Classroom Resource

Exploring Expressive Qualities in Music

Subject Area

Arts Education

Grade(s)

K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Overview

Students will review expressive qualities, such as tempo, dynamics, and articulation. Students will create movements to demonstrate each quality while listening to a variety of musical selections. A worksheet is provided to identify expressive qualities in music. Video demonstrations are provided. 

Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): KG - Music

AE17.MU.K.16

Demonstrate awareness of expressive qualities that reflect creators’/performers’ expressive intent.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.MU.K.16

Vocabulary

Rhythm
  • Steady beat
  • Long/ Short
  • One and two sounds per beat
  • Silent beat
Melody
  • High and low
  • Pitch set: So, Mi
  • Musical alphabet
Harmony
  • Accompaniment/ no accompaniment
Form
  • Like and unlike phrases
  • Echo
Expression
  • Speak, sing, shout, whisper
  • Solo/ Group
  • Unpitched percussion
  • Flute, trumpet, violin, piano
  • Loud/ Soft
  • Fast/ Slow
Other
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette

Essential Questions

EU: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
EQ: How do we discern musical creators' and performers' expressive intent?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Perform songs of various genres while reflecting appropriate stylistic characteristics.
Creating
  • Purposefully move to music and articulate why they made the movement choices they made based on the music they heard.
Reading/ Writing
  • Discuss, using musical language, the characteristics of the music they hear and/or perform.
  • Discuss, using age/developmentally appropriate musical language, what sort of music they like personally and why.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Share ideas about musical selections of various and contrasting styles, composers and musical periods.
  • Describe how sounds and music are used in our daily lives.
  • Describe the difference between steady beat and rhythm.
  • Identify and connect a concept shared between music and another curricular area.
  • Identify and discuss various uses of music in the United States and the various meanings of the term "musician."
  • Respond to sound with a drawing of how the sound makes them feel.
  • Offer opinions about their own musical experiences and responses to music.
  • Aurally identify flute, trumpet, violin, and piano.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 1 - Music

AE17.MU.1.17

Demonstrate and identify expressive qualities that reflect creators’/performers’ expressive intent.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.MU.1.17

Vocabulary

Rhythm
  • Quarter note, quarter rest, paired eighth notes
  • Strong/ weak beat
  • Steady beat/ rhythm
  • Allegro/ adagio
Melody
  • Pitch set: Mi, So, La
  • Steps/ skips/ repeated notes
  • Melodic direction
  • Modified staff
  • Line notes and space notes
Harmony/texture
  • Rhythmic ostinati
  • Simple bordun
Form
  • AB, ABA
Expression
  • Legato, staccato
  • Piano (p), forte (f)
  • Classroom instrument classifications
  • Clarinet, trombone, cello, drum
  • Orchestral music: ballet
  • Non-Western music celebrations
Other
  • Proper singing posture
  • Age-appropriate pitch matching (C4 - C5)1
  • Mallet/ drumming technique — hands together

Essential Questions

EU: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
EQ: How do we discern musical creators' and performers' expressive intent?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Select appropriate music for specific events such as school festivals, community events, and class or grade level performances.
Creating
  • Create a rhythmic ostinato that reflects the style of the music performed (ex: finger cymbals/lullaby).
Reading/ Writing
  • Identify repeated rhythmic passages in music and notate using iconic notation (ex: rhythm of repeated melodic phrase in "In the Hall of the Mountain King").
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Aurally identify clarinet, trombone, and cello in the context of an ensemble performance.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 2 - Music

AE17.MU.2.17

Demonstrate knowledge of music concepts and how they support creators’/performers’ expressive intent.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.MU.2.17

Vocabulary

Rhythm
  • Eighth note, eighth rest, half note, half rest, whole note, whole rest
  • Strong/ weak beat — 2/4; 3/4 meter
  • Accelerando/ ritardando
Melody
  • Pitch Set: Do, Re, Mi, So, La
  • Five-line staff
  • Treble clef
  • Names of lines/ spaces (treble staff)
Harmony
  • Melodic ostinati
  • Partner songs
Form
  • AAB, AABA, Rondo
  • Verse/ Refrain
Expression
  • Orchestral instrument families
  • Piano (p), forte (f)
  • Crescendo/ decrescendo
  • Orchestral Music: programmatic
  • Indigenous music: Native American
  • American music: slave songs, colonial folk songs
Other
  • Age-appropriate pitch matching (B3-D5)1
  • Mallet/ drumming technique: alternating hands

Essential Questions

EU: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
EQ: How do we discern musical creators' and performers' expressive intent?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Demonstrate understanding of musical intent when performing, through attention to expressive markings.
Creating
  • Demonstrate understanding of cultural authenticity by performing music with appropriate stylistic expression
Reading/ Writing
  • Identify repeat signs and multiple verses in a verse/refrain song
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Explain musical decisions that contribute to the expressive intent of the music.
  • Describe the context of lyrics in a verse/refrain song.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 3 - Music

AE17.MU.3.18

Demonstrate and describe how expressive qualities are used in performers’ interpretations to reflect expressive intent.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.MU.3.18

Vocabulary

Rhythm
  • Bar lines
  • Measures
      • Melody
      • Pitch set: Low So, Low La, High Do
      • Treble clef reading (Mi, Re, Do)
      • Middle C to high G
      • Ledger lines
      Harmony
      • Partner songs
      • Rounds
      • Ostinati
      Form
      • Theme and variations
      • Coda
      • D.S. al coda
      • Repeat sign
      • Fermata
      Expression
      • Phrase/ phrasing
      • Pianissimo (pp), fortissimo (ff)
      Other
      • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
      • Orchestral instruments: 4 families
      • Age-appropriate pitch matching (Bb3 - Eb5)

Essential Questions

EU: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
EQ: How do we discern musical creators' and performers' expressive intent?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Using movement, manipulatives, or visual representation, demonstrate and describe how specific music concepts are used to support a specific purpose in music (such as different sections, selected orchestral, band, folk, or ethnic instruments).
Creating
  • Express melodic contour through movement.
Reading/ Writing
  • When analyzing selected music, read and perform rhythmic patterns and/or melodic phrases with voice, body percussion, and/or instruments, using iconic or standard notation.
  • Develop criteria and use them to critique their own performances and the performances of others.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Identify and respond to simple music forms (e.g., AB, ABA).
  • Identify elements of music using appropriate vocabulary.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 4 - Music

AE17.MU.4.18

Demonstrate and explain how expressive qualities, including dynamics and tempo, are used in performers’ and personal interpretations to reflect expressive intent.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.MU.4.18

Vocabulary

Rhythm
  • Conducting patterns in
  • Syncopation
Melody
  • Pitch set: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, Ti
  • Treble clef reading (La, So, Mi, Re, Do)
  • Middle C through High B
  • Create melodic sequences
  • Half-step
  • Whole step
Harmony
  • Canons
  • Chord components
  • Chord progression (I, V)
  • Crossover bordun
Form
  • Phrasing: antecedent and consequent
  • D.C. al coda
  • Fine
Expression
  • pp through ff
Other
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
  • Orchestra instruments within the 4 families
  • Age-appropriate pitch matching (A3-E5)

Essential Questions

EU: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
EQ: How do we discern musical creators' and performers' expressive intent?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Demonstrate and explain how specific music concepts (such as form, timbre, etc.) are used to support a specific purpose in music (such as social and cultural contexts) through various means (such as manipulatives, movement, and/or pictorial representation).
Creating
  • Develop criteria and use them to critique their own performances and the performances of others.
Reading/ Writing
  • Evaluate musical works and performances, applying established criteria, citing evidence from the elements of music.
  • When analyzing selected music, read and perform rhythmic patterns and/or melodic phrases with voice, body percussion, and/or instruments, using iconic or standard notation.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the elements of music applied to a listening example using teacher-given vocabulary (such as different sections of complex forms, teacher-selected orchestral instruments, etc.).
  • Explain how the elements and subject matter of music connect with disciplines outside the arts.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 5 - Music

AE17.MU.5.18

Demonstrate and explain how expressive qualities, including dynamics, tempo, and articulation, are used in performers’ and personal interpretations to reflect expressive intent.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.MU.5.18

Vocabulary

Rhythm
Melody
  • Pitch set: Do-centered diatonic
  • Treble clef reading (choral octavos)
  • Grand staff
  • Bass clef
  • Accidentals
  • Major scale
Harmony
  • Part singing/ playing
  • Chord progression (I, IV, V)
  • Arpeggio
  • Descant
  • Level bordun
Form
  • Rondo form
  • 12-Bar blues
Expression
  • Vibrato
  • Tremolo
  • Reggae
  • Blues
  • Timbre: soprano, alto, tenor, bass
Other
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
  • Age-appropriate pitch matching (Ab3-F5)

Essential Questions

EU: Through their use of elements and structures of music, creators and performers provide clues to their expressive intent.
EQ: How do we discern musical creators' and performers' expressive intent?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Analyze the formal structure of music that is to be performed.
  • Identify elements of music to be performed for a specific context (for example, dynamic markings that are appropriate for a lullaby).
Creating
  • Choose a literary work, such as a poem or story, to generate musical ideas for performance.
Reading/ Writing
  • Examine performance music for expressive elements, and use correct notation to indicate placement.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Justify personal preferences for certain musical pieces, performance, composers and musical genres both orally and in writing.
  • Discuss contributions of musical elements to aesthetic qualities in performances of self and others.
  • Consider and articulate the influence of technology on music careers.
  • Develop and apply criteria for critiquing more complex performances of live and recorded music.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Link to Resource
https://www.carnegiehall.org/Education/Programs/Music-Educators-Toolbox/Resourc…

CR Resource Type

Learning Activity

Resource Provider

Carnegie Hall
Accessibility
License

License Type

Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike

Approved Date

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