Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Theme and Variation

Subject Area

Arts Education

Grade(s)

4, 5

Overview

Students will create a theme and variations using a simple sentence.  Students will compare and contrast themes and variations while listening to Mozart's variations on "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."  Listening examples are provided. 

    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 4 - Music

    AE17.MU.4.11

    Demonstrate and explain how intent is conveyed through interpretive decisions and expressive qualities.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.4.11

    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: Performers make interpretive decisions based on their understanding of context and expressive intent
    EQ: How do performers interpret musical works?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • Sing, move and respond to music from world cultures and different composers.
    • Sing a varied repertoire with accurate rhythm, pitch and expressive qualities individually and with others.
    Creating
    • With limited guidance, Improvise and compose short compositions using a variety of classroom instruments and sound sources.
    Reading/ Writing
    • Read, write and perform using rhythm patterns that include syncopated rhythms, in 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 meter.
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Use the head voice to produce a light, clear sound employing breath support and maintaining appropriate posture.
    • Use student developed criteria to critique their own performances and the performances of others.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 4: Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.
    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): 4 - Music

    AE17.MU.4.19

    Evaluate musical works and performances, applying established criteria, and explain appropriateness to the context.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.4.19

    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: The personal evaluation of musical works and performances is informed by analysis, interpretation, and established criteria.
    EQ: How do we judge the quality of musical work(s) and performance(s)?

    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.5.11

    Demonstrate and explain how intent is conveyed through interpretive decisions and expressive qualities that reflect stylistic performance practices.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.5.11

    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: Performers make interpretive decisions based on their understanding of context and expressive intent
    EQ: How do performers interpret musical works?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • Sing a varied repertoire with accurate rhythm and pitch, appropriate expressive qualities, proper posture and breath control.
    • Sing intervals on pitch within a major diatonic scale.
    • Perform melodies on recorder while reading standard and/or iconic music notation.
    • Perform, on instruments, a varied repertoire with accurate rhythm and pitch, appropriate expressive qualities, proper posture and breath control.
    • Sing partner songs to create harmony.
    • Sight-read and prepare a performance.
    Creating
    • Demonstrate appropriate use of legato and staccato in a song.
    • Create a personal playlist and explain why each piece was selected.
    • Improvise, compose and arrange music.
    • Use technology and the media arts to create and perform music.
    Reading/ Writing
    • Read, write, and perform rhythms in 2/4, 3/4.
    • 4/4. and 6/8 meter signatures using whole notes through sixteenth notes, including dotted notes.
    • Read, write and perform diatonic melodies and the major scale on the treble clef staff.
    • Identify tempo markings such as allegro, presto, largo, and andante.
    • Identify ledger-line notes A, B, and C above the treble clef staff.
    • Identify whole and half steps of the major diatonic scale in printed music.
    • Recognize the difference between major and minor tonalities.
    • Write program notes to accompany performances.
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Discuss melodic and harmonic elements used in a piece of music.
    • Explain how a performer performs a piece of music differently when he/she knows the social, cultural, or historical background of the piece, (e.g., How does knowing the history of the American Civil Rights Movement affect the performance of "We Shall Overcome?"
    • Demonstrate appropriate audience etiquette at live performances.
    • Write performance reviews of performances.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 4: Select, analyze, and interpret artistic work for presentation.
    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.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 5 - Music

    AE17.MU.5.19

    Evaluate musical works and performances, applying established criteria, and explain appropriateness to the context, citing evidence from the elements of music.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.5.19

    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: The personal evaluation of musical works and performances is informed by analysis, interpretation, and established criteria.
    EQ: How do we judge the quality of musical work(s) and performance(s)?

    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

    CR Resource Type

    Learning Activity

    Resource Provider

    Other

    Resource Provider other

    Carnegie Hall
    Accessibility
    License

    License Type

    BY-NC-SA
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