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General Information

Students attend classroom music for a rotation of 29 consecutive days each year. They build on their elementary music experience to improve their skills in the universal language of music. In addition to an annual major topic, the curriculum concentrates on notation, compositional techniques, form, and the intent of the composer. Students are encouraged to make connections between music of the past, global music, and their own music.

The following five “essentials” guide both teaching and learning

Essentials to Understand

·Music uses a universal language

·Music has form

·Music reflects the society in which it is written

·Composers and performers express their thoughts and emotions through their music

·Our music is a direct outgrowth of music of the past

Classroom music curriculum is coordinated with art, instrumental music and, when appropriate, other academic areas. It is structured on a rotating four-year cycle of topics. For the school year 2007-2008, the focus is European Music.

The music curriculum at White Brook is aligned to Massachusetts Fine Arts frameworks (http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/arts/1996/) and the Music Educators National Conference Standards (http://www.menc.org/publication/books/standards.htm).

An overview of each topic follows. For detailed information on specific composers and music studied, projects, exemplars, and web sites students will visit, please click on each topic’s icon.

	The Composer’s Voice During this year’s rotation, we focus on the tools composers use in the creative process. The elements of music, various forms (song, rondo, fugue, and theme and variation), program music, and the instruments of the orchestra are the major themes.
	American Music A better appreciation of our country’s music is gained by the consideration of four large topics: colonial music, songs of slavery, patriotic music, and the music of the Harlem Renaissance. Connections are made to classical music by American composers and contemporary popular music.
	European Music Students experience 500 years of great classical music from medieval times to the 20th century. Emphasis is placed on the symphony, the opera, and ballet.
	World Music An introduction to the important musical traditions of other cultures is this year’s goal. Among the topics considered are mariachi music, Chinese classical music, Jewish music, music of the Mid East, the gamelan orchestra of Bali, and Native American music.