ALEX Classroom Resource

Artistic Process: Creating

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

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

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

Performing

• Chant, move, play, and sing grade level skills.
• Echo simple rhythmic patterns.
• Echo a three-pitch melodic pattern using the correct syllables and hand signs.

Creating

• Perform an improvised rhythmic pattern within a framework of four beats.
• Perform an improvised melodic pattern on a pitched percussion instrument set to the pentatonic scale within a framework of four beats.
• Improvise short songs and instrumental pieces using a variety of sound sources, including traditional or classroom sounds, body percussion, and sounds produced by electronic means.
• Explore musical sources freely using found sounds, electronic sounds, or sounds from voice or instruments found in classroom, remembering to use sound and silence.

Reading/ Writing

• Create a visual representation of sound.

Responding/ Evaluating

• Respond to a musical call or question with an age- appropriate musical answer.
• Evaluate peer performance to determine steady beat/no steady beat.

Artistic Process: Creating

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Process Components: Imagine

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

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

Performing

• Perform original rhythmic compositions containing quarter note, quarter rest, paired eighth notes.
• Perform original melodic compositions containing quarter note, quarter rest, paired eighth notes and using the pitches mi/so/la.

Creating

• Improvise 4-beat melodic phrases containing mi/so/la, both vocally and on pitched percussion instruments.
• Construct 4-beat rhythmic patterns using manipulatives, such as note cards, popsicle sticks, or blocks.

Reading/ Writing

• Read 4-beat melodic phrases on a modified staff on which mi is indicated.
• Notate from dictation 4-beat rhythm phrases using manipulatives such as note cards, popsicle sticks, or blocks.
• Identify melodic patterns on a modified staff when played on a pitched instrument.

Responding/ Evaluating

• Create rubric for evaluation of peer compositions.
• With guidance, apply peer suggestions to personal compositions. Select an original composition for performance.

Artistic Process: Creating

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Process Components: Imagine

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

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

Performing

• Perform original melodic patterns in do pentatonic as an introduction to a known song.
• Perform original rhythmic patterns on body percussion or unpitched percussion, containing eighth note, eighth rest, half note, half rest, whole note, whole rest, as an introduction to a known chant.

Creating

• Create a melody on pitched instruments using speech rhythms from a selected poem.
• Improvise with a partner in question/answer style, using pitched or unpitched percussion instruments.

Reading/ Writing

• Notate speech rhythms from a selected poem, using iconic or standard notation.
• Using music composition software, create an original composition based on a personally selected topic.

Responding/ Evaluating

• Refine compositions based on self-evaluation of a recorded performance.
• Indicate dynamic markings for original compositions.

Artistic Process: Creating

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Process Components: Imagine

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

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)

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.

Artistic Process: Creating

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Process Components: Imagine

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

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)

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.

Artistic Process: Creating

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Process Components: Imagine

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

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)

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.