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Teaching Musicianship in 6th Grade Orchestra

Daniel Kumapayi

Curriculum Project

Mused 371 WN 2020

Dr. Colleen Conway

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Description​: This curriculum will be focused on teaching musicianship to 6th grade beginners
We will begin to transfer the skills we learn to our instrument, and this will develop their
overall musician. Confidence will be built as they will feel more comfortable in the musical
decisions. I have about 25 kids in this class.

Time schedule: ​We have 60 minute class periods with 60 classes (12 weeks) during the first 2
months in semester, starting in September and ending in November. 30 minutes will be spent on
executive skills, remaining 30 minutes will be spent on developing musicianship.

Week 1: Introduction to flow and neutral syllables using hot cross bun (melody/bass )

Week 2: Introduction to weight and call and response using hot cross bun (melody/bass)

● Teaching call and response patterns. Ex: I sing, you sing, etc

Week 3: Introduction to space and solfege syllables (Do-Re-MI) using hot cross bun

● Teach the Do-Re-Mi using hot cross bun. Give a class of examples of singing
natural syllabus and transfer to solfege. Then practice with class

Week 4: Introduction to time and hot cross bun in ​minor

● Teach ​minor​ intervals for hot cross bun and give a class of examples of singing a
natural syllabus and what it would be in solfege. Then give class example to sing

Week 5: Review of flow, weight, space, time and transfer audiation skills for hot cross bun to
instruments.

Week 6: Intervals of the Day (Major 2nd) and Twinkle Little Stars call and response using
neutral and solfege syllables (Do-Re-Mi-FA-SO)

● Students will chant the neutral syllable back and what the solfege syllables are

Week 7: Interval of the day (Major 3rd) and Twinkle Little Stars (Flow and Weight)

● Students will split into small groups and create their own micro/macro movements
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● Students will split into their respective sections and create a flow movement to show the
class

Week 8: Interval of the day (Major 4th) Twinkle little stars (same as week 6, but ​minor​)

● Twinkle Little Stars (​minor​ version​)​ call and response using neutral and solfege syllables

Week 9: Interval of the Day (Major 5th) and Twinkle Little Stars (Space and Time)

Week 10: Interval of the Day (Major 6th) Twinkle Little Stars (Melody and Bass)

● Students will sing melody and bass in neutral, solfege syllables (major and ​minor)​

Week 11: Interval of the Day (Major 7th) and Twinkle Little Stars on instruments

● Students will transfer the audiation skills we spent past five weeks learning onto their
instruments

Week 12: Interval of the Day (Perfect Octave) and Marco Polo Game

​Marco Polo Game Rules

1. Sing Neutral based minor only. Intervals from P2-Perfect Octave are acceptable.
2. Students are in pairs. Student one must sing the root note and student two decides the
interval.
a. Student 1 or someone in the class must them determine what interval was just
sang
3. Students will have to be at least six feet apart and are encouraged to practice social
distancing while singing.
a. This will encourage the class to listen closely to intervals being sang
4. Intervals can only be sang 3 times before it is invalid
5. If they are any questions about rules, ask your teacher or make your own rules with agre

You can split groups into just pairs of two and student one can guess to give more time
for everyone to play. Students can decide how often they want to switch.
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Music course philosophy: ​This course is focused on developing literacy through exciting
activities that will engage the students. Music is beneficial for a child's social and moral
development and the skills we do within our class is driven by group collaboration. The need to
make sure our students are developing the tools to build lifelong musicians are vital. These are
foundational blocks which will set them up for success in the future. Lastly, more movement
without instruments will lead to more solid individual musicianship and the student will perform
more rhythmically as a result of the movement instruction (Conway, 22).

Course goals/Benchmarks: ​The goal of this unit is for students to improve their audiation
and movement in relation to music. They will learn about flow, weight, space, and time and
as well as participate in singing and executive skills to develop their confidence in playing
comfortably within the tonal center. Their assessments will be based on video recording
because it can be “a source of accountability for practice (Conway, 22).

Objectives:​ Each week I want to introduce a new idea that will dive deeper into audiation and
movement. I plan to do a class activity that connects to what was learned. The purpose is to
allow the students to build confidence where they can have the chance to apply what we are
learning in a practical way. Our summative assessment will be based on their understanding and
comfort with the skills we learned over the 12 weeks.

NAFME: Create and Response

The movement lesson plans will provide opportunities for students to create their own
movements to show flow, weight, space, and time. Additionally, they must be able to respond
appropriately to the musical works being heard, as their movement is dependent on the music.

Requirements for facilities, equipment, supplies, budget, and scheduling: ​We rehearse in a
spacious classroom, which will have rooms for students to spread out. We have access to the
orchestral instruments we will need. I have an office filled with supplies from past teachers that I
can use to supplement this curriculum, as well as a laptop to receive recordings from my students
and give them feedback. We also have a piano in the classroom.

A list of resources to be used : ​Technique books, youtube, instruments,

https://www.musictheory.net/exercises/ear-interval​, The Art of String Teaching by Dr. Hopkin

1 Lesson Plan Audiation, Week 1

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● Overview for lesson

o Students will sing hot cross buns using neutral syllables to begin to develop their
audiation
● Objective for lesson
o Students will be able to sing the melody and bass after tonality has been established
● Procedures and Pacing:
o Establish tonality in D ​major
o Sing the song for the group
o Teach the song to the group (phrase by phrase)
o Accompany the group as they sing the song (you don’t sing)
o Sing the root melody/bass line for the group
o Teach the root melody/bass line to the group
o Have the group perform the bass line (you don’t sing)
o Have the group perform in both parts
● Introducing lesson
o Playing hot cross bun in major as they walk into the classroom
o Listening exercise where teacher performs song on piano (or string instrument) in
major
● Assessment
o I will share a recording that establishes for class. For practice sheets this week,
students should go home and sing the melody and bass for their parents or guardian in
major tonality.​ Return with a signed signature and recording via audio or video.

2 Lesson Plan Audiation, Week 4

● Overview for lesson
o Students will singing hot cross buns in minor using neutral/solfege syllables to begin
to develop their audiation
● Objective for lesson
o Students will be able to sing in the correct pitch after tonality has been established
● Procedures and Pacing:
o Establish tonality in D ​minor
o Sing the song for the group
o Teach the song to the group (phrase by phrase)
o Accompany the group as they sing the song (you don’t sing)
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o Sing the root melody/bass line for the group

o Teach the root melody/bass line to the group
o Have the group perform the bass line (you don’t sing)
o Have the group perform in both parts
● Introducing lesson
o Playing hot cross bun in minor as they walk into the classroom
o Listening exercise where teacher performs song on piano (or string instrument) in
minor
● Assessment
o I will share a recording that establishes for class. For practice sheets this week,
students should go home and sing the melody and bass for their parents or guardian in
major and minor tonality.​ Return with a signed signature and recording via audio or
video.

3 Lesson Plan Audiation, Week 5

● Overview for lesson
o Students will transfer the auditation skills they developed over the past four weeks
onto their instruments
● Objective for lesson
o Students will chant the develop dexterity in playing hot cross bun both in major and
minor tonality
● Procedures and Pacing:
o Establish tonality in D Major
o Sing pattern from the song to the group
o The class should chant pattern back
o Play same pattern on instrument
o The class should play the same pattern on instrument
o Repeat but in minor
o Once this is all done, challenge your students by only singing or playing a pattern on an instrument.
Then they should play same pattern on their instruments
● Introducing lesson
o Play major tonality of hot cross buns as class walks in
o Perform minor version on piano or string instrument
o Questions
▪ Ask the class if the recording I played and I played on instrument were the
same?
▪ We’ve been working on major and minor tonality, so tell me which one you
think is which? Play for them again, if need be.
● Assessment
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o I will share a recording that establishes both major and minor tonality for class. For
practice sheets this week, students should go home and play either major or minor
tonality for their parents or guardian (extra credit if you do both). Return with a
signed signature and recording via audio or video.

Sample Rubric

Completion of 1 2 3
assignment

Sang within tonality 1 2 3

Accuracy of melody 1 2 3

Accuracy of bass 1 2 3

Consistency of 1 2 3
neutral syllables

1 Lesson Plan Movement, Week 2

● Overview for lesson
o Students will learn movements focusing on weight using hot cross buns
● Objective for lesson
o Create an awareness of contrasts in weight through movement
o Help students experience the contrast between strong and gentle impacts
● Procedures and Pacing:
o 2 Minutes
▪ Tap macrobeat in heels.
▪ Tap microbeat in “spider fingers” on legs
▪ Chant excerpt from eighth note sequence on neutral syllable.
o 2 Minutes
▪ Tap macrobeat in heels.
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▪ Tap microbeat in “spider fingers” on legs

▪ Chant excerpt from eighth note sequence using numbers or other rhythm syllable system.
o 2 Minutes
▪ Tap macrobeat in heels.
▪ Speak microbear (“1 +2 + 3 + 4 +” or “du de du de du de du de”)
▪ Clap or pat on legs excerpt from eighth note sequence.
o 2 Minutes
▪ Pat macrobeat in on legs with open hands.
▪ Speak microbear (“1 +2 + 3 + 4 +” or “du de du de du de du de”)
▪ Tap excerpt from eighth note sequence in heels.
o 2 Minutes (Challenge)
▪ Tap macrobeat in heels and left hand on left leg.
▪ Speak microbear (“1 +2 + 3 + 4 +” or “du de du de du de du de”)
▪ Pat on right leg excerpt from eighth note sequence.

● Introducing lesson
o Vizualize
▪ Heavy footprint/punching a punching bag
▪ Tiptoeing across a carpet/brushing an eyelash off of a cheek
● Assessment
o Students should send a video recording of themselves creating weight movements to a
song they enjoy listening to at home. It should demonstrate micro/macro beat and
recording should be school appropriate. Return with parent signature by end of week.

2 Lesson Plan Movement, Week 3

● Overview for lesson
o Students will learn movement focusing on space using hot cross bun
● Objective for lesson
o Help students regulate their movement throughout a phrase
● Procedures and Pacing:
o Whole class will walk to macrobeat after demonstrated
o Then microbeat will be modeled through patting on your thighs.
o Students will split into pairs (one will be micro, one will be macro)
o Students should observe how their partners beats play into theirs
o Switch
o Finally, entire class walks and taps to micro/macro beat
● Introducing lesson
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oTeachers should walk only to the large beat or tap the microbeat as students walk in.
▪ Keep doing until start to question “why are you moving like that”
● Then explain!
● Assessment
o Students should send a video recording of themselves walking to a song they enjoy
listening to at home. They should demonstrate micro/macro beat and the recording
should be school appropriate. Return with parent signature by end of week.

3 Lesson Plan Movement, Week 11

● Overview for lesson
o Students will transfer the movement skills they developed over the past ten weeks
onto their instruments.
● Objective for lesson
o Students will be able to articulate the parts of the body to be constantly aware off
while playing their instruments
● Procedures and Pacing:
o Establish meter and tonality
o Establish micro/macro beat
o Do call and response patterns with students with rhythm solfege
o Do call and response patterns and call on individuals with rhythm solfege
o Call and response patterns on instruments
● Introducing lesson
o Review the flow, weight, space, and time movements worked on before transferring
to our instruments.
● Assessment
o Students should record themselves demonstrating to their parents or guardian skills
they learned. This should be no longer than a 3 minute mini-concert where they (1)
establish micro/macro beat (2) ask parents to respond to their calls (3) play patterns
on instrument (4) Play tune It should demonstrate micro/macro beat and recording
should be school appropriate. Return with parent signature by end of week.
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Sample Rubric

Completion of 1 2 3
assignment

Establishment on 1 2 3
micro/macro beat

Consistency of time 1 2 3

Transfer skills to 1 2 3
instruments

Curriculum

It is important to recognize that writing a curriculum is not always a linear process. It is a

continuous process that can be improved through teaching and learning. Teachers that are able to
“adjust their teaching to the needs of a specific context” will be successful in their planning
(Conway, 2002). A classroom has many variables, so we can not structure our curriculum as a
linear model. These documents tend to serve as a political statement to have written evidence of
your teaching layout.
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References

Colleen Conway (2020). MUSED 371 CH 2. Retrieved from

https://umich.instructure.com/courses/345419/files/folder/Materials%20for%203_26?pre

view=14600772

Colleen Conway (2020). MUSED 371 CH 2 - Lesson. Retrieved from

https://umich.instructure.com/courses/345419/files/folder/Materials%20for%203_26?preview=1

4600771

​ ecumseh, MI: Conway

Conway, C. M. ​(2019). Private music lessons: a manual for teachers. T

Publications.

Conway, C. (2002). Curriculum writing in music. Music Educators Journal, 88(6), 54-59.

Hopkins, M., & Culver, R. (2019). ​The Art of String Teaching​. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications,

Inc.

2014 Music Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved April 30, 2020, from

https://nafme.org/my-classroom/standards/core-music-standards/