Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Music Through the EARS of Beethoven

Subject Area

Arts Education

Grade(s)

3, 4, 5

Overview

Students will listen to Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 two times - once with earplugs and once without. They will compare and contrast the two experiences. They will compare and contrast the lives of Beethoven and Hellen Keller. They will compose two pieces of music - one while wearing earplugs and one without. They will perform both pieces for the class.  

    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 3 - Music

    AE17.MU.3.2

    Generate musical ideas (such as rhythms and melodies) within a given tonality and/or meter.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.3.2

    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: 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
    • 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
    • Use pitch and rhythm to improvise vocal, instrumental, and/or movement ideas within a context (such as question and answer phrases or simple accompaniment/ostinato).
    Reading/ Writing
    • Use iconic or standard notation and/or recording technology to sequence and document personal musical ideas.
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Demonstrate a final version of personal musical ideas using created vocal, instrumental, or movement pieces through performance.
    • Develop criteria to critique and refine selected musical examples.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 3 - Music

    AE17.MU.3.14

    Perform music with expression and technical accuracy.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.3.14

    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: Musicians judge performance based on criteria that vary across time, place, and cultures. The context and how a work is presented influence the audience response.
    EQ: When is a performance judged ready to present? How do context and the manner in which musical work is presented influence audience response?

    Skills Examples

    Performing
    • Sing a varied repertoire with accurate rhythm and pitch and expressive qualities individually and with others.
    • Sing, move and respond to music from diverse cultures.
    • Sing, move and respond to age-appropriate music of various composers.
    • Play a variety of classroom instruments with proper technique.
    Creating
    • Improvise and compose short compositions using a variety of classroom instruments and sound sources.
    • Create new words for familiar songs.
    Reading/ Writing
    • Read, write and perform using two-eighth through whole note values including rhythms in 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 meter.
    • Read, write and perform extended pentatonic melodies.
    Responding/ Evaluating
    • Use the head voice to produce a light, clear sound employing breath support and maintaining appropriate posture.
    • Develop criteria and use it to critique their own performances and the performances of others.

    Anchor Standards

    Anchor Standard 6: Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 4 - Music

    AE17.MU.4.2

    Generate musical ideas within related tonalities and meters.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.4.2

    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): 4 - Music

    AE17.MU.4.14

    Perform music, alone or with others, with expression and technical accuracy.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.4.14

    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: Musicians judge performance based on criteria that vary across time, place, and cultures. The context and how a work is presented influence the audience response.
    EQ: When is a performance judged ready to present? How do context and the manner in which musical work is presented influence audience response?

    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 6: Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 5 - Music

    AE17.MU.5.2

    Generate musical ideas within specific related tonalities, meters, and simple chord changes.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.5.2

    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.
    Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 5 - Music

    AE17.MU.5.14

    Perform music, alone or with others, with expression, technical accuracy, and appropriate interpretation.

    Unpacked Content

    UP:AE17.MU.5.14

    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: Musicians judge performance based on criteria that vary across time, place, and cultures. The context and how a work is presented influence the audience response.
    EQ: When is a performance judged ready to present? How do context and the manner in which musical work is presented influence audience response?

    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 6: Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
    Link to Resource

    CR Resource Type

    Lesson/Unit Plan

    Resource Provider

    San Francisco Symphony
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