GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Curriculum Guide

 

 

 

Course Title:                                         High School Concert Band                  

 

Subject:                                                Instrumental Music

 

Grade Level:                                         9-12                

 

Department/School:                              Music/High School

 

Duration:                                              Full Year

 

Number of Credits:                               5

 

Prerequisite:                                          Students must have basic knowledge of the instrument before playing in the HS Concert Band.

 

Elective or Required:                             None

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author:  Kevin Lagos

Date Submitted:  Summer 2005

Course Description

 

 

The Glen Ridge Concert Band offers students an opportunity to study music by playing, singing and composing.  Through these means, they learn to express themselves creatively while knowledge of notation and performance traditions enable them to hear new music independently all their lives.  Skills in analysis, evaluation, and synthesis enable students to recognize and pursue excellence in their musical experiences and to understand and enrich their environment.  Since music is an integral part of human history, the ability to listen with understanding is essential if students are to have a broad cultural and historical perspective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

MUSIC MISSION STATEMENT

 

 

The making of music is a thoughtful practice involving formal and informal knowledge.  It requires the development and practice of sensory skills, the manipulation and translation of complex symbols, and the understanding of the component parts and the big picture within the composition. 

 

The Glen Ridge Music Department strives to show that one cannot understand music without the awareness of size, shape, physics and mechanical functioning of the instruments.  Personal physical involvement and the development of skills in breathing, projection, and intonation are intimate personal activities that most people give little notice to but which are essential skills if we are to be able to be clearly understood.

 

The Glen Ridge High School Concert Band is an opportunity for mutual effort and success.  The knowledge that the group’s successful performance is reliant on the practice and perfection of each individual’s contribution is an asset to the family, the school and later in the workplace.

 

 

 

 


New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards

 

MUSIC

 

STANDARD 1.1:  (AESTHETICS)  ALL STUDENTS WILL USE AESTHETIC KNOWLEDGE IN THE CREATION OF AND IN RESPONSE TO DANCE, MUSIC, THEATER, AND VISUAL ARTS.

 

STANDARD 1.2: (CREATION AND PERFORMANCE)  ALL STUDENTS WILL UTILIZE THOSE SKILLS, MEDIA, METHODS, AND TECHNOLOGIES APPROPRIATE TO EACH ART FORM IN THE CREATION, PERFORMANCE, AND PRESENTATION OF DANCE, MUSIC, THEATER, AND VISUAL ART.

 

STANDARD 1.3:  (ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPALS)  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES OF DANCE, MUSIC, THEATER, AND VISUAL ARTS.

 

STANDARD 1.4:  (CRITIQUE)  ALL STUDENTS WILL DEVELOP, APPLY AND REFLECT UPON KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROCESS OF CRITIQUE.

 

STANDARD 1.5: (HISTORY/CULTURE)  ALL STUDENTS WILL UNDERSTAND AND ANALYZE THE ROLE, DEVELOPMENT, AND CONTINUING INFLUENCE OF THE ARTS IN RELATION TO WORLD CULTURES, HISTORY, AND SOCIETY.

 


Curriculum Description

 

UNIT 1 - PERFORMANCE ETIQUETTE

 

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

1.      Perform with correct posture.

2.      Use proper embouchure placement.

3.      Demonstrate proper breathing techniques.

4.      Play with good tone and intonation.

5.      Demonstrate proper articulations.

 

Content Standards:  1.1, 1.2, 1.3

 

Duration of time:  Full Year

 

Activities

 

-         Teacher demonstration and aids

-         Physical exercises from Methods Books (Arban’s, Clark etc.)

-         Classroom warm-ups and drills

-         Record, playback and analyze student performance

 

 

UNIT 2 - ELEMENTS OF MUSIC

 

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

1.      Perform the various elements of music as found in the composition with pitch, rhythmic, and stylistic accuracy. 

2.      Discuss the various elements of music as found in the composition.

3.      Sight read in different keys.

 

Content Standards:  1.1, 1.2, 1.3

 

Duration of time:   Full Year

 

Activities

 

-         Classroom rehearsal of level 4 pieces on a 1-6 scale

-         Classroom discussions

-         Student solos, outside performances

-         Teacher provided material

 

 


UNIT 3 - CREATING AND PERFORMING

 

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

1.      Participate as a performer in a musical ensemble.

2.      Perform appropriate music in correct style.

3.      Compose original melodies with others.

4.      Create chord progressions and improvise over the progression.

5.      Play with correct dynamics, articulations, and rhythmic accuracy.

6.      Demonstrate through performance correct interpretation of conductor’s patterns and directions.

7.      Demonstrate proper rehearsal and performance techniques.

 

Content Standards:  1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5

 

Duration of time:  Full Year

 

Activities

 

-         Instrumental material provided by the teacher

-         Recordings provided by the teacher

-         Evaluation worksheets

-         Small ensembles

-         Improvisation concerts

-         Ensemble playing of students’ written music

 

 

UNIT 4 - CRITICAL/ANALYTICAL/JUDGMENTAL/EVALUATIVE

 

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

1.      Develop and utilize a set of criteria to evaluate their performance.

2.      Distinguish various styles of musical literature by performing, analyzing, and listening.

 

Content Standards:  1.4, 1.5

 

Duration of time:  Last two weeks of each marking period

 

Activities

 

-         Teacher and student developed rubrics

-         Adjudication tapes

-         Performances for main ensemble

-         Performances for small ensembles

-         Field trips to NYC, NJPAC etc. to watch performances

Texts, Resources, and/or Literature

 

·          The band chooses music from a library of over 700 pieces of music.  The difficulty ranges from a level 1-6.  The musicians in the High School Concert Band will be playing music with a difficulty rating of 3-4.

 

·          Other texts we use include:

-          Arban’s Trumpet and Brass Studies

-          Voxman Duet Vol. 2

-          “College Music Journal”