| (a) General requirements. Students in Grades 6, 7,
or 8 enrolled in the first year of music may select from the following
courses: General Music 6, Middle School 1 Band, Middle School 1 Choir,
Middle School 1 Orchestra, Middle School 1 Instrumental Ensemble,
or Middle School 1 Vocal Ensemble.
(b) Introduction.
(1) The fine arts incorporate the study of dance, music,
theatre, and the visual arts to offer unique experiences and empower
students to explore realities, relationships, and ideas. These disciplines
engage and motivate all students through active learning, critical
thinking, and innovative problem solving. The fine arts develop cognitive
functioning and increase student academic achievement, higher-order
thinking, communication, and collaboration skills, making the fine
arts applicable to college readiness, career opportunities, workplace
environments, social skills, and everyday life. Students develop aesthetic
and cultural awareness through exploration, leading to creative expression.
Creativity, encouraged through the study of the fine arts, is essential
to nurture and develop the whole child.
(2) Four basic strands--foundations: music literacy;
creative expression; historical and cultural relevance; and critical
evaluation and response--provide broad, unifying structures for organizing
the knowledge and skills students are expected to acquire. The foundation
of music literacy is fostered through reading, writing, reproducing,
and creating music, thus developing a student's intellect. Through
creative expression, students apply their music literacy and the critical-thinking
skills of music to sing, play, read, write, and/or move. By experiencing
musical periods and styles, students will understand the relevance
of music to history, culture, and the world, including the relationship
of music to other academic disciplines and the vocational possibilities
offered. Through critical listening, students analyze, evaluate, and
respond to music, developing criteria for making critical judgments
and informed choices.
(3) Statements that contain the word "including" reference
content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such
as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(c) Knowledge and skills.
(1) Foundations: music literacy. The student describes
and analyzes music and musical sound. The student explores fundamental
skills appropriate for a developing young musician. The student is
expected to:
(A) experience and explore exemplary musical examples
using technology and available live performances;
(B) describe tonal and rhythmic musical elements using
standard terminology such as instrumentation, voicing, intervals,
solfège, absolute note names, rhythmic values, and counting
systems;
(C) describe musical elements of rhythm, including
whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, paired and single eighth notes,
sixteenth notes, corresponding rests, and meter, including 2/4, 3/4,
and 4/4, using standard terminology;
(D) identify musical forms presented aurally and through
music notation such as binary, ternary, phrasic, rondo, and theme
and variations; and
(E) explore health and wellness concepts related to
musical practice such as body mechanics, hearing protection, vocal
health, hydration, and appropriate hygienic practice.
(2) Foundations: music literacy. The student reads
and writes music notation using an established system for rhythm and
melody. The student is expected to:
(A) identify music symbols and terms referring to notation,
including repeat sign; dynamics, including crescendo, decrescendo,
piano, and forte; tempi, including accelerando, ritardando, moderato,
and allegro; and articulations, including staccato and legato;
(B) notate meter, rhythm, pitch, and dynamics using
standard symbols in a handwritten or computer-generated format;
(C) create rhythmic phrases using known rhythms and
melodic phrases using known pitches at an appropriate level of difficulty
within an established system of notation;
(D) read music notation using appropriate cognitive
and kinesthetic responses such as inner hearing, silent fingering,
shadow bowing, or Curwen hand signs; and
(E) sight read unison and homophonic music using the
appropriate clef in a minimum of two keys and three meters, including
2/4, 3/4, and 4/4.
(3) Creative expression. The student demonstrates musical
artistry by singing or playing an instrument, alone and in groups,
performing a variety of unison, homophonic, and polyphonic repertoire.
The student makes music at an appropriate level of difficulty and
performs in a variety of genres from notation and by memory. The student
is expected to:
(A) demonstrate, alone and in groups, characteristic
vocal or instrumental timbre;
(B) perform music alone and in groups, demonstrating
appropriate physical fundamental techniques such as hand position,
bowing, embouchure, articulation, and posture;
(C) perform independently and expressively, with accurate
intonation and rhythm, developing fundamental skills and appropriate
solo, small ensemble, and large ensemble performance techniques;
(D) perform independently and expressively a varied
repertoire of music representing various styles and cultures;
(E) sight-read independently and expressively, with
accurate intonation and rhythm, demonstrating fundamental skills and
appropriate solo, small ensemble, and large ensemble performance techniques
in known keys and rhythms;
(F) interpret music symbols and terms referring to
keys; clefs; dynamics, including crescendo, decrescendo, piano, and
forte; tempi, including accelerando and ritardando; and articulations,
including staccato and legato, appropriately when performing; and
(G) create rhythmic phrases using known rhythms and
melodic phrases using known pitches at an appropriate level of difficulty.
(4) Historical and cultural relevance. The student
relates music to history, culture, and the world. The student is expected
to:
(A) perform music representative of diverse cultures,
including American and Texas heritage;
(B) describe written and aurally presented music representative
of diverse styles, periods, and cultures;
(C) identify relationships of music concepts to other
academic disciplines such as the relationship between music and mathematics,
literature, history, and the sciences; and
(D) describe music-related vocations and avocations.
(5) Critical evaluation and response. The student listens
to, responds to, and evaluates music and musical performance in both
formal and informal settings. The student is expected to:
(A) demonstrate appropriate concert and stage etiquette
as an informed, actively involved listener and performer during live
and recorded performances in a variety of settings;
(B) identify criteria for listening to and evaluating
musical performances;
(C) describe processes and select the tools for self-evaluation
and personal artistic improvement such as critical listening and
individual and group performance recordings;
(D) evaluate the quality and effectiveness of musical
performances by comparing them to exemplary models; and
(E) demonstrate appropriate cognitive and kinesthetic
responses to music and musical performances.
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