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Beginning Choral Ensemble
The Beginning Choral Ensemble is an elective course that is available without audition to
students in grades nine through twelve. Members of the Beginning Choral Ensemble will
build a strong foundation of choral singing technique and will begin to perform choral music
in three or more parts with a difficulty of level two or three.
Category
Minimum Standard
Virginia
Standard of
Learning
Singing, alone and
with others
The beginning choral student will:
Sing with pitch accuracy and appropriate diction, posture, and
tone quality throughout their ranges.
HCB.3
Sing with good breath control throughout their ranges. HCB.3
Sing selections with a difficulty level of two or three from
memory with expression and technical accuracy.
HCB.3
Sing music representing various styles and periods in three or more parts.
HCB.7.1
Respond to basic conducting gestures.
HCB.4.6
Practice appropriate concert etiquette as an involved performer.
HCB.7.6
Practice appropriate concert behavior as an involved listener.
HCB.7.6
Suggested Activities:
Teach intervals and routinely sing scales and patterns.
Practice singing unaccompanied or with minimal accompaniment to
help in developing relative pitch (especially in warm-up activities).
Teach the concept of internalizing the pitch before externalizing.
Utilize rhythm flash cards to the beat of popular and classic instrumental
music.
Have students conduct varied patterns with director to help understand
change in tempo and articulation.
Sing on risers on the stage multiple times during the year in addition to the
time used on stage to prepare for concerts.
Improvisation/
Composition
The advanced choral student will:
Create variations of familiar melodic phrases.
HCB.2.5
Compose rhythmic exercises using traditional notations.
HCB.2.5
Arrange an accompaniment for a given melody. HCB.2
Suggested Activities:
Include opportunities for students to improvise variations on warm-up exercises with which they are familiar.
Encourage students to improvise variations on solo sections within the choral pieces that they are currently rehearsing
Allow students to improvise variations on ostinato patterns in the harmony parts within the choral pieces that they are currently rehearsing.
Lead students in tapping or speaking eight beat rhythmic phrases in a
call-and response style by section. Then have students write their own
eight beat answers using quarter notes and quarter rests. Repeat the call-
and-response exercises with an individual student performing the
answer that he or she has written. Repeat the exercise in subsequent
rehearsals adding more variety of notes and rests to the answers.
Teach students a basic body percussion pattern to accompany a section
in a choral selection that they are currently rehearsing. Encourage the
students to experiment with their own body percussion patterns and
perform a new arrangement of the accompaniment in subsequent
rehearsals.
Fundamentals of
Music Theory
The beginning choral student will:
Rhythm Understand and recognize values for whole, half, eighth, sixteenth,
and dotted notes and rests in simple time.
HCB.1.2
Sight-read patterns accurately, with a level of difficulty level of
one, two or three, using syllables or numbers.
HCB.1.5
Respond to clear and basic conducting gestures in simple time.
HCB.4.6
Understand and recognize tied notes and slurs, pick-up notes and
syncopation.
HCB.1
Melody
Recognize melodic contour as well as similar and contrasting phrases.
HCB.2.3
Sight-sing patterns accurately, with a level of difficulty of one,
two or three, using solfeggio syllables or numbers.
HCB.1
Read melodies in both treble and bass clefs.
HCB.1
Harmony Analyze 2 and 3 part selections.
HCB.1, HCB.2
Understand and recognize chord structure, using correct terms.
HCB.2.4
Understand and identify key signatures.
HCB.1.4, HCB.2.2
Distinguish between monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic textures. HCB.2.4
Form Study AB and ABA forms, variations and through-composed literature.
Follow vocal parts and interpret musical symbols.
HCB.1
Score Reading Identify and define musical terms.
HCB.1, HCB.2
Identify the corresponding symbols for these terms, referring to
dynamics, tempo, articulation, and expression.
HCB.4, HCB.1
Suggested Activities:
Clap and sing rhythmic examples using the Kodaly method.
Subdivide the beat vocally.
Write in rhythmic counts in selected measures of music. Then
perform each part on counts.
Practice conducting in simple meter with changing tempo and
articulation.
Sight-sing diatonic and arpeggiated exercises.
Aural Analyzing
and Evaluating
The beginning choral student will:
Develop and apply criteria for evaluating all aspects of choral
performances using appropriate terminology.
Analyze the various elements of music in the choral selections that are
currently being rehearsed.
Suggested activities:
Write a choral music term of the day on the board for each rehearsal.
Discuss the term briefly and instruct the students to keep a vocabulary
list of the terms and their definitions. Ask the students to indicate
points in that day‘s rehearsal at which the ensemble demonstrates that
term.
Listen to recordings or attend live performances of choral ensembles at
varying levels of proficiency. Develop an assessment tool using correct
musical terminology that is taken from your term of the day list and
have students use the assignment and terms to evaluate these
performances. Then discuss their evaluations.
Apply the same terminology to recordings of the ensemble
itself in rehearsal or performance.
Inter-disciplinary
Understanding
The beginning choral student will:
Describe ways in which the subject matter of music, such as history,
expression and text, and acoustics and vocal production, are
interrelated with those of other disciplines that are taught at school.
HCB.7
Explore careers in music.
HCB.7.4
Describe the distinguishing characteristics of a musical style and its
corresponding period in history.
HCB.7.1
Compare the roles that music and musicians play in diverse world
cultures.
HCB.7.2
Suggested activities:
Coordinate with the Social Studies Department to listen to, analyzed,
and perform choral music selections from, about, or in the style of,
music that was composed in the historical periods that are being
discussed in the Social Studies classes.
Take a field trip to a local recording studio or radio station and discuss the
music related career opportunities that are available in each setting.
Study and perform music from at least two different historical periods
of music. Discuss the evolution of music, from one period to the next,
including a variety of styles.
Study great composers from different periods and styles of music,
ultimately being able to classify the period, the composer and style
from the work being performed.
Perform multicultural pieces, possible displaying the talents of students
from these cultures.
Research the roles of men and women in music from around the world.
Advanced Choral Ensemble
The Advanced Choral Ensemble is an elective course that is available by audition to students
in grades nine through twelve. Members of the Advanced Choral Ensemble will continue to
develop a high quality of choral singing through the performance of choral music in four or
more parts with a difficulty level of three of four.
Category
Minimum Standard
Virginia
Standard of
Learning
Singing, alone and
with others
The advanced choral student will:
Continue to sing with pitch accuracy and appropriate diction,
posture, and tone quality throughout their ranges.
HCI.3
Continue to sing with good breath control throughout their ranges. HCI.3
Sing selections with a difficulty level of three or higher
from memory with expression and technical accuracy.
HCI.3
Sing music representing various styles and periods in four or more parts.
Respond to complex conducting patterns and interpretive gestures.
HCI.4.6
Continue to practice appropriate concert etiquette as an involved
performer.
HCI.7.8
Continue to practice appropriate concert behavior as an involved
listener.
HCI.7.8
Suggested Activities:
Routinely sing scales and patterns other than major/minor (i.e.,
whole-tone, pentatonic, and chromatic).
Practice singing unaccompanied or with minimal accompaniment
to assist in developing relative pitch (especially in warm-up
activities).
On a weekly basis, have students lead warm-ups in class,
emphasizing good listening skills and creativity.
Improvisation/
Composition
The advanced choral student will:
Create variations of familiar songs.
HCI.2
Improvise simple harmony lines to familiar melodies. HCI.2
Compose rhythmic exercises and short melodies using traditional notations.
HCI.2
Arrange a harmony part or a countermelody to a given melody.
HCI.2
Suggested Activities:
Use simple, familiar canons (i.e., Dona Nobis Pacem, Frere’
Jacques) as warm-up exercises and encourage individual students
to create variations on the melody. The other students in the
ensemble can then repeat the variation as a canon.
For refreshment breaks during rehearsals, teach students the melodies from familiar- oldies (i.e. Goin’ to the Chapel, The Shoop Shoop Song, A Teenager in Love). Encourage students to improvise harmonies after they have become familiar with the melodies.
Give students a major scale and instruct them to write a simple
ascending or descending phrase to use as a warm-up exercise. In
subsequent rehearsals have students write a second, and then a third,
phrase to lengthen their melody. Photocopy these original melodies
and use them as sight-singing exercises for the ensemble.
Give students a short, familiar melody and instruct them to write a
harmony line using only consonant intervals. Photocopy the melody
and original harmony lines and use them as two-part sight-singing
exercises for the ensemble.
Fundamentals of
Music Theory
The advanced choral student will:
Rhythm Understand and recognize values for whole, half, eighth, sixteenth,
and dotted notes and rests in simple and compound time.
HCI.1.2
Sight-read patterns accurately, with a level of difficulty level of
three or higher using syllables or numbers.
HCI.1.4
Respond to complex conducting patterns in simple and compound time,
and changing meter.
HCI.1.5, HCI.4.6
Continue to recognize and accurately perform tied notes and slurs, pick-
up notes and syncopation in the style that is appropriate to the musical
selection.
HCI.4.2
Melody Recognize melodic contour as well as similar and contrasting phrases.
HCI.2
Sight-sing patterns accurately, with a level of difficulty of a three
or higher using solfeggio syllables or numbers.
HCI.1.4
Sight-sing a four-part score.
HCAD.1.4
Continue to read melodies in both treble and bass clefs. HCI.1.9
Harmony Analyze four or more part selections.
HCI.1
Continue to understand and recognize chord structure, using correct
terms. (Include subdominants, sevenths, and inversions.)
Understand and identify major and minor key signatures. HCI.1.3
Distinguish between monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic textures.
Form Study AB and ABA forms, variations and through-composed literature.
HCI.2.3
Follow vocal parts and interpret musical symbols.
HCI.1
Score Reading Identify and define musical terms.
HCI.1
Identify the corresponding symbols for these terms, referring to
dynamics, tempo, articulation, and expression.
HCI.1
Suggested Activities:
Clap and sing rhythmic examples using the Kodaly method.
Subdivide the beat vocally.
Write in rhythmic counts in selected measures of music. Then perform
each part on counts.
Study the circle of fifths in both major and minor keys.
Sight-sing diatonic and arpeggiated exercises, and exercises with leaps
of fourths, sixths, sevenths and octaves.
Practice following changing meter in simple and compound times in
warm-up exercises.
Direct the class in student written sight-singing exercises, being sure to
note the key signature and time signature.
Aural
Analyzing and
Evaluating
The advanced choral student will:
Continue to develop and apply criteria for evaluating all aspects of choral performances using appropriate terminology.
HCI.8
Analyze recorded examples of choral selections that are currently
being rehearsed by describing the various musical elements and
expressive devices that area contained in those selections.
HCI.9
Suggested Activities:
Building on the term of the day list (see ―Beginning Choral Ensemble
Suggested Activities), have the students develop a checklist of the
various elements of music involved in choral singing and the correct
musical terminology, which is used to describe the quality of each
element.
Use the checklists that were written by the students to analyze each
choral selection that the ensemble is currently rehearsing. Have the
students check off the qualitative terms that will be their goals in
performing each selection. Periodically, as the rehearsals progress,
record the ensemble‘s performance. Play back the recording and have
the students evaluate it using the same checklist.
Use the checklist to evaluate recordings of other choral groups that
are performing the same or a similar selection.
Inter-disciplinary
Understanding
The advanced choral student will:
Examine characteristics of the various arts within a particular
historical period and form cultural perspectives.
HCI.7
Explore careers in music. HCI.7.5
Describe the distinguishing characteristics of a musical style and its
corresponding period in history.
HCI.7.1
Compare the roles that music and musicians play in diverse world
cultures.
HCI.7.3
Compare the musical styles from different historical periods. HCI.7.1
Suggested Activities:
Using a selection that the ensemble is currently reh
Using a selection that the ensemble is currently rehearsing, discuss the
major influences, historical events and constraints, prevailing religious
and philosophical views, and mediums that influenced the arts within
the historical period in which the selection was written. Examine
selected works of art, architecture, and literature from that same period
of history and discuss how the historical factors affected each of the art
forms of the period.
Invite the conductor or principal vocal soloist from a local professional
or University choral ensemble to visit the class and discuss his or her
education, daily preparation, and work-related responsibilities. Take
the class on a field trip to sit in on a rehearsal or performance of that
ensemble.
Study and perform music from at lest three different historical periods.
Discuss the evolution of music, from one period to the next, including
a variety of styles.
Study great composers from different periods and styles of music,
ultimately being able to classify the period, the composer and style
from the work being performed.
Perform multicultural pieces, possible displaying the talents of students
from these cultures.
Research the roles of men and women in music from around the world.
Show Choir
The Show Choir is an elective course that is available by vocal and dance auditions to
students in grades nine through twelve. Members of the Show Choir will develop movement
skills and continue to develop advanced choral singing technique through the study and
performance of choral music in jazz, pop, and Broadway styles. The members of the show
Choir will perform choral music in at least four parts with a difficulty level of three or higher.
Category
Minimum Standard
Virginia
Standard of
Learning
Singing, alone and
with others, a
varied repertoire
The show choir student will:
Sing while performing choreographed movements with varying levels
of difficulty.
HCAR.3.10, HCAR.5
Sing with pitch accuracy and appropriate diction, correct posture, good
tone quality and intonation throughout their ranges, while incorporating
choreography into the musical selections.
HCAR.3
Sing with good breath control throughout their ranges, while
performing a variety of choreographed movements.
HCAR.3
Sing selections with a difficulty level of three or higher from memory
with expression and technical accuracy.
HCAR.3.11
Demonstrate and apply the knowledge of correct vocal production and
the understanding of the physique of the voice as an instrument.
HCAR.3
Sing music representing various styles and historical periods in four or
more parts.
HCAR.3.10
Perform with a variety of accompaniments.
HCAR.3.10
Continue to practice appropriate concert etiquette as an involved
performer.
a.
HCAD.6
Continue to practice appropriate concert behavior as an involved
listener.
HCAR.7.7
Suggested Activities:
Sing choral arrangements in a variety of musical styles, including but
not limited to, popular, rock and roll, jazz, swing, and Latin styles.
Attend choreography workshops offered to teachers and/or students.
As an end of the year project, have students choreograph a simple vocal
arrangement.
Incorporate movement into warm-up activities, emphasizing good
breath control, blend, and balance between parts.
Listen to the original composition of the music being studied. Analyze
which elements of music are the similar and which are different from
the arrangement that the class will perform.
Improvisation/
Composition
The show choir student will:
Improvise original melodies over chord progressions in jazz, pop, and
Broadway styles.
HCAR.3.10
Improvise more complex harmonies, which are appropriate to the styles
of specific choral selections.
HCAR.6.1
Compose longer melodies using traditional and nontraditional notations.
HCAR.6.1, HCAR.2.2
Arrange a melody using teacher-specified rhythms or notation.
Suggested Activities:
Use four part chord progressions sung on neutral syllables as warm-up
exercises. Encourage students to improvise original melodies over the
progressions, as they become familiar with them. Record these
improvisations and notate some of the outstanding ones. Add lyrics
written by the students to these four part melodies and use them as
warm-ups or encores for performances.
Using a choral selection that the ensemble is currently rehearsing,
discuss the stylistic components of the harmonies that are used by the
composer or arranger. Subsequently, teach the ensemble a melody in
the same style and encourage students to improvise harmony parts that
are similar in style to those that you have already discussed. In
subsequent rehearsals, the ensemble will sing the melody with this new
harmony part while another student improvises a third harmony line.
Show students pieces of music that are written in nontraditional
notations. Include jazz charts and guitar tablature. Analyze each
example with the students. Instruct each student to create a melody
using his or her own nontraditional notation system or one of the
nontraditional notations that you have analyzed in class. Divide
students into groups of two or three and have them explain their new
notation systems to each other. In subsequent rehearsals, have the
students in each group try to sing or play the other students‘ melodies
in this new notation.
D Discuss some of the rhythmic techniques that are used by the composer
or arranger in one of the choral selections that the ensemble is currently
rehearsing (i.e., augmentation, diminution, syncopation). Discuss the
effects that each of these rhythmic techniques suggests for
choreographing movement. Give the students a melody and ask them to
write a new arrangement of it using that same rhythmic technique.
Photocopy the arrangements and use them for sight-singing exercises.
Fundamentals of
Music Theory
The show choir student will:
Rhythm Understand and recognize values for whole, half, eighth, sixteenth,
and dotted notes and rests in simple and compound time.
HCAR.1.2
Sight-read patterns accurately, with a level of difficulty level of
three or higher using syllables or numbers.
HCAR.1.4
Recognize and accurately perform tied notes and slurs, pick-up notes
and syncopation in a style appropriate to the musical selection.
HCAR.1.2, HCAR.4.3
Melody Recognize melodic contour as well as similar and contrasting phrases.
HCAR.2
Sight-sing patterns accurately, with a level of difficulty of a three
or higher using solfeggio syllables or numbers.
HCAR.1
Continue to read melodies in both treble and bass clefs. HCAR.1
Harmony Analyze four or more part selections.
HCAR.1
Continue to understand and recognize chord structure, using correct terms. HCAR.1
Understand and identify key signatures. HCAR.1.3
Distinguish between monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic textures.
Form Study AB and ABA forms, variations and through-composed literature.
HCI.2.3
Follow vocal parts and interpret musical symbols.
HCAR.1.1
Score Reading Identify and define musical terms.
HCAR.1
Identify the corresponding symbols for these terms, referring to
dynamics, tempo, articulation, and expression.
HCAR.1.1
Suggested Activities:
Clap and sing rhythmic examples using the Kodaly method.
Subdivide the beat vocally.
Write in rhythmic counts in selected measures of music. Then
perform each part on counts.
Study the circle of fifths in both Major and minor keys.
Sight-sing diatonic and arpeggiated exercises.
Create warm-up exercises that compliment the music being studied.
For example, to introduce syncopated rhythms in a jazz piece, the
teacher may echo-sing offbeat patterns to students.
Build chords vocally from the root of the chord up, and then accurately
transfer the chords performed to paper. This emphasizes listening and
intonation as well as understanding how chords are written.
Aural Analyzing
and Evaluating
Continue to refine criteria for evaluation and offer constructive
suggestions for personal and group performance and composition.
HCAR.8.1
Evaluate specified musical works and explain how the various
elements of music are used in them to evoke human response.
HCAR.8, HCAR.9
Create and perform choreography in conjunction with selected
choral pieces.
HCAR. 5
Suggested Activities:
Using student-constructed checklists (See --Advanced Choral
Ensemble Suggested Activities‖), have the students write a list of
constructive exercises that could be used to address difficulties with
the performance of each of the elements (i.e., to address singing under
the pitch, students might visualize the pitch as a helium balloon
rising). Then have the students use this list of ideas to offer
constructive suggestions as they evaluate group and ensemble
performances.
Listen to recordings of choral ensembles or use the ensemble’s own
current performance or rehearsal as a basis for a discussion of the
emotions that are evoked by a specific musical work. Discuss how
specific elements of music, (i.e., dynamics, tempo, timbre) are used by
the composer to evoke these specific emotions.
Watch excerpts from movies, television shows, or music videos and
discuss why the specific music and choreography might have been
chosen by the director to accompany the dialogue, the lyrics or the
visual images. Have the students discuss the use of various elements
of music to evoke the emotions that the director was hoping to touch in
his or her work.
Inter-disciplinary
Understanding
The show choir student will:
Investigate and describe in significant detail additional
interrelationships between choral music and other subjects such as
foreign language, computers, and science.
HCAR.7
Explore careers in music. HCAR.7.5
Describe the distinguishing characteristics of a musical style and its
corresponding period in history.
HCAR.7.1
Compare the roles that music and musicians play in diverse world
cultures.
HCAR.7.3
Compare the musical styles from different historical periods. HCAR.7.1
Suggested Activities:
Listen to or perform a choral piece with computer-generated
accompaniment or voices. Use keyboards and music software to allow
the students to experiment with computer generated sounds. Record
some of their compositions and use them as preconcert or intermission
music at the ensemble‘s next performance.
Invite a choreographer or musical theatre performer to visit the class
and discuss their daily preparation, education, work schedule, etc.
Include one of these guests in your next concert or arrange to have the
ensemble perform with them in their next performance.
Visit a local hospital, rehabilitation center, or nursing home and
observe a music therapist at work. Invite the therapist to visit the class
and teach the students some Basic music therapy techniques. Include a
discussion of the therapist‘s education, work schedule, etc.
Take a field trip to a local music store or music publishing house.
Discuss the many business- related careers that are involved in music
publishing and sales. In a later rehearsal, discuss each career that is
involved in the creation, production, and sale of a selection that the
Show Choir is currently rehearsing.
Study and perform music from at least three different historical
periods. Discuss the evolution of music, from one period to the next,
including a variety of styles.
Study great composers from different periods and styles of music,
ultimately being able to classify the period, the composer and the style
of the work being performed.
Perform multicultural pieces, possibly displaying the talents of
students from these cultures.
Research the roles of men and women in music from around the
world.
Small Vocal Ensemble
The Small Vocal Ensemble is an elective that is only available by audition to students that are
grades nine through twelve. Members of the Small Vocal Ensemble will develop advance
choral singing technique through the performance of choral music in four or more parts within
a small ensemble setting. This ensemble will perform choral selections with a difficulty level
of four or higher.
Category
Minimum Standard
Virginia
Standard of
Learning
Singing, alone and
with others, a varied
repertoire
Sing with pitch accuracy and appropriate diction, correct posture, good
tone quality and intonation throughout their ranges.
HCAD.3
Sing with good breath control throughout their ranges.
HCAD.3
Sing selections with a difficulty level of three or higher from memory
with expression and technical accuracy.
HCAD.3
Demonstrate and apply the knowledge of correct vocal production and
the understanding of the physique of the voice as an instrument.
HCAD.3
Respond to more complex conducting patterns and interpretive gestures.
HCAD.1.6, HCAD.4.5
Continue to practice appropriate concert etiquette as an involved
performer in an ensemble.
a.
HCAD.6
Continue to practice appropriate concert behavior as an involved
listener.
HCAD.7.8
Suggested Activities:
Sing a wide range of music from the Renaissance to the Contemporary
Periods, developing the appropriate styles.
Sing unaccompanied often, developing better listening skills in a smaller
group.
Routinely sing scales and patterns other than major/minor, (i.e., whole-
tone, pentatonic, and chromatic).
Redefine pitch and unify vowel sounds on a continual basis.
Improvisation/
Composition
The small vocal ensemble student will:
Improvise rhythmic and melodic variations in pentatonic, major and
minor tonalities.
Improvise more complex harmonies, which are appropriate to the styles
of specific choral selections.
Compose longer melodies using traditional and nontraditional notations.
Arrange a melody using teacher-specified rhythms or notation.
Suggested Activities:
Teach the ensemble to perform pentatonic, major and minor scale
warm-up exercises and encourage individual students to sing back a
rhythmic or melodic variation of each exercise in a call-and-response
pattern.
Using a choral selection that the ensemble is currently rehearsing,
discuss the stylistic components of the harmonies that are used by the
composer or arranger. Subsequently, teach the ensemble a melody in the
same style and encourage students to improvise harmony parts that are
similar in style to those that you have already discussed. In subsequent
rehearsals, the ensemble will sing the melody with this New Harmony
part while another student improvises a third harmony line.
Show students pieces of music that are written in nontraditional
notations. Include jazz charts and guitar tablature. Analyze each
example with the students. Instruct each student to create a melody
using his or her own nontraditional notation system or one of the
nontraditional notations that you have analyzed in class. Divide students
into groups of two or three and have them explain their new notation
systems to each other. In subsequent rehearsals, have the students in
each group try to sing or play the other students‘melodies in this new
notation.
D Discuss some of the rhythmic techniques that are used by the composer
or arranger in one of the choral selections that the ensemble is currently
rehearsing (i.e., augmentation, diminution, syncopation). Discuss the
effects that each of these rhythmic techniques suggests for
choreographing movement. Give the students a melody and ask them to
write a new arrangement of it using that same rhythmic technique.
Photocopy the arrangements and use them for sight-singing exercises.
Fundamentals of
Music Theory
The small vocal ensemble student will:
Rhythm Understand and recognize values for whole, half, eighth, sixteenth, and
dotted notes and rests in simple and compound time.
HCAD.1.3
Sight-read patterns accurately, with a level of difficulty level of four or
higher using syllables or numbers.
HCAD.1.4
Recognize and accurately perform tied notes and slurs, pick-up notes
and syncopation in a style appropriate to the musical selection.
HCAD.4.2
Respond to complex, conducting patterns in simple and compound time,
and changing meter.
HCAD.4.5
Melody Recognize melodic contour as well as similar and contrasting phrases.
HCAD.1
Sight-sing patterns accurately, with a level of difficulty of a four or
higher using solfeggio syllables or numbers.
HCAD.1
Sight-sing a four part score. HCAD.1
Continue to read melodies in both treble and bass clefs. HCAD.1
Harmony Analyze four or more part selections.
HCAD.2
Continue to understand and recognize chord structure, using correct terms. HCAD.2
Understand and identify key signatures, major and minor. HCAD.1.3
Distinguish between monophonic, homophonic, and polyphonic textures.
Form Study AB and ABA forms, variations and through-composed literature.
HCAD.2.4
Follow vocal parts and interpret musical symbols.
HCAD.1
Score Reading Identify and define musical terms.
HCAD.1
Identify the corresponding symbols for these terms, referring to
dynamics, tempo, articulation, and expression.
HCAD.4.3
Suggested Activities:
Subdivide the beat vocally.
Write in numbers (corresponding to place in the scale) in selected
measures in each part. Have each voice part sing alone. Then have all
perform together on their own parts keeping a balance and blend within
parts.
Study the circle of fifths in both Major and minor keys.
Sight-sing diatonic and arpeggiated exercises, and exercises with leaps
of fourths, sixths, sevenths and octaves.
Practice following changing meter in simple and compound times in
warm-up exercises. If done vocally, use a common vowel or consonant.
Aural
Analyzing and
Evaluating
The small vocal ensemble student will:
Continue to refine criteria for evaluation and offer constructive
suggestions for personal and group performance and composition.
Evaluate specified musical works and explain how the various elements
of music are used in them to evoke human response.
Suggested Activities:
Using student-constructed checklists (See --Advanced Choral Ensemble
Suggested Activities‖), have the students write a list of constructive
exercises that could be used to address difficulties with the performance
of each of the elements (i.e., to address singing under the pitch, students
might visualize the pitch as a helium balloon rising). Then have the
students use this list of ideas to offer constructive suggestions as they
evaluate group and ensemble performances.
Listen to recordings of choral ensembles or use the ensemble’s own
current performance or rehearsal as a basis for a discussion of the
emotions that are evoked by a specific musical work. Discuss how
specific elements of music, (i.e., dynamics, tempo, timbre) are used by
the composer to evoke these specific emotions.
Watch excerpts from movies, television shows, or music videos and
discuss why the specific music and choreography might have been
chosen by the director to accompany the dialogue, the lyrics or the
visual images. Have the students discuss the use of various elements of
music to evoke the emotions that the director was hoping to touch in his
or her work.
Inter-disciplinary
Understanding
The small vocal ensemble student will:
Investigate and describe in significant detail additional interrelationships
between choral music and other subjects such as foreign language,
computers, and science.
Explore careers in music.
Describe the distinguishing characteristics of a musical style and its
corresponding period in history.
Compare the roles that music and musicians play in diverse world
cultures.
Compare the musical styles from different historical periods.
Suggested Activities:
Listen to or perform examples of choral music selections in foreign
languages. Discuss the influence that the country of origin of the
selection had on the history of music. Watch a movie describing the
biography and works of a composer or vocalist who was from that
country or region.
Discuss difficulties in tone production that are associated with the
foreign language in which a specific choral selection is being
performed. Invite a foreign language teacher to write a translation of
the selection or to visit the class and demonstrate correct
pronunciations.
Listen to or perform a choral piece with computer-generated
accompaniment or voices. Use keyboards and music software to allow
the students to experiment with computer generated sounds. Records
some of their compositions and use them as pre-concert or intermission
music at the ensemble‘s next performance.
Invite performing vocalists representing a variety of musical styles to
visit the class and discuss their daily preparation, education, work
schedule, etc. Include one of these vocalists in your next concert or
arrange to have the ensemble perform with the vocalist in his or her next
performance.
Visit a local hospital, rehabilitation center, or nursing home and observe
a music therapist at work. Invite the therapist to visit the class and teach
the students some basic music therapy techniques. Include a discussion
of the therapist‘s education, work schedule, etc.
Take a field trip to a local music store or music publishing house.
Discuss the many business- related careers that are involved in music
publishing and sales. In a later rehearsal, discuss each career that is
involved in the creation, production, and sale of a selection that the
ensemble is currently rehearsing.
Study and perform music from at least three different historical periods.
Discuss the evolution of music, from one period to the next, including a
variety of styles.
•
Study great composers from different periods and styles of music,
ultimately being able to classify the period, the composer and the style
of the work being performed.
•
Perform multicultural pieces, possibly displaying the talents of students
from these cultures.
Research the roles of men and women in music from around the world.
APPENDIX ONE - GLOSSARY Antiphonal- one group echoing or answering another
Arrangement- a composition that is different from what was originally written
Ascending- pitch progressing from lower to higher tones
Atonality- music in which there is no sense of a tonal center
Augmentation- doubling the note value of all given notes
Body percussion- rhythms produced by striking part of the body
Cadenza- an elaborate solo passage of improvisatory style played or sung by a soloist;
frequently played near the end of a composition
Call and response- a follow the leader process in which a melody begins in one part and then is
answered by a melody in other parts
Canon- a polyphonic composition consisting of one or more voices imitating what has already
been sounded on one voice and starting at later points in time
Choreography- movement specifically created to coordinate to specific music
Chromatic scale- 12-tone scale that moves by half steps
Consonant intervals- the intervals of a unison, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and octave
Countermelody-a melody which moves in opposition by consonance to another melody to
enhance or ornament the original melody
Descending- pitch progressing from higher to lower tones
Diatonic Diminution step-wise movement in singing- cutting the note values of all given notes
in half
Dynamics- loudness or softness of sound
Fluidity- the degree of smoothness in movement
Major scale- an arrangement of eight tones in a scale according to the following steps: whole
step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step
Meter- the way the beats in music are grouped
Minor scale- a scale based on a pattern distinguished by the minor 3rd, minor 6th, and minor 7th
intervals
Nontraditional- notation any system of musical notation other than the traditional system
Ostinato- any pattern, rhythm, chord change or melody that is repeated several times to form an
accompaniment
Pentatonic scale- any scale that contains only five pitches
Phrasing- the way a section of music is performed to become a musical thought, not just a
succession of pitches
Sequence- the repetition of a melody pattern at a higher or lower pitch level
Sight-singing- singing any piece of music which the vocalist has not seen or previously
rehearsed
Solfeggio- the system of syllables used to help pitch memory: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do
Strophic- a form in which all of the verses of the text are sung to the same music
Syncopation- an alteration from the normal eat, placing the stress on the weaker beats
Tempo- the speed of the beat
Tessitura- the general location of the majority of pitches in a song for each vocal part
Timbre- the aspect of sound that defines its quality or color
Traditional notation- the Western system of musical notation involving the use of a five line
staff
Variation- a changed version of a melody that varies one or more of the original musical
elements
Whole tone scale- a consecutive succession of six tones, each a whole step apart
APPENDIX TWO - CHORAL EVENTS
As a high school choral director, the following performance list is the annual minimum
requirement in Loudoun County Public Schools.
• Two (2) Concerts per performing ensemble (Winter and Spring)
• All-County Chorus (Participants auditioned by choral director)
• All-District Chorus (Participants auditioned by neutral judges)
• All-Virginia Chorus (Based upon the Students’ audition at All-District Chorus)
• District Choral Assessment
• Virginia Honors Choir (Based upon the students‘ audition)
The following events are listed as optional, and participation may vary from school to school.
• Talent or Variety Show
• Musical
Teachers may be required, at the discretion of the principal, to perform for feeder schools and/or
other school functions and celebrations, such as Music In Our Schools Month and American
Education Week.
Set all performance dates early, making certain that they are on the official school calendar.
For all events outside the school, be sure to make proper transportation arrangements through
the county.
APPENDIX THREE - DAILY REHEARSAL/CLASS OUTLINE
Objectives:
Define clear objectives for each rehearsal. For example, state the following as you
create your lesson plans, ―The Students will . . .― Each goal does not have to be performance
based. You may have a combination of concept and performance based goals to work on in
one rehearsal. Objectives should be challenging, yet realistically set for the amount of time
allotted in the period.
Procedure:
Class should always begin by taking roll, in accordance with school policy. After all
preliminaries have been taken care of you may proceed to warm-ups.
Warm-ups should consist of a variety of activities, including both vocal and physical
exercises. Pacing warm-ups should be consistent on a daily basis, but the content should vary
in order to help meet the rehearsal objectives for that day. Students should not be so
accustomed to a routine that the warm-ups become mundane, and not as effective as when
you first introduced them. Encourage individual student participation and/or leadership during
this warm-up time.
Rehearsing music will usually take up the majority of the class period. However, it is
suggested that the class period be divided up into rehearsal time and break time. Especially
for those teaching and learning under block scheduling, it is imperative to give the students a
water break, allowing the class to mentally regroup for the next activity. Theory work and
sight singing are two important elements of the choral curriculum, which may be used
effectively in the class period between rehearsal segments. Ending the rehearsal segment of
your rehearsal by singing a piece in its entirety is an important factor for the students to feel
accomplishment and closure of the class period.
Review:
Review can incorporate performance or question-answer based activity. Regardless of
the method, a review session may be imperative in some cases to help students retain the
information learned during class. Again, in block scheduling, a review session can be
extremely helpful since you will not see the class for two days.
APPENDIX FOUR - RESOURCES
Books and Periodicals
• Michelson, Stephen K., Getting Started with High School Choir. NAfME, 1994
• Robinson, Russell L., ed. Getting Started with Jazz/Show Choir. NAfME, 1994 • Music Educators Journal. NAfME, monthly publication.
• Teaching Music. NAfME, monthly publication. • Vocalese. Diamond Rock Productions, monthly publication.
Films. (available on video tape)
• Amadeus (1984) — rated PG — the life of Mozart
• Impromptu (1991) —rated PG13 — the life of Chopin
• Funny Lady (1975) — rated PG — the life of Fanny Brice
• LaBamba (1987) — rated PG13 — the life of Ritchie Valens
• Lady Sings the Blues (1972) — rated R — the life of Billie Holliday
• Selena (1997) — rated PG — the life of Selena Aquillano
• A Great Day in Harlem (1994) — documentary — various jazz artists
Web sites:
Music Therapy Websites • American Music Therapy Association www.musictherapy.org
• National coalition of Arts Therapies Associations (NCATA)
www.ncata.com/home.html
Music Career Websites • National Association for Music Education http://www.nafme.org/