Critical Music Making

Critical Thinking in Music Performance = Critical Music Making

Objectives:

1. To get •inside• the music
2. To discover why the music is the way it is
3. To be able to discover the different elements in music
4. To make the music personal
5. To be able to make decisions about music
6. To be involved in the music making process

Materials:

1. Handouts including: Marking the music, Rhythm examples and worksheets, Simple Gifts, Daphne (sheet music)
2. Sibelius notation software
3. Musical instrument

Activities:

1. Explore rhythm – movement, tension & release
2. Explore expression – interpretation, mood, personality
3. Explore music composition – melody, character, rise & fall

Goals and Assessment:

1. Students will be able to mark their music and play it expressively
2. Students will have developed better listening skills
3. Students will have a larger musical vocabulary
4. Students will understand beginning composition process
5. Scores and comments on adjudication sheets from festival auditions

Methods of evaluation:

1. Music to mark
2. Critical listening sheets
3. Assessment of using arts vocabulary
4. Informal observation

National Standards addressed:

1. Singing, along and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

4. Composing and arranging music within specific guidelines.

5. Reading and notating music.

6. Listening to, analyzing and describing music.

7. Evaluating music and music performances.