Name: Keegan Whitney

Content Area: Modern Music Theory

Unit Title: Scales and Their Modes

Course/Grade Level: Upper High School (10-12)

Unit Summary and Rationale (150 Words):

In this unit students will explore, learn, recognize, and apply different musical scales
and modes that are found in today’s pop and jazz hits. The class will look at major
scales, minor scales, scale relationships, modes of major scales, modes of minor
scales, diatonic harmony for minor scales, melodic minor scale modes, pentatonic
scales, blues scales, bebop scales, symmetrical scales, the altered scale, and other
more abstract scales. For this lesson we will be using “Jazzology: The encyclopedia
of Jazz Theory for All Musicians” written by Robert Rawlins and Nor Eddine Bahha.
This book is being used throughout the course but for this unit we will based in the
third chapter titled “Scales and Modes. This unit is fundamental in the student’s
educational adventure into more complex theory because all music theory stems
from understanding of the relationship between scales and their modes. Using the
knowledge that the students will gain from this unit, they will be able to write
melodies and chord progressions based in all key centers and modal centers.

Illinois Learning Standards Integrating the Common Core, Illinois Learning

Standards, or Standards from Professional Organization:

Mu: Cr1.1.I
Compose and/or improvise melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic ideas for simple
melodies and accompaniments for given melodies.

Mu:Cr1.1.II
Compose and/or improvise melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic ideas and chordal
accompaniments in a variety of patterns and styles.

Mu:Cr1.1.III
Compose and/or improvise melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic ideas for compositions
of increasing complexity and accompaniment patterns in a variety of styles.

Mu:Cr2.1.I-
A. Select, develop, and use notation and/or audio/video recording to document
melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic ideas for drafts of simple melodies.
B. Use standard and/ or iconic notation and/ or audio/video recording to document
personal rhythmic phrases, melodic phrases, and harmonic sequences.

Mu:Cr2.1.II
Select, develop, and use notation and/or audio/video recording to document draft
melodies, harmonies, and rhythmic passages and accompaniments for given
melodies.

Mu:Cr3.1.I
a. Evaluate, critique, and refine draft compositions and improvisations based on
knowledge, skill, and teacher-provided criteria.
c. Share personally developed and refined melodic and rhythmic ideas or motives –
individually or as an ensemble – that demonstrate understanding of characteristics
of music or texts studied in class

Mu:Cr3.1.II
a. Evaluate and refine draft melodies, rhythmic passages, arrangements, and
improvisations based on established criteria, including the extent to which they
address identified purposes.

Mu:Cr3.1.III
a. Evaluate and refine varied musical works of increasing complexity based on
appropriate criteria, including the extent to which they address identified purposes
and contexts.

Essential Questions of Unit or Big Ideas (Minimum One Question):

What tools, scales, do musicians use to generate and create creative ideas and
decisions?
How are scales and chords related?
Are there different scales for different types of music?

Technology, Materials, Texts, and Other Resources:

Jazzology text book

Chapter 3

PowerPoint Presentations

Note Handouts

Recorded versions of songs that use different scales and modes

Either on Spotify or YouTube
Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concert “What is a Mode?”
Part one- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGTT_VK2kVY
Part two- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWtUCAYV3so
Part Three- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5dWEPXF_ZU

12 tone videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPWQC4pdEco
Building blocks: modes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_1174684125&feature
=iv&src_vid=QhwIdBNFCQM&v=NIIQKMbHSrI
Modes

Bobby McFerrin: Magic of the Pentatonic Scale

https://ww)w.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6tB2KiZuk

Blues Brothers Sweet Home Chicago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0zyuc_2UVg

Claude Debussy Voiles (Sails)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVV0jkZC4jI

John Scofield “Boogie Stupid”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7OPC8VdHzE

Overview of Lessons (Brief Description): Days:

An overview of Scales and Modes 1
Major and Minor Scales
Major
Natural Minor
Harmonic Minor
Melodic Minor
Pages 21-22

This lesson will introduce the concept of scales and modes to

students. This is accomplished by starting the class with a short
segment of Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concert titled
“What is a mode?” In this five and a half minute video clip Leonard
Bernstein briefly discusses what a scale is and how it is created.
After the video clip the class will work through a power point
presentation that discusses the formula used to create both major
and minor scales. This PowerPoint will follow the order of scales
found in the textbook. These scales are fundamental to furthering
a student’s musical knowledge because all music grows from
scales.

Scale Relationships (i.e. Parent Scales) 2 (l.p.)

Major Scale Modes
12 Tones video “Building Blocks: The Modes”
My Dear APL chart
12 Tones Video “Modes”
Pages 23-24

This lesson will continue with learning about constructing the

basic modes that are based off of the major scale we learned
during day one. The class will start off with a YouTube video that
summarizes the basic knowledge needed for modes. This video
also talks bout the uses of different modes and how they are made.
After this video the class will look at how modes work. That is
what order they come in and how to make them. A tool that we
will use for this is a chart called “My Dear APL” chart. The M is for
Mixolydian, the D is for Dorian, A is Aeolian, P is for Phrygian, and l
is Locrian. A relative to this chart is found in the textbook on page
23. This chart has a section for each scale and how to make it
based off of the parent scale. To end the lesson the class will
watch a more in depth 12 tones video that talks about the color of
each mode and how they can be used by songwriters. This lesson
is imperative to students because the knowledge of different
scales will allow them to write different pieces with more complex
harmony. It will also allow them to grasp a deeper understanding
of theory further down the road.
Melodic Minor Modes 3
Review
Dorian b2
Lydian augmented
Lydian Dominant
Mixolydian b13 (#5)
Locrian #2
Altered Scale
Page 25, 28-29, 32-33

This lesson will continue to explore the different types of modes

that are used in jazz and pop music. The scales for this specific
lesson are the melodic minor scales, the modes of the melodic
minor scale, and the altered scale and some of its uses in jazz
music. This class will start off with a minor jazz standard that uses
some melodic minor theory in either the melody or solo. After the
song is done I will ask the class how this piece of music has been
different from some other tunes they may have heard. After this
brief discussion we will briefly talk about the modes of melodic
minor. We will focus on the Lydian dominant and the altered scale.
These scales can be found on pages 25 and 28 of the textbook. By
discussing these scales the students will able to start to thing
about more complex improvisation that is used in post-bop and
modern jazz music. These exotic scales can also be used in future
compositions to create a lot of cool and tension filled pieces of
music.
Bobby McFerrin: The power of the pentatonic Scale 4 (l.p.)
Pentatonic Scales
Melody Writing Activity
Blues Scales
Pages 29-30 of textbook

This lesson changes the focus just a little bit. Instead of looking at
modes we will be looking at pentatonic scales and how they are
useful in every style of music. To start off the class we will watch a
short clip of Bobby McFerrin demonstrating how, without words,
he can get an audience to sing a song together. The class will
watch and write down 3-5 things that they notice or think while
this video is being played. Some of the students will then be chose
to share their thoughts with the class. After the video we will be
looking at both major and minor pentatonic scales. These five note
scales should be easy for students to grasp, because of this after
the pentatonic lesson I will guide students through the process of
writing a melody based off of the pentatonic scale. We will first
write a class melody and then each student will have the
opportunity to finish the melody using at least one pentatonic
scale and at least one other mode of their choice. Once the simple
melodies are complete each student will tell the class what mode
they chose and why. Then I will try to play the melodies on a
piano. After this activity we will move on with pentatonic and talk
about the blues scale and listen to a blues song or two and listen
for the “bluesy” sound.

Mixolydian Review 5
Bebop
Structure
Bebop and hard-bop tune samples
Page 30
This lesson goes back to talking about modes but more like the
relationship between the blues scale and the pentatonic scale. In
this lesson we will review the mixolydian mode and add one note
to create the famous bebop scale. This scale is commonly paired
up with jazz so to start the class we will listen to the bebop jazz
standard “Donna Lee.” After the listening is over we will review
the basics of the mixolydian scale. This will then allow students to
realize that all the bebop scale is a mixolydian with an added note
between the 6 and the b7. This will allow students to look at
certain popular songs and see what scales are behind them. We
will start by doing this as a class. I will pick a short blues piece and
we will analyze the melody together. Afterwards we will move on
to looking at Donna Lee itself and analyzing as much of the melody
that we can. This lesson will allow students to start thinking about
how scales can be used in melodies and how past composer have
used them. This will continue their growth in composing and
improvising more complex music.

Claude Debussy’s Voiles 6

Symmetrical Scales
Diminished
Structure
Whole Tone
Structure
Pages 31-32

This class will focus on exotic scales are often seen as abstract.
Using a repeating pattern over and over again, these scales create
a very exotic sound. This class will start by the whole class
listening to Claude Debussy’s Voiles. This piece is written with a
lot of whole tone scales through out the entire piece of music. As
this piece goes on, the students are expected to write down 3-5
things that they either hear or feel based off of this song. The
students will then share their thoughts with the class. From here
we will transition to the theory behind these symmetrical scales.
The knowledge of these scales will allow students to write very
complex melodies and understand how these scales are used.

Chords and Scales 7

Their relationship
Analyzing Music to find their parent scales
Major and minor modes

This class will focus mainly on the use of modes in modern fusion
jazz, pop, and classical music. We will start class off by listening to
a fusion piece by Guitarist John Scofield; He is a well-known fusion
guitarist. Students then write down 3-5 things that they hear or
feel during the listening. After the piece a couple of students will
share their thoughts with the class. From here we will talk about
how some musicians use the scales we learned to solo over certain
chords. We will start by looking at an easier blues head where
there are only a couple of chords. From there we will branch out to
other forms of music like fusion and bop to really look at
improvisation. This analysis will allow students to improvise more
complex lines and understand the complex lines that other
musicians use.
Analyzing music continues 8 (l.p.)
Altered Scale
Whole Tone Scale
Diminished Scales
Pentatonic Scales

This class will be a continuation of day 8. We will continue to

analyze pop tunes and discuss what scales to use over what
chords. Half way through the class the students will be given to
write their second melody. This melody will be guided and the
students will be expected to use a minimum of two modes. These
modes have to be different from the first piece they wrote. After
they wrote out a short melody, every one will swap pieces. After
they swap the other student will try to guess what modes the first
student was thinking by writing chords to fit with the melody. If
time permits the two students will share their group write. The
chord write will explain their thinking and then the first student
will share theirs. This will allow the class to see how two different
people might approach modes and melodies differently.
Review day 9
Focusing on the different modes, scales, and other tools we
reviewed throughout this unit.

This class will mainly be a review class for the summative test. If
there was not enough time at the end of class 8 we will continue
and go through everyone’s pieces and though processes. With this
review students will be able to ask any question on things they
aren’t quite sure of.
Summative Assessment 10
Most of the questions will be blank staves where students will
have to write certain scales. Another section will be where
students have to analyze a short passage and determine what
scales the musician was thinking of. There will also be a section
where the student will have to write the name of a scale of a
previously written scale.

Discipline-Specific Concepts and Language Function. Refer to Packet. (150 Words):

This unit is designed around student’s artistic skills, content knowledge, and
contextual understandings. Overall this unit explores the tools, processes, and
elements that are required for creating more complex music. This complex music
that is being created is a form of self-expression, creativity and some look into
improvisation. In addition, I plan on using several different resources that give a
worldview of what these scales and modes can accomplish. This gives students a
base for cultural, historical, global, and personal reflection. In addition to all of this
there are elements created in order for students to work on their analyzing,
explaining, summarizing, and preforming skills. This is done with two different
composition tasks developed for students to think about how to apply what they are
learning. The first task we write a class melody and then each student finishes the
melody in his or her own way. They then explain their thinking process. The second
task is very similar. First students will write a complete melody by themselves. Then
they will swap with a neighbor and write chords based off of the other students
melody. Then each group of students will explain the process of choosing chords
based off of their analytics and the process that they went through to write their
melody.

Engaging Students in Learning and Deepening Student Learning. Refer to Packet.

(150 Words):

This unit engages in students in learning by developing their artistic skills,

knowledge, and contextual understandings. Using many different musical sources as
a tool for learning accomplishes this. Each lesson tends to start with a video that is
applicable to that day’s lesson. These videos are from different sources that often
use pop culture icons, such as memes, as a point of interest for students to relate to.
The music that we analyze are also tunes that the students may have learned or
heard throughout their life. Also, each tune is from a different genre of music. This
unit also builds off of the student’s basic knowledge of music theory. This unit
deepens student learning by evoking performances, responses, using modeling,
demonstrations, and content examples to continue the developing of each student’s
artistic skill, knowledge, and contextual understandings. This is accomplished by
having students write responses to different types of music, explaining their
composition process, talking through some basic composition tools, and by finding
content examples that can be used for what we are learning.
Overview of Summative Assessment and Measurement of Discipline-Specific.
Content Areas. Refer to Packet. (100 Words):

The summative assessment for this ten-day unit will be during the tenth day of
instruction. The test will have a variety of types of questions that will allow me to
cover the most important aspects of this unit. The multiple choice and fill in the
blank section of the test will gauge students understanding of different scales and
how they are created. The short answer will allow the teacher to gauge the student’s
ability to write the scales and their contextual knowledge of these scales. The
analytical portion of the test will allow students to show that they can apply their
knowledge to today’s music.

Main Accommodations (One IEP) (100 Words):

Leslie is a student with some memory issues who reads at a lower grade level. After
reviewing her I.E.P., I will give her copy of the notes for the class that have enlarged
print and enough space for her to write. I will give her extended time to respond to
the class openers where she would have to explain her thoughts on certain pieces of
music. I will also digitize as much as I can so she can access it all on her iPad. I will
also use more graphic organizers, metacognitive modeling, and analogies in order to
help with her memory. I will also provide her with more time on homework and
tests in order for her to adequately complete all of her work.
 North Park University
School of Education Lesson Plan Template
High School (10-12; need to pass theory 1 and two to take this course)
Modern Theory

A. Objectives
a. Students will able to finish a short melodic piece by being guided by
the teacher and by understanding modes and pentatonics

B. Standards
a. State Standards
i. Mu: Cr1.1.I
1. Compose and/or improvise melodic, rhythmic, and
harmonic ideas for simple melodies and
accompaniments for given melodies.

ii. Mu:Cr1.1.III
1. Compose and/or improvise melodic, rhythmic, and
harmonic ideas for compositions of increasing
complexity and accompaniment patterns in a variety of
styles.

iii. Mu:Cr2.1.II
1. Select, develop, and use notation and/or audio/video
recording to document draft melodies, harmonies, and
rhythmic passages and accompaniments for given
melodies.

b. National Standards
i. MU:Cr3.2.C.Ia
1. Share music through the use of notation, performance,
or technology, and demonstrate how the elements of
music have been employed to realize expressive intent.
ii. MU:Cr3.2.C.Ib
1. Describe the given context and performance medium
for presenting personal works, and how they impact the
final composition and presentation.

C. Assessments
a. Summative
i. This unit ends on the tenth day of instruction with a
summative assessment. This assessment is set up with a
 variety of different types of questions to give students multiple
different ways of showing their understanding.
b. Formative
i. Participation
1. I will be observing the students as the class goes on to
see which students are actively participating and which
students are not. I will also be able to answer any
questions the kids have
ii. Questioning
1. I will ask the student’s questions as we go on that are
based on what we are learning. I will go more in depth
in these questions during the instruction and learning
segment.
iii. Formative Assessment
1. For this specific lesson, students will be writing their
own melody with some guidance from the teacher. This
activity starts off with the class writing a four bar
phrases together. After this phrase is complete the
students will be given 5-10 minutes to write their own
four bar complementary melody. The students will be
instructed to use the pentatonic scale and another mode
that we covered in their composition. After the time is
up each student will stand in front of the class and share
their rationale for what scales they used, and how they
used them. Then if possible I will play the melody on the
keyboard. As the students share I will be collecting the
melodies in order to allow me to see if they are truly
grasping what a mode is and how they are used. I will
then write some feedback on each melody and hand it
back to the students for the next class. Students will be
graded on completion and not how their work sounds
or written.
D. Instruction and Learning (45 min)
a. Opening: Students will walk into the classroom and sit in their
previously assigned seats. As soon as class starts I will welcome the
students to class and start the Bobby McFerrin video (3 minutes). As
the video is played I expect the students to write 3-5 comments or
thoughts about the video. A couple of students will be chosen to share
a thought or two with the class (5 minutes). After this activity I will
collect all of the thoughts so I can see the students thought processes.
b. Lesson
i. After the opening activity is complete we will start the lesson
on pentatonic scales and blues scales. We will be going through
a PowerPoint designed for todays lesson and we will look at
the textbook a little bit too. To start off the power point I will
ask the class “Has anyone ever heard of a pentagram?” I will
 then call on a student to explain to the class what a pentagram
is. I will then move on to ask the class “Can anyone, based off of
the word pentagram, guess what a pentatonic is?” For this
question I will either pick a student who is raising their hand
or cold call on a student to keep them engaged. The answer is
the root “penta” means five and “tonic” means notes. So a
pentatonic is a five-note scale. I will explain that in the video
we watched, the crowd was singing a pentatonic scale the
whole time. It was just used in more than one octave. After this
explanation the power point will move on to discuss the
construction of the pentatonic major and minor scales.
Pentatonic minor scales are constructed with a root, minor
third, a fourth, a fifth, and a minor seventh. This scale is widely
popular and used in every style of music imaginable. Moving
on to this I will ask the class if anyone can guess the structure
of a major pentatonic scale. It’s a trick question as the major
pentatonic has a root, second, major third, fifth, and a major
sixth. The connection between these two scales is if you start a
major pentatonic on the major sixth, you actually write a minor
pentatonic. This goes back to the first day where the class
learned about relative major and minor scales
(10-15 minutes)

ii. After we discuss the pentatonic scales I will pass out a sheet of
paper with two pentagrams on it. Each side will represent a
note in the scale. The first pentagram will be for a minor
pentatonic and the second will be for a major pentatonic. This
graphic organizer will hopefully give students a familiar visual
representation of the scale that they can relate to in the future.
Students will be given about 2-3 minutes to write out the
intervals on each side of the pentagram. (3 minutes)

iii. Moving on from pentatonic scales we will be talking about

blues scales. These are essentially the pentatonic scales with
one added note. The minor pentatonic gets a b5/#4 and the
major gets a #9/b3. These scales are used in a wide variety of
music but are most notable in a blues tune. (3 minutes)

iv. For an auditory example we will be listening to “Sweet Home

Chicago” preformed in Blues Brothers. Will listening and watch
the students will fill out the hexagrams on the backside of the
pentagram work sheet. These six-sided shapes have one side
for each note in a blues scale. Student will put one note on one
side just like the pentatonic worksheet. (3 minutes)
 1. Through out all of these steps the students will have
their textbook open to page 29 and 30 so they can see
the scales we are talking about. Also the book has some
additional explanation of the scales and some additional
resources.
v. After the main instruction time we will transition into a class
wide composition activity. First we will start with a simple four
bar melody that the students will work together to create using
the major and minor pentatonic scales. After these four bars
are created, students will copy down the four bars and write
their own four bars of the melody. They are required to
continue the pentatonic ideas while using one additional scale
or mode that we have previously covered. I will give them 10
minutes of time to work on it. After this work time is up I will
select 3-5 students, based on time, and have them share their
reasoning for what they wrote with the class. At the end of
class I will collect all of the compositions so I can see what
students composed and what scales they used. (15 minutes)

c. Support for diverse learners:

i. As we move about this unit I will be presenting examples of
each scale in its pure scale form and an example in a form of a
song, if I can find one. This will allow students to both see the
scale, understand the construction behind the scale, and be
able to hear it. I will also provide handouts for each power
point so students can see the slides and write their own notes
in their own words. I will also give students time to create and
experiment with different scales so they can really experience
the scale first hand. I am also building in student responses in
the lesson so they can hear what other students are thinking at
certain points in the lesson.
ii. Students with IEPS:
1. For Leslie, I will give her copy of the notes for the class
that have enlarged print and enough space for her to
write. I will give her extended time to respond to the
class openers where she would have to explain her
thoughts on certain pieces of music. I will also digitize
as much as I can so she can access it all on her iPad. I
will also use more graphic organizers, metacognitive
modeling, and analogies in order to help with her
memory. I will also provide her with more time on
homework and tests in order for her to adequately
complete all of her work.

E. Instructional Resources and Materials

 a. Teacher needs: Computer, projector, links to the required videos,
sound system, power point hand outs, pentagram and hexagram work
sheets, blank staff paper, pencil, pens, textbook
b. Student needs: textbook, writing utensil, staff paper, past notes,
F. Rationale Behind This Lesson
a. The opening activity is designed to get students thinking about how
important the pentatonic scale is to the music world. Thus done with
the last thing that Bobby McFerrin says, which is that no matter where
he goes he can do this activity with the crowd and they always get it
one hundred percent of the time. After this I give students time to
respond to the video in order to help everyone get on the same page
of thinking. This really gets them into the mindset of the importance
of the pentatonic scale before I teach them about it and before they
learn what it is. Teaching what the scale is and how its made during
the instruction period is also super important. This is because these
scales are the scales that they will be dealing with and hearing on a
daily basis not matter what music that they hear. Understanding these
scales will allow students to gain access to a deeper understanding of
pop music, jazz music, rock music, rap music, classical music, blues
music, and so much more. They can then go on to use these scales in
their own compositions with ease and create their own masterpieces.
 PENTATONIC SHAPES
_____________
_____________

MINOR PENTATONIC

_____________
_____________

_______________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________

_____________ _____________

MAJOR PENTATONIC

_____________
_____________

_____________
 BLUES SCALES
__________

__________
__________

MINOR BLUES

__________ __________

__________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________

__________ __________

MAJOR BLUES

__________
__________

__________