4th Grade

Quarter 3:

Music Listening:

January Composer of the Month: Antonin Dvorak

February Composer of the Month: Ludwig van Beethoven

March Composer of the Month: Johannes Brahms

 Music Theory:

This quarter, the 4th graders will start the quarter reviewing fundamental rules about time signatures and counting rhythms. The 4th graders are learning how to draw dotted half notes and single eighth notes on the staff while remembering the most important stem direction rules: any note head that is on or above the 3rd line must have their stem going down on the left; any note head that is below the 3rd line must have their stem going up on the right. While practicing these important rules, the students are reviewing the names of the treble and bass clef note names.

Sight-Reading:

As your student nears 5th grade, we begin to transition to a sight-reading format that is practiced at CPA. Up until this point, Archway scholars have practiced "fixed do" solfege (C is always do). CPA teaches "movable do" (do is whatever key you are in). For example, if a student is singing a song in the key of G, G = do, A = re, B = mi, etc.   If a student is singing a song in the key of A, A = do, B = re, and C = do. 

Concert Prep:

Our spring concert will be held on Wednesday, May 7 in the CPA gym. More details TBD.

 

Quarter 2: 

Every day in music class, the students participate in a daily sight-reading example using notes of the pentatonic scale in the keys of C, D, F, or G. 

Weeks 1 and 2:

Music Theory: Note head, stem, beam, and stem rules
 
Music Listening: Biography of J.S. Bach, Listen to J.S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"
 
Concert Prep: Rehearse, memorize, and polish concert songs for performance on December 11
 

Weeks 3 and 4:

Music Theory: Value of a dot, types of rests
 
Music Listening: Listen to Bach's "Air" from Suite in G, "Toccata and Fugue in d minor"

"Monster Mash" with Boomwhackers
 
Concert Prep: Rehearse, memorize, and polish concert songs for performance on December 11

Weeks 5 and 6:

Music Theory: Intervals

 

Music Listening: Antonin Dvorak's Biography, Listen to "Symphony No. 9: From a New World", "Rusalka"

Concert Prep: Rehearse, memorize, and polish concert songs for performance on December 11
 

Weeks 7-11:

 
Concert Prep: Rehearse, memorize, and polish concert songs for performance on December 11
 

Reflect on Concert and Play Music Games

Quarter 1

Weeks 1-2:

• Notation/Melody – 

• Week 1: Review Solfege hand signs, begin with Sol-Mi-La patterns

• Week 2: - Mystery Melody with various Sol-Mi-La patterns

• Notation/Rhythm – 

• Week 1: Rhythmic Training using ta, ti-ti, ti-ri-ti-ri, whole note hold it, and sh (quarter note, pairs of eighth notes, groups of 4 sixteenth notes, whole notes, and quarter rests) 

• Week 2: Mystery Rhythm with varying patterns (use percussion instruments to demonstrate understanding)

• Theory – 

• Week 1: “Music Staff, Drawing Treble Clef”, pgs. 1-2

• Week 2: “Drawing the Bass Clef”, pg. 3

• Boomwhackers/Science of Sound:

• Week 1: Discuss vibrations and sound waves and how sound is created.

• Week 2: Dive deeper into different types of sounds from instruments and how they are created.

• Music Listening:

• Week 1: Introduction to the Baroque Era

• Week 2: Strings Family Focus and “Four Seasons: Spring” by Antonio Vivaldi

Weeks 3-4:

 

• Notation/Melody – 

• Daily Mystery Melodies include a variety of the following pitches: Sol, Mi, La, and Do.

• Notation/Rhythm – 

• Daily Mystery Rhythms include of variety of the following rhythmic symbols: quarter note, pair of eighth notes, quarter rest, half note, whole rest, half rest

• Theory – 

• Week 3: “Drawing the Bass Clef”, pg. 3

• Week 4: “Treble Clef Lines and Spaces”, pgs. 4-5

• Boomwhackers/Science of Sound:

• What is sound and volume?

• Play “Minuet in G” by J.S. Bach on Boomwhackers

• Music Listening:

• Week 3: Woodwind Family, Listen to “Little Fugue in G Minor”, by J.S. Bach

• Week 4: Brass Family, Listen to “Prelude and Fugue in C Minor”, by J.S. Bach

Weeks 5-6:

 

• Notation/Melody – 

• Pentatonic Scale: Do, Re, Mi, Sol, and La

• Penta - Five, Tonic - Sound

• Students to sight-read varying patterns of the pentatonic scale.

• Notation/Rhythm – 

• Daily Mystery Rhythms include of variety of the following rhythmic symbols: quarter note, pair of eighth notes, quarter rest, half note, whole rest, half rest

• Theory – 

• Week 5: “Treble Clef Lines and Spaces”, pg. 5

• Trick: Lines - Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge / Spaces - F A C E

• Week 6: "Bass Clef Lines and Spaces", pg. 6

• Trick: Lines - Great Burritos Don't Fall Apart / Spaces - All Cows Eat Grass

• Music Listening:

• Week 5: Percussion Family, Listen to "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" by Benjamin Britten

• Week 6: Keyboard Family, Listen to "Pathetique" by Ludwig van Beethoven

• Concert Preparation: Continue to work on our holiday and winter songs for our concert on December 11! :)

Weeks 7 - 10:

• Notation/Melody – 

• Pentatonic Scale: Do, Re, Mi, Sol, and La

• Penta - Five, Tonic - Sound

• Students to sight-read varying patterns of the pentatonic scale.

• Notation/Rhythm – 

• Daily Mystery Rhythms include of variety of the following rhythmic symbols: quarter note, pair of eighth notes, quarter rest, half note, whole rest, half rest, and groups of four sixteenth notes.

• Theory – 

• "Grand Staff", pg. 8

• Review treble and bass clef notes, pgs. 9-11

• “Treble and Bass Clef Jeopardy"

• Music Listening:

• G.F. Handel: Listen to "Water Music"

• Domenico Scarlatti: Listen to the "Cat's Fugue"

• Review Baroque Composers: Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel

• Play Baroque Jeopardy

• Science of Sound:
• Identify the terms;
• Pitch
• Volume
• Sound Waves
• Concert Preparation: Continue to work on our holiday and winter songs for our concert on December 11!