar Blues Ballet, String Quartet, Vivaldi Choral Festival Music and Patriotic Songs Band Festival Music andPatriotic Songs Performance Skill Posture, Tuning, review of notation, music reading African Caribbean Drumming, Hal Leonard, World Drumming Composition, Improvisation Research, Listening, Mapping, Movement Research, Listening, Conducting Prepare for “Inform-ance” Presentation Research, Listening, Conducting MENC 9-12 Standard 1, 2, 5 1, 2, 3, 7, 9 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 6, 7, 8, 1, 5, 6 6, 7 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Concert Option MLK Celebration and Concert, Rome, GA, $7.00 Three Rivers Singers, In Remembrance: Memorial Concert, 5/31/2010, Free Atlanta Ballet, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, (3/25/2009), $30.00 High School Band and Choral Pre-Festival Concerts, Free High School Musical, $5.00

12. “Inform-ance” Assessment • Informal meeting of students, parents, teachers, administrators where members of the class demonstrate improvisational techniques, describe compositional processes, explain self-constructed listening maps, or present research projects.

13. Conclusion • Hope to implement at least part of this curriculum into my school’s music program. • Re-introduce music to large population not currently served.

14. Presentation References • Farrell, S. (1997). Tools for powerful student evaluation (2nd ed.). Galesville, MD: Meredith Music Publications. • Pogonowski, L. (2002). The role of context in teaching and learning music. In E. Boardman (Ed.), Dimensions of musical learning and teaching: A different kind of classroom (pp. 21-37). New York: Rowman & Littlefield Education. • Reimer, B. (2003). A Philosophy of Music Education (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Incorporated. • Shively, J. (2002). Musical thinking and learning in the beginning instrumental music classroom. In E. Boardman (Ed.), Dimensions of musical learning and teaching: A different kind of classroom (pp. 169-185). • Thompson, K. & Kiester, G. (Eds.). (2007). Strategies for teaching high school general music. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Education.