Curriculum of the Week

Music Appreciation

8th Grade Chorus

7th Grade Chorus

Week 1

Discuss classroom procedures and expectations.  Vocabulary words #1: aria, chant, ballet, ballet company, chamber music

Writing Friends - Write about the way the music played makes you feel and what it makes you think about.

 Discuss classroom procedures and expectations.  Getting to know you activities and games to help us work together.

Writing Friends - What do you expect to learn from Chorus?

Discuss classroom procedures and expectations.  Getting to know you activities and games to help us work together.

Writing Friends - What do you expect to learn from Chorus?

Week 2

Musical eras - Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Twentieth Century - present. Make timeline.  Begin composers: Hildegarde, Vivaldi, Handel and Bach. 

  Begin working on correct singing posture - sitting and standing.  Correct breathing exercises. Continue classroom procedures.  Being sight reading exercises 1-5.

  Begin working on correct singing posture - sitting and standing.  Correct breathing exercises.  Continue classroom procedures. Begin sight reading exercises 1-5.

Week 3

  Vocabulary words#2: concerto, opera, court musicians, cantate, oratorio, symphony, minuet, commission. Composers:  Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Hensel and Mendelssohn.

  Classroom procedures, posture and breathing.  Begin solfege hand signals for major and minor scales (handout in document manager).  Sight reading exercises 6 -10.

  Classroom procedures, posture and breathing. Begin solfege hand signals for major and minor scales (handout in document manager).  Sight reading exercises 6 - 10.

Week 4

 Vocabulary words #3: waltz, clavier, mass, sonata, string quartet. Composers: Wagner, Liszt, Verdi, Brahms and Tchaikovsky

  Correct posture, breathing to make beautiful unison and 2-part tone.  Add hand signals for chromatic scale. Sight reading exercises 11 - 15.

  Correct posture, breathing to make beautiful unison tone.  Add hand signals for chromatic scale.  Sight reading exercises 11 - 15.

Week 5

  Instruments of the orchestra.  Strings, Brass, Woodwind, Percussion. 

Teachers as Advisors Activity

  Correct posture and breath support, hand signals for 3 scales, sight reading 16 - 20, and begin learning to read the singer's line in sheet music.

  Correct posture and breath support, hand signals for 3 scales, sight reading 16 - 20, and begin learning to read the singer's line in sheet music.

Week 6

  Vocabulary words #4: conservatory, libretto, opus, prodigy, patron, operetta. Composers: Dvorak, Sousa, Elgar, Debussy.

 Continue to work on posture, breath support, scales, sight reading 21 - 25, and reading music with 2-part line. 

Teachers as Advisors Activity

 Continue to work on posture, breath support,scales, sight reading 21 - 25, and reading music with 2-part line.

Teachers as Advisors Activity

Week 7

  Vocabulary words #5: impressionism, march, plainsong, ragtime, opera company, suite. Commposers:  Joplin, Ives, Copland, Stravinsky.

  Continue posture, breath support, scales, sight reading 26 - 30, and singing with good tone quality.

  Continue posture, breath support, scales, sight reading 26 - 30 and singing with good tone quality.

Week 8

Power Point on 20th Century composers and singers.  Review for final exams.

  Continue posture, breath support, scales, sight reading 31 - 40, and tone quality.

  Continue posture, breath support, scales, sight reading 31 - 40, and tone quality.

Week 9

 Review and final exams.

 Review and final exams.

 Review and final exams.