Vocal Music

Singing EmojiStudents in kindergarten through grade five and the CALS Vocal Music classes experience vocal music one or more times a week according to their class schedules.

 

The Essential Curriculum for vocal music in Baltimore County for all students is focused on singing, listening, creating, moving, and playing classroom instruments.  Content in grades one through five includes the development of music notation reading and writing skills.

 Xylophone Clipart

Kindergarten students “Experiment With Sounds.” Skills include learning to compare/contrast sounds with words, listening, identifying different uses of the voice, and identifying similar/different sounds.

 

Grade one students’ “Beginning Experiences” include high/low, loud/quiet, fast/slow, listening, fine and gross motor activities, and classifying sections of music.

 

Grade two students “Create A Foundation” by analyzing and identifying patterns and form, developing discriminating listening skills, developing fine and gross motor skills, and applying written symbols to aural musical performance.  Students in grade two and above use music textbooks.

 

Grade three students “Make Music in Many Ways.”  Skills developed are analyzing structure and form of compositions, identifying ways people use music to express feelings, and identifying and performing rhythmic and melodic notation.  In addition, they engage in group activities to develop socialization skills.

 

Grade four students “Practice and Refine Musical Skills.”  They classify instruments of the orchestra, identify and perform rhythmic and melodic notation, analyze the structure and form of compositions, and perform in harmony through singing and playing.

 

Choir ClipartGrade five students focus on “Developing Musical Independence.”  In addition to classroom instruction, a choral program is begun with opportunities to perform publicly.  Vocal skills include performing songs following a conductor’s phrasing, attacks, and releases, identifying and performing more complex notation, transferring information from notation into visual and aural performance, and identifying how cultural beliefs are communicated through music.