Looking forward to another wonderful and exciting year
with the students of St. Albert the Great!
Grades Pre-K through 5 have music once a week
and experience music in a variety of ways --
singing, movement, body percussion and classroom
percussion instruments, reading music, playing the
recorder and piano keyboard!
Children are introduced to classical composers as well as
contemporary artists, sacred music, country music, patriotic music, and the orchestra!
What better way to share the Gospel than through music! Each child is a unique gift from God, and music has a way of touching the heart and soul of each one in a very unique way.
"Singing is praying twice." - St. Augustine
"O sing to the LORD a new song, For He has done wonderful things!" Psalm 98:1
MUSIC CURRICULUM - Grade K
RHYTHM
- Identify term “beat”
- Duration of sounds: long – short
MELODY / PITCH
- High or low of pitch
- Melody going up; melody going down
- Match pitch by notes with voice
HARMONY
- Music with melody, no accompaniment
- Music with accompaniment
TONE / COLOR
- Identify voice qualities: speaking, whispering, calling, singing
- Environmental sounds: phone, machines, cars, trees, birds, ocean, etc.
FORM
- Call and response
- Sing long and short phrases
STYLE
- Identify mood of a song: happy / sad
- Identify a march vs. a lullaby
- Identify loud and soft
- Identify fast and slow
- Move to the different styles
RHYTHM
- Identify steady beats; strong beats
- Use patterns of long and short sounds
- Repeat patterns: echo styles
- Identify even and uneven beats
- Clap the even and uneven beats
- Notation: Note values of quarter note, half note
MELODY / PTICH
- Identify high – middle – low pitch
- Melodies using steps, skips, leaps
- Introduce the staff: 5 lines, 4 spaces
- Notation: Music Alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G
- Phrases length – as a sentence – as a musical idea
- Repeated phrases
HARMONY
- Music with accompaniment
- Music without accompaniment
TONE COLOR
- Identify voice qualities of man, woman, child
- Identify string instruments
- Identify melody and non-melody instruments
FORM
- Learn terms solo and chorus
- Identify like and unlike phrases
- Identify ABA forms
STYLE
- Identify loud – soft
- Identify getting louder, getting softer
- Identify fast – slow
- Identify getting faster – slower
- Move to the different stylesRHYTHM
- Identify steady beats; strong beats
- Use patterns of long and short sounds
- Repeat patterns: echo styles
- Identify even and uneven beats
- Clap the even and uneven beats
- Notation: Note values of quarter note, half note
MELODY / PTICH
- Identify high – middle – low pitch
- Melodies using steps, skips, leaps
- Introduce the staff: 5 lines, 4 spaces
- Notation: Music Alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G
- Phrases length – as a sentence – as a musical idea
- Repeated phrases
HARMONY
- Music with accompaniment
- Music without accompaniment
TONE COLOR
- Identify voice qualities of man, woman, child
- Identify string instruments
- Identify melody and non-melody instruments
FORM
- Learn terms solo and chorus
- Identify like and unlike phrases
- Identify ABA forms
STYLE
- Identify loud – soft
- Identify getting louder, getting softer
- Identify fast – slow
- Identify getting faster – slower
- Move to the different stylesRHYTHM
- Identify steady beats; strong beats
- Use patterns of long and short sounds
- Repeat patterns: echo styles
- Identify even and uneven beats
- Clap the even and uneven beats
- Notation: Note values of quarter note, half note
MELODY / PTICH
- Identify high – middle – low pitch
- Melodies using steps, skips, leaps
- Introduce the staff: 5 lines, 4 spaces
- Notation: Music Alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G
- Phrases length – as a sentence – as a musical idea
- Repeated phrases
HARMONY
- Music with accompaniment
- Music without accompaniment
TONE COLOR
- Identify voice qualities of man, woman, child
- Identify string instruments
- Identify melody and non-melody instruments
FORM
- Learn terms solo and chorus
- Identify like and unlike phrases
- Identify ABA forms
STYLE
- Identify loud – soft
- Identify getting louder, getting softer
- Identify fast – slow
- Identify getting faster – slower
- Move to the different stylesRHYTHM
- Identify steady beats; strong beats
- Use patterns of long and short sounds
- Repeat patterns: echo styles
- Identify even and uneven beats
- Clap the even and uneven beats
- Notation: Note values of quarter note, half note
MELODY / PTICH
- Identify high – middle – low pitch
- Melodies using steps, skips, leaps
- Introduce the staff: 5 lines, 4 spaces
- Notation: Music Alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G
- Phrases length – as a sentence – as a musical idea
- Repeated phrases
HARMONY
- Music with accompaniment
- Music without accompaniment
TONE COLOR
- Identify voice qualities of man, woman, child
- Identify string instruments
- Identify melody and non-melody instruments
FORM
- Learn terms solo and chorus
- Identify like and unlike phrases
- Identify ABA forms
STYLE
- Identify loud – soft
- Identify getting louder, getting softer
- Identify fast – slow
- Identify getting faster – slower
- Move to the different styles
RHYTHM
- Note Values: quarter notes, half notes, whole notes
- Introduce meter as counting 1 – 2
- Use marching patterns for counting 1 – 2
- songs in 2 meter, 3 meter, 4 meter
- Chants in 1 – 2 meter (ex. 1 -2 buckle by shoe . . .)
MELODY / PITCH
- Identify high – middle – low pitch
- Teach scale: DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI, DO
- Music Alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G
- Introduction to the keyboard
- Pitches that move in steps and leaps
- Given a pitch, sing simple melodies
HARMONY
- Play chord changes
- Sing two melodies at the same time
TONE COLOR
- Identify male, female, child voice qualities
- Instruments of the orchestra: brass and woodwinds
- Explore voice qualities in speaking, calling shouting, whispering
FORM
- Identify ABA forms
- Identify long and short phrases
- Identify repeated phrase
STYLE
- Style changes in rhythm, melody, color
- Dramatize mood of a song
- Listen to American and African folk songs
- Introduce eighth notes – quick or running notes
- Simple rhythms using 2 patterns
- Introduce silent beat = REST
- Introduce notes and equivalent rests: whole note – whole rest
Half note – half rest
Quarter note – quarter rest
Eighth note – eighth rest
MELODY / PITCH
- Music Alphabet
Keyboarding
- Identify upward, downward and repeated tones
- Sing scale tones: up, down or in skips
- Identify melodic patterns – different, same
- Introduce sharp (#) – higher
- Introduce flat (b) – lower
- Listen and identify basic note and then # or b.
HARMONY
- Sing partner, songs, rounds and countermelodies
TONE COLOR
- Identify families of instruments
FORM
- Identify verse – refrain
- Identify ABA forms and AB forms
STYLE
- Identify styles in orchestral music (ex: March, lullaby, folk song)
- Listen to Early American Music
- Draw pictures explaining moods of songs
- Composition
RHYTHM
- Identify and use rhythm in 2, 3, 4, and 6
- Identify and use whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes
- Sing song with syncopated and dotted rhythms
- Clap and count rhythmic patterns with quarter and eighth notes.
MELODY / PITCH
- Music Alphabet – Identify notes on the staff
- Keyboarding
- Learn to play the recorder
- Identify melodic phrases: same/different; long/short
- Understand melodic terms: intervals and contour
- Notation: a “road map” of sounds we hear –
Up/down; repetition in melody, melodic rhythm, melodic sequence
- Listen and understand keys: major/minor
- Improve vocal techniques: expanding the range
- Sing countermelodies (rounds/canons)
- Understand term: descant
- Maintain a part against a melody
TONE COLOR
- Play the recorder for tone quality
- Listen to choral singing to hear difference in voices
- Recognize string, woodwind, brass instruments
- Identify pitched/ unpitched instruments
- Dynamic markings: piano, forte, mezzo piano, mezzo forte
HARMONY
- Sing partner songs, rounds, canons, descants, 2 part songs and countermelodies
FORM
- Recognize call/ response
- Recognize: introduction – theme – coda
- Identify AB/ABA form
STYLE
- Examine characteristics of folk, western, oriental, and ethnic songs
- Recognize how tempo and dynamics affect style of music
- Sing songs related to American history
- Hear and sing holiday/seasonal songs in various styles
- Composition
RHYTHM
- Identify beat / strong beat
- Recognize syncopated and dotted rhythms
- Play instruments on steady beats and off beats
- Identify and use fermata
- Identify meter in 2, 3, 4, and 6
- Identify traditional meter signatures
- Practice conducting patterns
- Use body percussion to reinforce rhythmic patterns
MELODY/PITCH
- Melody instruments: Keyboard and Recorder
- Music Alphabet: recognize and name notes on staff of treble and bass clefs
- Recognize and compare contour of melodic phrases: same/different, shorter/longer
- Introduce concept of melodic rhythm (rhythm of the words)
- Clap melodic rhythm
- Recognize steps, leaps, repeats
- Identify major and minor songs
- Emphasize head voice with purity of tone
TONE COLOR
- Identify string, woodwind and brass instruments by sound and sight
- Recognize folk string and percussion instruments
- Identify difference between band and orchestra
- Recognize vocal sounds of groups: duet, trio, quartet, chorus
- Stress use of good tone quality in singing/ speaking
- Dynamic marks: pianissimo, fortissimo
HARMONY
- Sing unison songs, partner songs, 2 part songs, rounds, descants, countermelodies, ostinatos
- Recognize 2, 3, or 4 part harmony
FORM
- Identify AB, ABA, & AABA form
STYLE
- Sing and listen to music related to American history
- Listen to band and orchestra music of 19th and 20th century
- Listen to American music – 1950’s to present
- Recognize how use of dynamics makes music more expressive