About Fourth Grade Music
Fourth graders participate in music for the entire year, attending class 1 to 2 times a week. They also have a performance in combination with 5th grade in the fall. In class we focus on...
Pulse
Rhythm
Melody
Harmony
Tonality
Dynamics
Tempo
Tone Color
Texture
Form
Style
- Identify time signature (meter) and number of beats in a measure.
- Explore reading 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4.
Rhythm
- Identify quarter note, 8th note pair, 4 sixteenth notes, quarter rest, half note, half rest, whole rest, and whole notes with traditional notation.
- Perform quarter note, 8th note pair, 4 sixteenth notes, quarter rest, half note, half rest, whole rest, and whole notes.
- Introduce syncopated rhythms
Melody
- Identify do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, high do
- Explore lines and spaces on the treble clef staff
- Introduce treble clef pitches C4 to C5
- Identify B, A, G in treble clef
- Explore (use) terms pitch, melody
- Introduce steps, skips, repeats
- Explore melodic vocal exploration (iconic/non-traditional notation)
- Explore inner hearing
Harmony
- Explore simple vocal harmonies with ostinati, canons, and rounds
- Explore harmonies on pitched classroom instruments
- Introduce singing of partner songs
Tonality
- Explore tonal center
- Introduce major/minor
Dynamics
- Identify pianissimo (pp) and fortissimo (ff)
- Identify crescendo and decrescendo
Tempo
- Identify terminology presto and largo
- Identify tempo changes, accelerando, and ritenuto
Tone Color
- Identify good vocal posture
- Identify individual instruments in the 4 families by sight and sound-woodwinds, brass, strings, and percussion.
Texture
- Introduce partner songs
- Explore pitched and unpitched ostinati
Form
- Introduce rondo form
- Explore Introduce call/response, introduction, phrase
- Explore symbols for repeat sign, D.S. and coda
Style
- Explore various styles of music
- Exploring the function and context of lyrics in music