• 4TH GRADE: Developing Musical Proficiency 
      
    At this point, most of the students have a good comprehension of meters, pentatonic intervals, and elementary rhythms. This is excellent preparation for the rhythmic, melodic, and analytic challenges they will meet in 4th grade. Our 5 goals include:

    1. To introduce the double division of the beat through sixteenth notes, then the eighth rest, dotted rhythms and syncopation.

    2. To discover and explore the arrangement of whole and half steps through singing and playing melodies in the keys of C, F, and G.

    3. To continue the exploration of texture with singing and playing in three- and four-part canon, then with two-chord accompaniments, I and V.

    4. To foster improvisation, creating instrumental introductions, codas, and contrasting sections for song material.

    5. To develop listening skills with music in canon (i.e. Purcell’s Canon).

    Vocabulary

    Allegro - Fast

    Simple Meter - 4/4, 3/4, 2/4

    Compound Meter - 6/8, 9/8, 12/8

    Duration - length of notes

    Eighth Notes - 1/2 beat in simple meter

    Sixteenth Notes - 1/4 beat in simple meter

    1st, 2nd Ending

    D.S. al Coda - Return to the "sign", then perform to the Coda

    Major / Minor

    Mezzo Piano - Medium quiet

    Mezzo Forte - Medium loud

    Woodwind

    Harmony

    Chord - 2 or more pitches at the same time

    Expression

    Legato - Smooth and connected

    Staccato - Short and detached

    Mrs. Hassett, Grandfather's Clock

    Mrs. Hunter, Topnotcher

    Mrs. Clark, Grandfather's Clock

    Mr. Froman, Doggie Doggie (a song from 1st grade they still love)