Learning Activity

Creating a Program for a Music Concert

Subject Area

Arts Education

Grade(s)

8

Overview

School-based music ensembles perform concerts at various times during the school year. In this activity, students will create a program for an upcoming concert by one of their school's ensembles. Students will compare and contrast how the elements of music and expressive qualities are used within the music selected for performance to contribute to the overall structure and intent of the concert. In creating the program document, students will also address the specific purpose of the concert, interests of the audience, and the educational experience of the event.

This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.

Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 8 - Music

AE17.MU.8.15

Select programs of music and demonstrate the connections to an interest or experience for a specific purpose.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.MU.8.15

Vocabulary

Rhythm
  • Tension and release
  • Phrase
  • Notation (standard, iconic, technological)
Melody
  • Tension and release
  • Phrase
  • Notation (standard, iconic, technological)
Harmony
  • Texture
  • Tension and release
  • Sequence
  • Notation (standard, iconic, technological)
Form
  • Arrangement
  • Song structure
  • Expanded forms
  • Introduction
  • Transition
  • Coda
  • Style
  • Genre
  • Structure
Expression
  • Timbre
  • Balance
Other
  • Sound sources (instruments, voices, found sounds, & technology)
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquettes

Essential Questions

EU: Individuals' selection of musical works is influenced by their interests, experiences, understandings, and purposes.
EQ: How do individuals choose music to experience?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Perform a program of music that is for a specific purpose, interest, or experience and explain your choices.
  • Perform music from a variety of cultures, styles, historical time periods, or genres and discuss how personal interpretation and the composer's use of the elements of music influence expressive intent.
  • Compare and contrast the context of music selected for performance.
Creating
  • Compare and contrast the context of three or more pieces of music created by self or peers and explain how the elements of music and expressive qualities were used in each piece.
  • Compare and contrast how the elements of music and expressive qualities are used in multiple pieces from the same time period and/or culture, and/or genre to create meaning and expression.
Reading/ Writing
  • Analyze music using standard notation and appropriate vocabulary.
  • Compare and contrast how the elements of music and expressive qualities are used within music selected for performance to contribute to the overall structure and intent.
    • Cite specific examples and use appropriate vocabulary.
  • Analyze music of a variety of cultures, styles, historical time periods, and/or genres and compare the context and/or intent of the pieces.
  • Compare common terms and how they are used in various pieces to demonstrate intent.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Compare and contrast programs of music for connections to history and culture.
  • Develop personal criteria based on personal knowledge and skills for including music in performance programs.
  • Develop personal criteria based on the elements of music for including music in performance programs.
  • Demonstrate (lecture, presentation, journal, etc.) how personal knowledge and experience contribute to enjoyment of music.
  • Identify how criteria based on the elements of music support personal preference for specific musical works.
  • Develop a rubric to evaluate musical performances and/or musical works based on personally developed criteria.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 6: Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
Arts Education (2017) Grade(s): 8 - Music

AE17.MU.8.16

Compare how the elements of music and expressive qualities relate to the structure within music programming.

Unpacked Content

UP:AE17.MU.8.16

Vocabulary

Rhythm
  • Tension and release
  • Phrase
  • Notation (standard, iconic, technological)
Melody
  • Tension and release
  • Phrase
  • Notation (standard, iconic, technological)
Harmony
  • Texture
  • Tension and release
  • Sequence
  • Notation (standard, iconic, technological)
Form
  • Arrangement
  • Song structure
  • Expanded forms
  • Introduction
  • Transition
  • Coda
  • Style
  • Genre
  • Structure
Expression
  • Timbre
  • Balance
Other
  • Sound sources (instruments, voices, found sounds, & technology)
  • Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquettes

Essential Questions

EU: Response to music is informed by analyzing context (social, cultural, and historical) and how creators and performers manipulate the elements of music.
EQ: How does understanding the structure and context of music inform a response?

Skills Examples

Performing
  • Perform a program of music that is for a specific purpose, interest, or experience and explain your choices.
  • Perform music from a variety of cultures, styles, historical time periods, or genres and discuss how personal interpretation and the composer's use of the elements of music influence expressive intent.
  • Compare and contrast the context of music selected for performance.
Creating
  • Compare and contrast the context of three or more pieces of music created by self or peers and explain how the elements of music and expressive qualities were used in each piece.
  • Compare and contrast how the elements of music and expressive qualities are used in multiple pieces from the same time period and/or culture, and/or genre to create meaning and expression.
Reading/ Writing
  • Analyze music using standard notation and appropriate vocabulary.
  • Compare and contrast how the elements of music and expressive qualities are used within music selected for performance to contribute to the overall structure and intent.
    • Cite specific examples and use appropriate vocabulary.
  • Analyze music of a variety of cultures, styles, historical time periods, and/or genres and compare the context and/or intent of the pieces.
  • Compare common terms and how they are used in various pieces to demonstrate intent.
Responding/ Evaluating
  • Compare and contrast programs of music for connections to history and culture.
  • Develop personal criteria based on personal knowledge and skills for including music in performance programs.
  • Develop personal criteria based on the elements of music for including music in performance programs.
  • Demonstrate (lecture, presentation, journal, etc.) how personal knowledge and experience contribute to enjoyment of music.
  • Identify how criteria based on the elements of music support personal preference for specific musical works.
  • Develop a rubric to evaluate musical performances and/or musical works based on personally developed criteria.

Anchor Standards

Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.

Phase

After/Explain/Elaborate
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

Students will create a concert program for a school-based ensemble that:

  • reflects the musical elements found in the performed works.
  • addresses the interest of the audience and the educational experience of the event.

Activity Details

Opening Strategy

  • The teacher will inform students about the various music ensembles at their school.
  • The teacher will provide students with the titles and composers of pieces that will be performed at the concert (a hypothetical ensemble or concert can be used if no ensemble is at the school).
  • The teacher will discuss other elements that may be included in the program such as date and time, thank you's, lyrics for songs, etc.
  • The teacher will provide a short demonstration of how to use Microsoft Word (or other word processing program) to create a bi-fold program.

Core Strategy

  • The students will explore the musical elements in the assigned pieces by listening to recordings or ensemble rehearsals.
  • The students will determine the performance order of the pieces and layout of the program.
  • The students will use Word to create a program for the concert.

Closing Strategy

  • The students will submit the programs to the music director for comments and criticisms.
  • One of the programs may be selected by the music director as the concert program for the actual event.
Assessment Strategies

Assessment Strategies

In order to share the rationales for their programming decisions, the students will provide a written paragraph that provides explanations of their decisions. The teacher will also evaluate the completed program.

Variation Tips

If the school has no music ensembles, the students or teacher could create hypothetical ensembles for the project. 

Background and Preparation

Background / Preparation

If the music teacher is not the ensemble director, the teacher should discuss the project with the ensemble director prior to assigning the project. The students should also have some working knowledge of a word processing software such as Word entering into this project.

Collect title and composer of each piece to be included in the program. 

Approved Date

Owner (Author)

mzelenak
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