Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Listen Up, Canada

Subject Area

Arts Education

Grade(s)

4, 5

Overview

Students will explore the life and music of Canadian composer, Raymond Murray Shafer. Students learn about R. Murray Schafer's soundscapes. "A soundscape is any collection of sounds, almost like a painting is a collection of visual attractions," says composer R. Murray Schafer. "When you listen carefully to the soundscape it becomes quite miraculous." David New's portrait of the renowned composer becomes a lesson unto itself, gracing viewers (and listeners) with a singular moment of interactive subjectivity. In this activity, students will listen to his music and compose with found sounds.  

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

    AE17.MU.4.1

    Improvise rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ideas, and explain connection to specific social and cultural purposes and contexts.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.4.1

    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 creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musicians' work emerge from a variety of sources.
    EQ: How do musicians generate creative ideas?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • With limited guidance, perform simple chord progressions on pitched instruments.
    • Play a variety of classroom instruments with proper technique.
    • Use the head voice to produce a light, clear sound employing breath support and maintaining appropriate posture.
    Creating
    • With limited guidance, improvise or compose a 2-4 measure musical idea, a pentatonic melody, or a rhythm pattern using age-appropriate note values.
    • Create vocal harmony using rounds, ostinati, canons and partner songs.
    Reading/ Writing
    • Use notation and/or recording technology to document personal musical ideas.
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Describe the way sound is produced by various instruments and the human voice.
    • Listen, identify and respond to music of different composers and world cultures.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 5 - Music

    AE17.MU.5.1

    Improvise rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ideas, and explain connection to specific social, cultural, and historical purposes and contexts.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.5.1

    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 creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musicians' work emerge from a variety of sources.
    EQ: How do musicians generate creative ideas?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • Improvise over standard folk songs using the pitch set: La, So, Mi, Re, and Do.
    • Improvise melodies in a major diatonic scale by singing or using a pitched instrument.
    • Compose melodies and accompaniments to songs, poems, stories, and dramatizations, using AB, ABA, and rondo forms.
    • Perform pre-written musical ideas.
    • Perform harmonic accompaniments using Orff instruments, Boomwhackers, electronic sources, or by any other appropriate harmonic instrument.
    • Notate simple rhythms and melodies within a specified meter and tonality.
    Creating
    • Create a 12-bar blues song using appropriate chordal structure and lyrics.
    • Explore and identify musical instruments from different historical periods and world cultures.
    Reading/ Writing
    • Write an original blues song.
    • Identify elements of music including tonality, dynamics, tempo and meter.
    • Identify patterns of whole and half steps in a major scale.
    • Compose 4 or 8 measure pieces using appropriate notation.
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Review and refine a composition.
    • Evaluate a performance, using appropriate vocabulary to describe strengths and weaknesses of the performance.
    • Listen to, identify, and respond to music of different composers, historical periods, and world cultures.
    • Identify terms related to form.
    • Recognize and identify longer music forms such as 12-bar blues, sonata form and theme and variations.
    • Identify vocal timbre as soprano, alto, tenor, or bass.
    • Write short self-reflections about his/her composition and the creative process.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
    Link to Resource

    CR Resource Type

    Lesson/Unit Plan

    Resource Provider

    National Arts Centre

    Resource Provider other

    National Arts Centre
    Accessibility

    Accessibility

    Text Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings
    License

    License Type

    Custom
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