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Concept Of Music
INTRODUCTION
The goal of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the concept of music, importance of
music and history of music. This chapter is designed to develop basic music literacy. It
also focuses on famous Western composers and their works. It covers the era from
medieval to twentieth century music.
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson the students should be able to:
1. Identify the importance of music in their life and in the society.
2. Compare the characteristics of the music in each era/period.
3. Identify the western composers and their famous compositions.

Post-Test
Write a short essay on
A) the importance of music in your life. (500 words)
B) the role of music in the society (500 words)

LESSON PROPER
WHAT IS MUSIC?
Music is the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination,
and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity. It is
an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through
the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre and form.
Music is common language of mankind. There is no human heart that is not touched by
music. It finds instinctive response there, and awakens the finer nature of man. Love of
music sharpens the aesthetic sense, and trains the heart and ears to discriminate the
noble, pure and the beautiful.
Music is one of the greatest pleasures of life. It has the power to command our attention
and inspire us. It speaks to our spirit to our inner feelings. It provokes thoughts about
the mysteries of life such as why we exist, the vastness of the universe and our purpose
on earth. Music reaches deep into our nature to console us, to reassure us, and to help
us express who and what we are as human beings.
CONCEPT OF TEACHING MUSIC
Music is a basic part of everyday life. Every student’s aesthetic experience should be
developed to its highest potential. The student’s best learn the art of music through
active involvement, performance and listening exercises.
Western music has been proven to be the music of intelligence. Performing classical
music boosts the concentration and self-discipline of a student. It improves their general
listening and social skills. Classical musical themes composed hundreds of years ago,
continues to serve as a historical record for the life and times of days past, a backdrop
for all contemporary forms of entertainment and a trainer for our developing brains.

HISTORY OF MUSIC
A culture's music is influenced by all other aspects of that culture, including social and
economic organization and experience, climate, access to technology and what religion
is believed. The emotions and ideas that music expresses, the situations in which music
is played and listened to, and the attitudes toward music players and composers all vary
between regions and periods. Music history is the distinct subfield of musicology and
history which studies music (particularly Western art music) from a chronological
perspective.

Periods Of Western Classical Music

Medieval era c. 500–1400
• Ars antiqua c. 1170–1310
• Ars nova c. 1310–1377
• Ars subtilior c. 1360–1420
Renaissance era c. 1400–1600
Baroque era c. 1580–1750
Classical era c. 1750–1820
Romantic era c. 1800–1910
Modernism c. 1890–1975
• Impressionism c. 1890–1930
• Expressionism c. 1900–1930
• 2nd Viennese School c. 1900–1960
• Neoclassicism c. 1920–1950
• Serialism c. 1920–1975 Contemporary from c. 1950
• Minimalism from c. 1960
• Postmodernism from c. 1960s
• Post minimalism from c. 1980

MEDIEVAL ERA
Medieval music means music from the Middle Ages. The time we call the Middle Ages
is a long period from about 400 AD to 1400 AD.
Music during the Middle Ages is characterized by the beginning of musical notation as
well as polyphony. During this time, there were two general types of music styles; the
monophonic and the polyphonic.
Music was used for entertainment. It was played at feasts and used for dancing.
Peddlers (people who went around selling things) shouted or sang to advertise what
they were selling. All this music is “secular” (not to do with religion). There was also
“sacred” music (music for the church).
In Europe there were people who went around the countryside making a living by
singing and playing musical instruments. They often went to big houses where rich
people lived and entertained them with their faces. These travelling musicians were
called minstrels in England, and troubadours or trouvères in many other countries, or
Minnesinger in Germany.
The minstrels often sang long songs which told stories (a ballad). This was a way to tell
people about what was happening in the world. Some of the stories were made up: they
were about love or about mythology.
Minstrels very often went with their masters when they went on journeys to battles. They
also sang at important ceremonies, for example when people were being knighted.
Many of them played instruments such as the lute or fiddle.
Minstrels were poets and musicians, because they made up their own words and the
tunes. Sometimes we know the words of these songs because they wrote them down,
but they did not write the tunes down. Walther von der Vogelweide was a famous
minnesinger in Germany.
There were two main types of dances in medieval times: line dances and circle dances.
The farandole is a line dance. It was a bit like a modern conga with people following a
leader in a line. The bransle was a round dance or circle dance. The word “bransle”
comes from the French word “branler” (“to sway”). It is pronounced 'Brawl'.
Instruments could be divided into quiet ones which were used indoors, and loud ones
which were used outside. The recorder was a very popular indoor instrument. There
was also the psaltery and the harp (which looked like a small Welsh harp of today).
The bagpipes were loud instruments for outside. They were used for dancing. They
were not as loud as modern Scottish bagpipes. They were more like Northumbrian
pipes or the French musettes. There was also the hurdy-gurdy which was played by
turning a handle. Pipe and tabor were used for Morris dancing.
Many medieval plucked string instruments were similar to the modern guitar, such as
the lute and mandolin. The dulcimer and zither were had strings which were hit with
sticks. These are still popular in East Europe today. There were also “fiddles” (vielle)
and trombones (called sackbut).
It was believed that if you were entertained with music while you are eating it would help
you digest your food and help keep your heart healthy. And people believed that you will
not get fat even if you scoffed down a load of food. Also eating food while having people
dancing for you was believed to have made you fit.
Church music was very important. The mass was the main form of church music. It
used the five parts of the mass Ordinary (the Eucharist service): Kyrie, Gloria, Credo,
Sanctus and Agnus Dei. The priests in the churches wanted church music to be serious.
They did not want it to become popular. They thought that if people enjoyed it too much
they would forget about worshipping God. Religious plays had become very popular.
They told stories from the Bible. However, the church leaders banned them, so they
were performed in the streets and squares of the towns.
Instruments were also banned in church. The church leaders thought that they belonged
to the devil. Only singing was allowed. Gradually, however, the organ started to be
allowed in church. It helped people to sing. Some organs were very tiny. They were
called portative organs. The large organs that were fixed in place were called
“positives”. Bells were also used in church. They looked like our sleigh bells.
Medieval music was based on plainsong. This was a melody which sounded quite free
in rhythm. Composers started adding a second part to the melody as an
accompaniment. This was called organum. Sometimes it just simply followed the main
tune a fourth or fifth below. This was called “parallel organum”. In the 12th and 13th
centuries the original plainsong started to be put at the bottom. It became known as the
cantus firmus (the “firm tune”). Sometimes antiphony was used. The simplest form of
antiphony is when a leader sings something and a group (the choir) sing something
back.
The type of plainchant that evolved was called Gregorian chant. By the 13th century all
other types of chant had been forgotten in Western Europe.
Carols became popular at this time. At first a carol was a dancing song, but often these
popular songs became used for songs for particular seasons or festivals. In later
periods these developed into Christmas carols as we know them.
People often went around in groups, particularly at Christmas, singing at the houses of
rich people. This was called Wassailing. The word means “being of good cheer” (i.e.
“happy”). The Boar’s Head is a well-known medieval carol.
Mummers were groups of people who performed religious plays. They were travelling
entertainers. They normally wore masks so that people did not know who they were.
Most of the medieval music we know today belongs to the last part of the Middle Ages.
There was a tradition known as the “Notre Dame school”. This music dates from around
1150 to 1250. It was the time that great cathedrals were being built in Gothic
architecture. The cathedral of Notre Dame was a very famous example. The music of
this time was called “Ars antique”. It used a system of rhythms called “rhythmic modes”.
Gradually a new way of writing was used. This was called “Ars nova” (“New art”). The
most famous composer of this time was Guillaume de Machaut. He developed a kind of
composition called the isorhythmic motet. He wrote a lot of songs called chansons (the
French word for “song”). Other types of song were called rondeau, ballade, and virelai.
Composers who were born at the end of the Middle Ages such as John Dunstable,
Guillaume Dufay, and Gilles Binchois are often thought to belong to the next period in
music history: the Renaissance period.

BAROQUE ERA

Baroque music is a style of Western art music composed from approximately 1600 to
1750. This era followed the Renaissance, and was followed in turn by the Classical era.
The word “baroque” comes from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning misshapen
pearl, a negative description of the ornate and heavily ornamented music of this period.
Later, the name came to apply also to the architecture of the same period. Baroque
music forms a major portion of the “classical music” canon, being widely studied,
performed, and listened to.
Composers of the Baroque era include Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric
Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, Domenico Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, Henry Purcell, Georg
Philipp Telemann, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Arcangelo Corelli, Tomaso Albinoni, François
Couperin, Denis Gaultier, Claudio Monteverdi, Heinrich Schütz, Jean-Philippe Rameau,
Jan Dismas Zelenka, and Johann Pachelbel. Famous compositions during this era:
Handel’s Messiah (Halleluiah Chorus, And The Glory Of The Lord), Vivaldi’s Four
Seasons, Bach’s Air on G String, Handel’s Water Music
Characteristic of Baroque Music
• The Baroque period saw the creation of tonality.
• Composers and performers used more elaborate musical ornamentation, made
changes in musical notation, and developed new instrumental playing techniques.
• Rhythm was free flowing.
• Major and minor scales replaced old church modes.
• Baroque music expanded the size, range, and complexity of instrumental
performance,
• Established Music forms like:
 Opera (a drama in which emotions are heightened by combining the singing of
words with orchestral accompaniment),
 Recitatives (a type of dramatic writing for voice that lies between ordinary
speech and pure singing with free flowing rhythm)
 Cantata (a short lyric form similar to the oratorio often limited to a soloist using
few instruments of the orchestra),
 Oratorio ( unstaged biblical story, with narrator, soloist chorus and orchestra) ,
 Concerto (a musical composition with three parts or movements in which a solo
instrument is accompanied by an orchestra),
 Passion ( a dramatic presentation of the story of Easter),
 Sonata (a musical composition for a solo instrument or a small instrumental
ensemble, with two or four movements or sections),
 Fugue ( a musical composition in which one or two themes are repeated or
imitated by successively entering voices and developed in a continuous
interweaving of the voice parts),
 Dance Suites (an instrumental dance music which consists of several
movements or dinner music during social gatherings), and
 Symphony (a long piece of music that is usually in four large separate sections
and that is performed by an orchestra)
Composers of Baroque Era
Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March 1685 – 28 July 1750)
German composer and musician of the Baroque period. Bach was born in Eisenach, in
the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, into a great musical family. His father, Johann Ambrosius
Bach, was the director of the town musicians, and all of his uncles were professional
musicians. His father probably taught him to play the violin and harpsichord, and his
brother, Johann Christoph Bach, taught him the clavichord and exposed him to much
contemporary music.
Apparently at his own initiative, Bach attended St. Michael’s School in Lüneburg for two
years. After graduating, he held several musical posts across Germany: he served as
Kapellmeister (director of music) to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, Thomaskantor in
Leipzig, a position of music director at the main Lutheran churches and educator at the
Thomasschule, where he served from 1723 to his death.
He received the title of “Royal Court Composer” from Augustus III in 1736. Bach’s
health and vision declined in 1749, and he died on 28 July 1750. Bach had four
composer sons. He enriched established German styles through his skill in
counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organization, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms,
and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France.  Bach’s compositions
include the Brandenburg Concertos, the Goldberg Variations, the Mass in B minor, two
Passions, and over three hundred cantatas of which nearly two hundred survive. His
music is revered for its technical command, artistic beauty, and intellectual depth.
JESU, JOY OF MAN’S DESIRING is the most common English title of the 10th and last
movement of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 (“Heart and
Mouth and Deed and Life”), composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1716 and 1723.
Written during his first year in Leipzig, Germany, this chorale movement is one of
Bach’s most enduring works. Today, it is often performed at wedding ceremonies as
well as during Christian festive seasons like Christmas and Easter slowly and
reverently.

Johann Pachelbel (baptised September 1 , 1653 – buried March 9, 1706) a German

composer, organist and teacher who brought the south German organ tradition to its
peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to
the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the
most important composers of the middle Baroque era.
Pachelbel’s music enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime; he had many pupils
and his music became a model for the composers of south and central Germany.
Today, Pachelbel is best known for the Canon in D, as well as the Chaconne in F minor,
the Toccata in E minor for organ, and the Hexachordum Apollinis, a set of keyboard
variations.  Pachelbel explored many variation forms and associated techniques,
which manifest themselves in various diverse pieces, from sacred concertos to
harpsichord suites.

CLASSICAL ERA
Classical is applied to any work accepted either as a model of excellence or as a
creation enduring cultural relevance and value. Classical is any literary work of the
highest quality. The best-known composers from this period are Joseph Haydn,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert; other notable
names include Luigi Boccherini, Muzio Clementi, Antonio Soler, Antonio Salieri,
François Joseph Gossec, Johann Stamitz, Carl Friedrich Abel, Carl Philipp Emanuel
Bach, and Christoph Willibald Gluck. Ludwig van Beethoven is also regarded either as a
Romantic composer or a composer who was part of the transition to the Romantic.

Characteristics of Classical Music

• Most music of the classical period has a clear tune. This means that music from the
classical period often sounds much simpler than baroque music. Music from the
classical period keeps changing volume. It keeps changing in many other ways as well.
You will notice these as changes of mood.
• Importance was given to instrumental music—the main kinds were sonata, trio, string
quartet, symphony, concerto, serenade and divertimento. Sonata form developed and
became the most important form. It was used to build up the first movement of most
large-scale works, but also other movements and single pieces (such as overtures).
• The melody was expressive, tuneful, polished, elegant and aristocratic. • Soprano
was the most important voice.
• The string quartet came of age, replacing the trio sonata as the most popular form of
chamber music. The string group became the foundation of the symphony orchestra.

Composers of Classical Era

Ludwig Van Beethoven (17 Dec 1770 – 26 Mar 1827)

Ludwig Van Beethoven, one of the world’s greatest composers, was born in Bonn,
Germany. He had a childhood poverty, but from the age of four his father taught him to
play piano and violin, hoping Ludwig could help increase the family earnings. When he
was 17, his mother died leaving him to care for his alcoholic father, his two brothers and
a sister. By good fortune, his talent won him a position in the court orchestra. After his
studies with Haydn, he became the world’s freelance composer.
During 1802-1815 he began to show his true genius, writing some of his most important
works including the 5th Symphony. He showed his great mastery in composing
symphonies, sonatas, concertos and string quartets. Beethoven eventually lost his
hearing. He composed some of his later pieces while literally pounding the piano with
his ear close to the keys. When he premiered his magnificent 9th Symphony, he
conducted it without hearing a single note. Because of his deafness Beethoven’s
conducting was unsynchronized with the orchestra even had to turn him around so that
he could see the enthusiastic approval of the audience.
The ode is best known for its musical setting by Ludwig van Beethoven in the final
movement of his Ninth Symphony (completed in 1824), a choral symphony for
orchestra, four solo voices and choir. Fur Elise is one of his most popular composition
for piano.

Franz Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809)

He was a prominent and prolific Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was
instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio and his
contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets “Father of the Symphony”
and “Father of the String Quartet”.
James Webster summarizes Haydn’s role in the history of classical music as follows:
“He excelled in every musical genre... He is familiarly known as the ‘father of the
symphony’ and could with greater justice be thus regarded for the string quartet; no
other composer approaches his combination of productivity, quality and historical
importance in these genres.”
Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family at
their remote estate. Until the later part of his life, this isolated him from other composers
and trends in music so that he was, as he put it, “forced to become original”. At the time
of his death, aged 77, he was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe.
Joseph Haydn was the brother of Michael Haydn – himself a highly regarded composer
– and Johann Evangelist Haydn, a tenor. He was also a friend of Mozart and a teacher
of Beethoven. A central characteristic of Haydn’s music is the development of larger
structures out of very short, simple musical motifs, often derived from standard
accompanying figures.

THE SYMPHONY NO. 94 in G major is the second of the twelve so-called London
symphonies written by Joseph Haydn. It is popularly known as the Surprise Symphony.
Haydn wrote the symphony in 1791 in London for a concert series he gave during the
first of his visits to England (1791–1792). The premiere took place at the Hanover
Square Rooms in London on March 23, 1792. Haydn’s music contains many jokes, and
the Surprise Symphony includes probably the most famous of all: a sudden fortissimo
chord at the end of the otherwise piano opening theme.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791),

 He was baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a
prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, Mozart showed
prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin,
he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, he
was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, but grew restless and travelled in
search of a better position. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his
Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little
financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-
known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was
largely unfinished at the time of his death.
He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic,
concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. Ludwig van Beethoven composed
his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote that “posterity
will not see such a talent again in 100 years.”

Popular compositions: Eine Keline Nachtmusik, Serenade for Orchestra, Turkish March
THE 40TH SYMPHONY was completed on 25 July 1788. The composition occupied an
exceptionally productive period of just a few weeks in 1788, during which time he also
completed the 39th and 41st symphonies (26 June and 10 August, respectively). 9

Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) He was an

Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs,
and some instrumental and piano pieces. His best-known operas include the Italian
comedies Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) and La Cenerentola (Cinderella),
and the French-language epics Moïse et Pharaon and Guillaume Tell (William Tell). A
tendency for inspired, song-like melodies is evident throughout his scores, which led to
the nickname “The Italian Mozart”. Until his retirement in 1829, Rossini had been the
most popular opera composer in history.

“WILLIAM TELL” (1829) is an opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French

libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis. Rossini had high hopes of this opera
about a legendary Swiss bowman. He considered it his masterpiece from which he
could retire but because of its four-hour length and concerns it was glorifying a
revolutionary figure, the opera flopped. Later the overture from it struck bulls’ eye and
became Rossini’s best known work. William Tell was a folk hero of disputed historical
authenticity who is said to have lived in the canton of Uri in Switzerland in the early 14th
century. After refusing to salute the Habsburg badge at Altdorf on Lake Lucerne, he was
sentenced to shoot an apple from his son’s head. This he did, before shooting the
tyrannical Austrian ruler Gessler, thus symbolizing his people’s refusal to submit to
external authority.

Franz Peter Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) Schubert was born on
January 31, 1797, in Himmelpfortgrund, Austria. As a child, his talents included an
ability to play the piano, violin and organ. He was also an excellent singer. He is the
son of a schoolmaster, received a thorough musical education and won a scholarship to
boarding school. Franz was the fourth surviving son of Franz Theodor Schubert, a
schoolmaster, and his wife, Elisabeth, a homemaker. His family cultivated Schubert’s
love of music. His father and older brother, Ignaz, both instructed Schubert early in his
musical life.

Eventually, Schubert enrolled at the Stadtkonvikt, which trained young vocalists so they
could one day sing at the chapel of the Imperial Court, and in 1808 he earned a
scholarship that awarded him a spot in the court’s chapel choir. His educators at the
Stadtkonvikt included Wenzel Ruzicka, the imperial court organist, and, later, the
esteemed composer Antonio Salieri, who lauded Schubert as a musical genius.
Schubert played the violin in the students’ orchestra, was quickly promoted to leader.
He also attended choir practice and, with his fellow pupils, practiced chamber music and
piano playing.
In 1812, however, Schubert’s voice broke, forcing him to leave the college, though he
did continue his instruction with Antonio Salieri for three more years. Schubert died at
31 but was extremely prolific during his lifetime. His output consists of over six hundred
secular vocal works (mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music,
operas, incidental music and a large body of chamber and piano music.

Symphony No.8 (Unfinished) Only two movements were completed, but Schubert’s
eighth symphony stands as one of the greatest, and strangest of the genre.

ROMANTIC ERA
Music is the language of human feeling. It is especially dramatic and emotional during
Romantic period. The Romantic spirit expressed the rise of the middle class, the
triumph of the individual. The American Revolution (1776) and the establishment of the
new social order in France (1789) affected the entire world. The Declaration of the
Rights of Man and Citizen broke the rule of the old aristocracy. The feelings, beliefs and
aspirations of the common man would now be heard.
Characteristics of Romantic Music
• Romantic subjects are evident in the songs and poems of the period.
• “Romances” which were Stories and poems about heroic figures written in the
language of the people; music was involved with the ideas of nationalism.
• Symphonic Music expanded into larger forms.
• ART SONG/LIED musical form is made by combining words, melody and
accompaniment.
• SONG CYCLES are group of songs by one composer based on poems all written by
the same poet and the theme may either be a story or it may be simply a mood.

Composers of Romantic Era

Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897)

He was a German composer and pianist. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family,
Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria. In his lifetime, Brahms’s
popularity and influence were considerable. Brahms composed for piano, chamber
ensembles, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he
premiered many of his own works. He worked with some of the leading performers of
his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim.

Cradle Song is the common name for a number of children’s lullabies with similar lyrics,
the original of which was Johannes Brahms’s “Wiegenlied: Guten Abend, guten Nacht”
(“Good evening, good night”), Op. 49, No. 4, published in 1868 and widely known as
Brahms’ Lullaby. The lyrics of the first verse are from a collection of German folk poems
called Des Knaben Wunderhorn and the second stanza was written by Georg Scherer
(1824–1909) in 1849. The lullaby’s melody is one of the most famous and recognizable
in the world, used by countless parents to sing their babies to sleep. The lullaby was
dedicated to Brahms’ friend, Bertha Faber, on the occasion of the birth of her second
son.

Frederic Francois Chopin (22 Feb 1810-17 oct 1849) A Polish composer and virtuoso
pianist of the Romantic era who wrote primarily for the solo piano. He gained and
maintain renown worldwide as one of the leading musicians of his era, whose poetic
genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation.
He died in Paris in 1849 because of tuberculosis.
Valse Op.18 was composed by Chopin in 1833 and poblished in 1834. This was his first
published waltz composition for solo piano.
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (8 Sept 1841 – 1 May 1904) He was a Czech composer. Following
the nationalist example of Bedřich Smetana, Dvořák frequently employed aspects,
specifically rhythms, of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia . Dvořák’s
own style has been described as the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the
symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them.
The Slavonic Dances are series of 16 orchestral pieces in 1878 and 1886 and published
in two sets as Opus 46 and Opus 72 respectively. Originally written for piano for four
hands.

Sir Edward William Elgar, (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) He was an English
composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical
concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including
the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and
cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral works, including The Dream of
Gerontius, chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the King’s Musick in
1924.

Felix Mendelssohn (3 Feb 1809 – 4 Nov 1847) Having shown exceptional musical
talent at an early age, Mendelssohn was encouraged by his family to study music and to
make it his career. At the age of seventeen, he composed an overture based on
Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” which was so successful that some years
later he composed more music on the subject, resulting in a suite of pieces to be used
in conjunction with productions of the play. Such a collection of pieces is known as
incidental music, and the fleet and airy Scherzo from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is
typical of the seemingly effortless and beguiling style of this composer. Mendelssohn
responded to nature as did most composers of the period. One of the results of
nature’s influence was the Fingal’s Cave Overture, also known as The Hebrides, which
depicts the rocky, wind-swept coast and ancient caverns of Scotland. Mendelssohn’s
many travels also influenced two of his five symphonies, the third in A minor, known as
the “Scotch” Symphony, and his popular Symphony no. 4 in A major, known as the
“Italian” symphony, which incorporates melodies and dances that Mendelssohn heard
while traveling in that country.

Jacques Offenbach (20 June 1819 – 5 October 1880) He was a German-born French
composer, cellist and impresario of the romantic period. He was born in Cologne,
Germany. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his
uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later
composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr. and Arthur Sullivan.
He studied at the Paris Conservatoire before becoming a composer of operettas. His
works included Orphée aux Enfers and La Vie Parisienne. Offenbach worked at both
the Théâtre Français and the Théâtre de la Gaité. Playing in the Opéra-Comique
orchestra helped him develop into one of the finest cellists in Europe. 21 After
converting to Catholicism, Offenbach married a Spaniard, Herminie d’Alcain, in 1844.
Around this time, he also began traveling through Europe to give performances, playing
with such figures as Franz Liszt and Felix Mendelssohn. The year 1847 marked a
turning point for Offenbach, as his focus began to shift from performing to composing
operettas. His first operetta was L’alcove. • He was 61 when he died on October 5,
1880, in Paris, France, leaving behind an unfinished grand opera, Les Contes
d’Hoffmann.

The Can-Can is a high-energy and physically demanding music hall dance, traditionally
performed by a chorus line of female dancers who wear costumes with long skirts,
petticoats, and black stockings. The main features of the dance are the lifting and
manipulation of the skirts, with high kicking and suggestive, provocative body
movements. The Infernal Galop from Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld
is the tune most associated with the can-can.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) He was a Russian

composer whose works included symphonies, concertos, operas, ballets, chamber
music, and a choral setting of the Russian Orthodox Divine Liturgy. He is widely
considered the most popular Russian composer in history. His work includes the “The
Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Waltz of the Flowers and The Nutcracker” . When
he was just 5 years old, Tchaikovsky began taking piano lessons. Although he
displayed an early passion for music, his parents hoped that he would grow up to work
in the civil service. At the age of 10, Tchaikovsky began attending the Imperial School of
Jurisprudence, a boarding school in St. Petersburg. His mother, Alexandra, died of
cholera in 1854, when he was 14 years old.
In 1859, Tchaikovsky honoured his parents’ wishes by taking up a bureau clerk post
with the Ministry of Justice—a post he would hold for four years, during which time he
became increasingly fascinated with music. When he was 21, Tchaikovsky decided to
take music lessons at the Russian Musical Society. A few months later, he enrolled at
the newly founded St. Petersburg Conservatory, becoming one of the school’s first
composition students. In addition to learning while at the conservatory, Tchaikovsky
gave private lessons to other students.
In 1863, he moved to Moscow, where he became a professor of harmony at the
Moscow Conservatory. Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky’s life was
punctuated by personal crises and depression. Contributory factors included his leaving
his mother for boarding school, his mother’s early death, as well as that of his close
friend and colleague Nikolai Rubinstein, and the collapse of the one enduring
relationship of his adult life, his 13-year association with the wealthy widow Nadezhda
von Meck. His homosexuality, which he kept private, has traditionally also been
considered a major factor, though some musicologists now downplay its importance.
His sudden death at the age of 53 is generally ascribed to cholera.
Swan Lake Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. The
scenario, initially in two acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of
Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse.

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) He was a German
composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his
operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music
for each of his stage works. Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works
in the romantic vein of Weber and Meyerbeer, Wagner revolutionized opera through his
concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk (“total work of art”), by which he sought to synthesis
the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama, and which
was announced in a series of essays between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realized these
ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The
Ring of the Nibelung).
His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex
textures, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical
phrases associated with individual characters, places, ideas or plot elements. His
advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal
centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is
sometimes described as marking the start of modern music. Until his final years,
Wagner’s life was characterized by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and
repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics
have attracted extensive comment in recent decades, especially where they express
antisemitic sentiments. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts
throughout the 20th century; their influence spread beyond composition into conducting,
philosophy, literature, the visual arts and theatre.

The “Bridal Chorus” (“Treulich geführt” in German), from the 1850 opera Lohengrin,
by German composer Richard Wagner, is a march played for the bride’s entrance at
many formal weddings throughout the Western world. In English-speaking countries it is
generally known as “Here Comes the Bride” or “Wedding March,” though, actually,
“wedding march” refers to any piece in march tempo accompanying the entrance or exit
of the bride, notably Felix Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March.” The piece was made
popular when it was used as the processional at the wedding of Victoria the Princess
Royal to Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
20th-century music is defined by the sudden emergence of advanced technology for
recording and distributing music as well as dramatic innovations in musical forms and
styles. Because music was no longer limited to concerts, opera-houses, clubs, and
domestic music-making, it became possible for music artists to quickly gain global
recognition and influence. Twentieth-century music brought new freedom and wide
experimentation with new musical styles and forms that challenged the accepted rules
of music of earlier periods. Faster modes of transportation allowed musicians and fans
to travel more widely to perform or listen. Amplification permitted giant concerts to be
heard by those with the least expensive tickets, and the inexpensive reproduction and
transmission or broadcast of music gave rich and poor alike nearly equal access to
high-quality music performances. The best-known composers from this period are
Richard Strauss a German composer, Arnold Shoenberg an Austrian composer, Bela
Bartok a Hungarian composer, and Igor Stravinsky Russian-born composer.

Developments In Twentieth Century Music

• Richard Strauss innovations in harmony and instrumentation.

• Shoenberg began to write music that was atonal- that is lacking in key.
• Bartok’s use of folk-song scales and strong dissonances.
• Shoenberg and Stravinksy’s use of 12 tone system. Famous Works in 20th Century
Period • Stravinsky’s The Fire Bird
• Bartok’s Mikrokosmos
• Strauss Der Rosenkavalier and Don Quixote

REFLECTIONS/ LEARNING INSIGHTS

1. Define music in your own words. How do they help or inspire people?
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2. Give at least three things that good music can do.

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3. What is the importance of teaching music?

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4. What are the characteristics of each western music era?

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5. Choose 3 western composers that you like most and why?

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POST-TEST
I. Match column A with column B. Write the letter of the correct answer. (10 points)

A B
______1. It is combination of long and short sounds that A. syncopation
convey a sense of movement. B. melody
______2. It is the basic unit of music. C. accent
______3. It is a sign placed at the beginning of the piece D. enharmonic
of music to tell the performer how many beats E. key signature
in a measure and to identify the pulse note. F. rhythm
______4. It divides music into measures. G. time signature
______5. It is used at the end of a musical composition. H. double bar line
______6. It is the combination of clefs and sharps or flats I. beat
on the staff. J. bar line
______7. It is a term given to a note or tone with two names.
______8. It is a series of tones organized to move up and
down.
______9. It is a rhythmic variation of unexpected accent
between two beats or “off beat”.
______10. It is a strong beat in music.

II. A. Multiple choice. Complete the following measures. Write the letter of the correct answer. (10
points)

A. B. C. D. E. F.

1.) 3
4 ________

2.) 6
8 ________

3.) 4
4 _________
4.) 2
4 _________

5.) 2
2 ________

ACTIVITY

Multiple choice. Identify the time signature of the following rhythmic patterns. Write the letter of the
correct answer. (10 points)

A. 3 B. 4 C. 2 D. 2 E. 6 F. 3
4 4 2 4 8 8

______1. ______6.

______2. ______7.

______3. ______8.

______4. ______9.

______5. ______10.

III. Multiple choice. Identify the tonal movement of the following notes. Write the letter of the correct
answer. (10 pts) 2 points each

A. Leap B. Step C. Skip D. Repetition

1. _________ 2._________ 3._________ 4._________ 5.__________

Identify the following key signatures. (10 points) 2 points each

1. ___________ 2.__________ 3._________ 4._________ 5._________

FINAL REQUIREMENT

I. Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the correct answer. (10pts)

_____1. It is the loudness and softness of a musical passage.

a.timbre b.pitch c.form d. dynamics
_____2. It is the systematic organization of sound.
a. pitch b. rhythym c.music d. noise
_____3. It is the highest female voice.
a. alto b.tenor c.bass d.soprano
_____4. It is the highest male voice.
a. alto b.tenor c.bass d.soprano
_____5. It is the lowest male voice.
a. alto b.tenor c.bass d.soprano
_____6. It refers to the quality of sound that distinguishes one instrument from another.
a.timbre b.pitch c.melody d.dynamics
_____7. It is the musical symbol that has five lines and four spaces.
a.barlines b.staff c.key signature d.time signature
_____8. It is the combination of G clef and F clef staff.
a.barlines b.staff c.grand staff d.measure
_____9. It is the musical symbol for silent duration.
a.clef b.notes c.rests d.staff
_____10. This musical symbol means whole measures rest.
d. none of the
a.half rest b.quarter rest c. eighth rest above
II. Matching Type. Match column B with Column A. Write the letters before the number. (10 pts)
A
______1. The main instrument in the brass section that have a A. TUBA
brilliant and brassy sound. B.TRUMPET
______2. "Heart of the orchestra" C. FRENCH HORN
______3. Backbone of the orchestra D.TROMBONE
______4. The only sliding instrument in the brass section E.BASSOON
______5. Largest brass instrument with the lowest pitch. F.PICCOLO
______6. Smallest instrument in the woodwind section. G.DOUBLE BASS
______7. Largest woodwind instrument with the lowest pitch. H.VIOLIN
______8. Largest string instrument with the lowest pitch. I.STRING INSTRUMEN
______9. Clown instrument of the orchestra J.BRASS INSTRUMEN
______10
. Metal tube that is 12-feet long; less brass more mellow
than the trumpet.

IV. Multiple Choice. Classify the following instruments.USE CAPITAL

LETTERS (10 pts)
S-Strings, B-Brass, PT-Percussion (tuned), PNT-Percussion not tuned, W-
woodwind

______1. cello ______6. cymbals

______2. glokenspiel ______7. trumpet
______3. trombone ______8. marimba
______4. piccolo ______9. double bass
______5. steel drum ______10. saxophone

III. Matching Type. Match column B with Column A. Write the letters before the
number.(10 pts)
A B.
______1. piano (p) A. loud
______2. forte (f) B. Very Loud
______3. mezzo piano(mp) C. Soft
______4. mezzo forte (mf) D. Very Soft
______5. fortissimo (ff) E. Moderately Loud
______6. pianissimo(pp) F. Moderately Soft
______7. crescendo (<) G. Very very loud
______8. fortississimo (fff) H. Very very soft
______9. decrescendo (>) I .Gradually decreasing loudness
______10. pianississimo J. Gradually increasing loudness
 (ppp)
Note Reading. Write the letter names and sol-fa syllables below each note. (10 pts)

Letter name 1._________ 2._________ 3._________ 4._______ 5._____

sol fa
syllable _________ _________ _________ _______ ______

Letter name 6._____ 7.______ 8.______ 9._____ 10.____

sol fa
syllable ______ ______ _________ ______ ______

SOURCES:

Bautista et al. An Introduction to Music. Mandaluyong City: National Book Store, 2006.
Morala, Lily Suzette R. Western Music Journey. Plaridel, Bulacan: St Andrew
Publishing House, 2015.
Suarez, Herminio, Uderstanding The Fundamentals of Music. Plaridel, Bulacan: St.
Andrew Publishing House, 2012.

Internet:
www.merriam-webster.com
http://www.britannica.com/biography
http://songfacts.com/detail.php
Unit Title: MUSIC NOTATION
Lesson Title: Music Symbols and Lines, Grand Staff and Note Reading
Duration: 3 hours

Introduction:
Music is written or notated, on a staff of five lines and four spaces. The staff forms a
kind of “ladder” with each line and each space representing a particular pitch arranged
on ascending order from the bottom line to the top.

Notation is a method of writing down music so that it can be performed vocally and
instrumentally. It is a king of code that allows other people to interpret music. These
symbols tell us three basic things about the music; how long or short is the sound
(duration), how high or low is the sound (pitch), and how should the music be played
(expression).

Learning Objectives and Competencies:

 Develop an understanding and knowledge about Music Symbols and Lines.
 Gain skills to interpret the symbols on how music will perform.
 Identifies where the notes in keyboard keys would be applied.
 Differentiate the duration of a note based on the symbols.
PRE-TEST:
Instruction: Draw a line from the symbols to the correct terms.
1. bass clef 

2. fermata 

3. treble clef 

4. bar line 

5. flat 

6. common time 

7. double bar line 

8. sharp 
 9. natural staff 

10. repeat sign 

 

RUDIMENTS OF MUSIC
Staffs, Bars, Clefs, Ledger Lines and The Keyboard

Music is written or notated, on a staff of five lines and four spaces. The staff forms a
kind of “ladder” with each line and each space representing a particular pitch arranged
on ascending order from the bottom line to the top.

Bars
Bars are classified into two. These are the following:
1. Single Bar (Standard Bar). A vertical line dividing the staff into measures.
2. Double Bars. These are two vertical lines at the end of the staff which signify the
end of the music.

Clefs 
A Clef is a musical symbol places at the beginning of the line music to indicate the
exact location of a particular note or pitch on the staff. There are several kind of clefs
used in notation. Here are two of the most common clef signs used in music writing and
reading.
Ledger Lines
These are short lines drawn above and below the staff to provide for notes outside the
staff for continuity in reading music. An extension of the stuff.

Each line and space of the staff has a particular tone with its corresponding pitch name.
Pitch names are letter names derived from the first seven letters of the english alphabet.
Pitch names also have their corresponding tone names or so-fa syllables.

KEYBOARD INSTRUMENT
A keyboard instrument is one that produces sound when the player presses keys on a
keyboard. Keyboard instruments may be included in the orchestral ensemble, or
featured as solo instruments playing together with the orchestra. They are also used to
accompany voices or other instruments and of course, to perform solo compositions.

A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical

instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboard typically contains keys for playing the
twelve notes of the western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and
smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the interval of an octave. Depressing a key on the
keyboard causes the instrument to produce sounds, either by mechanically striking a
string or tine (piano, electric piano, clavichord); plucking a string (harpsichord); causing
air to flow through a pipe (organ); or strike a bell (carillon). On electric and electronic
keyboards, depressing a key connects a circuit (Hammond organ, digital piano and
synthesizer). Since the most commonly encountered keyboard instrument is the piano,
the keyboard layout is often referred to as the “piano keyboard”.

In the modern musical notation and tuning, an enharmonic equivalent  is a note,
interval, or key signature that is equivalent to some other note, interval, or key signature
but “spelled”, or names differently. Thus, the enharmonic spelling of a written note,
interval, or chord is an alternative way to write that note, interval, or chord. For example,
in twelve-tone equal temperament ( the currently predominant system of musical tuning
in western music) the notes C# and D 𝄬 are enharmonic (or enharmonically equivalent)
notes. Namely, they are the same key on a keyboard, and thus they are identical in
pitch, although they have different names and different roles on harmony and chord
progressions.

Example:
G# = Ab Cb = B Mi # = Fa Reb = Do#

Chromatic Signs
 Sharp
 1. A Sharp is a symbol placed before a note to raise its pitch one semitone or
halftone. Thus, a sharp before the note fa is sung or played as fi or fa#, but
sounds one-half tone higher than the original.
2. Double Sharp raises the pitch of a note by one whole tone. Thus, a double
sharp before the note fa will take the sound of sol.
3. Flat 
 A Flat is a symbol placed before a note to lower its pitch one semitone or
halftone. Thus, a flat before the note mi is sung or played as me or mib, but
sounds one-half tone lower than the original.
 A Double Flat lowers the pitch of a note by a whole tone. Thus, a double flat
before the note sol will take the sound of fa.

A natural restores a note to its original pitch which was previously played a sharep, flat,
with a double sharp or double flat. A natural is also called a “cancel” sign.
An Accidental is a sharp, a double sharp, a flat, a double flat or a natural, which does
not belong to the scale of the indicated key.

Notes and Rests

Notation is a method of writing down music so that it can be performed vocally and
instrumentally. It is a king of code that allows other people to interpret music. These
symbols tell us three basic things about the music; how long or short is the sound
(duration), how high or low is the sound (pitch), and how should the music be played
(expression). Note, in musical notation, symbols placed on or between the lines of a
staff to indicate the pitch and the relative duration of the tone to be produced by voice or
instrument. The largest note value in common is the whole note, an elliptical outline. Its
value is halved by the addition of a stem. A solid note with a stem is the quarter note,
the most usual metric unit in modern notation. The eighth note resembles the quarter
note with the addition of  a flag at the end of the stem; with each flag added, the value of
the note is again halved. For each note value, there is a rest of corresponding value;
rests re named in the same ways as notes, e.g., whole rest, half rest.
The word we say and the notes we sing have specific durations. Duration refers to how
long tone and silence last. Some sound durations are short  while others are long.
Duration is determined by the kind of notes and rest used. Below are the kinds of notes
and rest with their time values.

MUSICAL REST VALUE CHART

MUSICAL NOTES VALUE CHART
Notes are musical characters or symbols placed on the staff to denote certain tones
being sounded. Notes may have one, two, three or more parts which are head, stem,
and hook or hooks. Notes have different shapes to determine their exact value; i.e.,
their relative length or duration. The pitch of the notes depends on the position of the
note-head on the lines and spaces of the staff.

The term note has two primary meaning:

1.  a sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a
sound;
2. A pitched sound itself.

The whole note:

Looks like an egg on its side, either with a line through it or not. An open head
with stem.

The half note:

Looks like the same as a whole note but with a vertical line attached to it. An
open note head with stem.

The quarter note:

Looks like the same as half note except the circle is filled in. A closed note head
with stem.

The eighth note:

 Looks like the same as quarter notes but with a curly off the line. They can be put
in groups of 4, 3, or 2. A closed note head with a stem and one hook.

The sixteenth note:

Looks like the same as an eighth note but has double curlies. Can also be
grouped in 4, 3 or 2 but are joined by a double line.a closed note head with stem and
two hooks.

Notes Can Be Classified Into 

1. Ascending Notes - a set of notes that go up in succession. It increases in pitch.

2. Descending Notes - a set of notes that go down in succession. It decreases in

pitch.

3. Contrary Moving Notes - is a group of notes going in opposite directions. An

ascending and descending notes in succession.
3. Repeated Notes - group of notes played or sung repeatedly having the same
pitch.
3. Tie Notes - two or more notes of the same pitch. The tie sign ( a curved lines)
indicates that the second note is not be played or sung but its time value is
added to the first note.
 3. Slur Notes - a curved line placed  over or under a group of notes to indicate that
they are to be played or sung together or at the same time.

MUSICAL RESTS VALUE CHART

A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a symbol indicating the

length of the pause. Each rest symbol corresponds with a particular note value:

The whole rest:

Looks like a dark rectangle attached to a bar line, facing downwards. (below the
4th line).

The half rest:

Looks like a dark rectangle attached to a bar line, facing upward (above the 3rd
line).

The quarter rest:

Looks like a squiggly line.

The eighth rest:

Looks like a slanted line with a dot.

The sixteenth rest:

Looks like a slanted line with a double dot.
The duration of notes may also be prolonged by using a dot, a tie or a fermata.
1. A dot when placed after a note or a rest, increases the duration of the note or
rest by one half of its original values.
2. Double dots after a note or rest increases the value of the note or rest by ¾. In a
¾ time signature for example, a quarter note receives one beat. A double dot
after a quarter note will receive ¾  beat. Therefore, a quarter note with a double
dot will receive a total of one and ¾ beats.
3. Another way increasing the duration of note is by using a tie. This is a curved line
that joins two or more notes of the same pitch. It indicates that the second note is
not to be sounded, but it's time value is added to the time value of the first note.
4. The duration of a note may also be prolonged using a fermata. This musical
sign, when placed above or below the note indicates the note is held longer than
the indicated time value.

KEY SIGNATURE
In musical notation, a key signature  is a set of sharp or flat symbols placed together
on the staff. Key signatures are generally written immediately after the clef at the
beginning of a line of musical notation, although they can appear in other parts of the
score, notably after a double bar line.

A key signature designates notes that are to be played higher or lower than the
corresponding natural notes and applies through the end of the piece or up to the next
signature. A sharp symbol on a line or space in the key signature raises the notes on
that line or space one semitone above the natural, and a flat lowers such as notes one
semitone. Further, a symbol in the key signature affects all the notes of one letter: for
instance, a sharp on the top line of the treble staff applies the F’s not only on that line,
but also to F’s in the bottom space of the staff, and to any other F’s.

An accidental is an exception to the key signature, applying only in the measure in

which it appears, and the choice of key signature can increase or decrease the need for
accidentals.
Although a key signature may be written using any combination of sharp and flat
symbols, about a dozen diatonic key signatures are by far the most common, and their
use is assumed in much of this article. A piece scored using a single diatonic key
signature and no accidentals contains notes of at most seven of the twelve pitch
classes, which seven being determined by the particular key signature.

Each major and minor key has an associated key signature that sharpens or flattens the
notes which are used in its scale. However, it is not uncommon for a piece to be written
with a key signature that doesn’t match its key, for example, in some Baroque pieces, or
in transcriptions of traditional modal folk tunes.

In music, the term used to indicate the scale from which the material of a given
composition derived. To say, for example, that the composition is in the key signature of
C major means that it uses as its basic tonal material the tones of that scale which is
associated with C major, and that its harmony employs the chord built on the tone of
that scale. C is then the keynote, and the C major triad, or the notes CEG, the tonic
chord of the composition. In addition to the seven tones of the C major scale, however,
the remaining five tones of the chromatic scale may appear as auxiliary tones, and
chords may be borrowed from other keys. Modulation to another key may take place,
but if there is a return to the original key the whole composition is said to be in the key
of C. At the beginning of a composition, it's used synonymously with key tonality.
Absence of a feeling of key is called atonality.  The concept of key notes was developed
gradually during the 16th and 17th century and its partial or total abandonment was a
feature of the modernism of the early and mid-20th century. Polytonality, the
employment of two or more keys simultaneously, has been used by some 20th century
composers.

It involves not only a central tone but also a central scale and chord. A piece in the key
of C has a basic scale, do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do, with C as its Do, or tonic. Key, then,
refers to the presence of a central note, cale and chord with a piece. Another term for
key is tonality.

POST TEST:
Part 1: Define the corresponding name of each symbol and write your answer in the
blank provided below each image.
 ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________

___________ ___________ ___________ ___________

Part 2: Write the amount of BEAT for each note below it.

                    __ __ __      __    __     __ __ __ __ __  __ __ __ __  __        __    __    __

REFLECTION AND INSIGHT: What are the most things you learned why is it
important?
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Reference:

Ben Dunnett, How to read sheet music, 2020, Music Theory Academy, 
https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/category/how-to-read-sheet-music/

Suarez, Herminio M. Ed. D. 2012, Understanding the Fundamentals of Music, St. Andrew
Publishing House, ISBN 978-971-014-244-6, p. 35 -57
Unit III. Elements of Music
Lesson: Rhythm, Dynamics, Melody and Timbre
Duration: 3 Hrs.

Introduction

“Music is an art, a craft, and a science involving the conscious organization of sound
and silence in the framework of time for the purpose of effecting communication between men.”

We could say such a definition is so general and inclusive that it could be applied to
many things that are usually not considered music. Are the notes accidentally striking a cat as it
walks over a piano keyboard to be called music? Probably not; however, if we record this
sound, electronically alter it to produce different pitches and durations, and organize them as
composers of today’s electronic compositions, then we could legally label the product music.

Our music concept illustrates the relationship between the song and other aural
experiences. For music the kinship between natural and creative experience is more likely to be
ignored than for any other art.We may connect images in an art gallery to other visual
encounters that we have had. We may link the play scenes in a theatre to events from our own
lives.

We may define all aural experiences like music in terms of physical or psychological
characteristics; however, discussion of music in basic music theory terminology is more useful.
We have theoretical terms put in four elements in this module.

Learning Objectives

During the three-hour lesson, you are expected to do the following:

 Identify the elements of music.

 Distinguish the musical concepts under the elements of music
 Demonstrate appreciation of the elements of music
 Create a music analysis crunching the elements of music
Pre-Test

Direction: Read the following descriptions. Put a ✓ in the column of your choice.

Description Agree Disagree

1. Music provides aesthetic and spiritual experiences.

2. Music is a form of communication.

3. It helps in strengthening one’s cultural heriitage.

4. Music exists in structure of time and abstract symbols.

5. Music is a complex arrangements of elements.

6.
Is a clef sign, important in music.

7. Music is a form of entertainment.

8. It is the universal type of performing arts.

9. Is an eighth note with a value 1/2 beat .

10. Music is for everyone.

Lesson Proper

Music always exists in a “framework of time.” Rhythm is regarded as the fundamental

and universal element of music. Many peoplpe cannot carry a tune or tell a saxophone from a
clarinet but most people can feel the flow or beat of a waltz.

The basic unit of rhythm is the beat, a regular or unchanging pulse in music. In everyday
life we find any examples of such regular pulse from the tick of a watch to the beat of the heart.
While rhythm is the irregular or changing pulse in music.
Beat
Task 1. Identify the symbol asked for each item.

1. Circle the half note.

2. Circle the eighth note.

3. Circle the whole rest.

4. Circle the sixteenth rest.

5, Circle the whole note.

6.Circle the quarter note.

Meter

It is called meter to arrange beats into groups of twos, threes, fours or larger units. The
most common metric grouping is two beats or duple meters, and three or triple meters. For
example, quadruple is a grouping of four beats with a primary accent on the first beat, no
accent, secondary accent on the third beat and no accent on the fourth be at. In other words,
quadruple meter is a succession of groupings of two duple meters.

These metric groupings of beats are called measures, with the first beat accented and
are divided with bar lines. A measure’s first beat is called a downbeat, and a measure’s final
beat is called the upbeat.

Dynamics

Loudness and softness of a sound. Loudness is indicated by special words or symbols such as
the following:

English Italian Abbreviations

Very soft pianissimo pp

soft piano p

Moderately soft Mezzo piano mp

Moderately loud Mezzo forte mf

loud forte f

Very loud fortissimo ff

Growing softer Decrescendo cresc.

Growing louder Crescendo decresc.

Task 2
Refer to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF5kr251BRs and analyze the used
dynamics in the music. Give and describe the dynamics used.
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Tempo
The speed or frequency with which beats occur in music is referred to as tempo and can
be indicated by verbal description or by metronome markings.
Melody

A series of single tones organized in ascending and descending pattern which add up to
a recognizable whole is called melody. A melody begins, moves and ends; it has direction,
shape and continuity. The up and down movement of its pitches conveys tension and release,
expectation and arrival.

Tone

The basic unit of the tonal element in music is the tone, a musical sound with a fixed
pitch or regular rate of vibration.
Scale

A scale is a prescribed arrangement of successive pitches usually running from the

lower pitch to the higher pitch in ascending order or vice versa like the steps of a ladder. The
most used scale is the major scale which is shown below.

Task 3. Notate the pitch names on the staves using a quarter note.

F A D E D

B A D G E
MOTIVE AND PHRASE
MOTIVE is a short musical idea. The motive is the smallest structural unit possessing thematic
identity. A motive usually serves as a building block for a composition, and appears many times,
often in a developed form.

An example of motive is the opening of Beethoven’s fifth symphony. The first four notes
from a motive that recurs throughout the entire composition.

PHRASE is a short section of music of a musical composition. Sometimes a phrase may be

contained within one breath, and sometimes sub-divisions may be marked. In notation, phrase-
marks are the slurs placed over or under the notes as a hint of their proper punctuation in
performance. It is often compared to a phrase in language. It may not be a whole sentence, but
it is a single thought.

Key
In music a key is the major or
minor scale around which a
piece of music revolves. A song
in a major key is based on
a major scale. A song in a
minor key is based on a minor
scale.

Chord Progression
 A chord progression is a series of chords played in a sequence. When identifying
chords within a progression, the main task is to find their harmonic functions within the
key, which means to compare the chord to the tonic of the key. The harmonic functions
are written with the Roman numerals I, II, III, IV, etc. Each numeral stands for its
corresponding degree within a scale. Therefore, identifying the degree of a chord
progression involves your abilities to identify intervals accurately. 
Task 4. Identify the Key Signature from no. 1-5 and the chord asked in 6-10.

______1.

______2.

_____3.

_____4.

_____5.

_____ 6. V of Emaj A

_____ 7. ii of Bmaj C#

_____ 8. IV of Amaj D

_____ 9. iii of Cmaj E

_____ 10. vi of Dmaj B

Analysis
Based on the different activities you have just answered, do you consider music anal`1ytic and
comprehensive? Which part of the lesson do you find easy and difficult?

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Abstraction

How significant is understanding the basic elements of music in teaching music in elementary
grades? Do you find the lesson helpful?

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Application

As a future teacher, will you become successful in applying these basics in teaching music to
your students?

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Post Test. Read and analyze each item. Circle the letter of the correct answer.

1. What is the basic unit of rhythm?

a) Tempo c) Duration

b) Beat d) Rhythmic pattern

2. What is the irregular or changing pulse in music?

a) Tempo c) Duration

b) Beat d) Rhythmic

3. A series of single tones organized in ascending and descending pattern. What do you call
this?

a) Tempo c) Melody

b) Tone d) Rhythmic

4. It is a series of chords played in a sequence. What is this?

a) Major Keys c) Melody

b) Chord progression d) Rhythmic

5. A musical sound with a fixed pitch or regular rate of vibration.

a) Major Keys c) Pitch

b) Chord progression d) Tone

6. What does pianissimo (p) means?

a) Soft c) Moderately soft

b) Loud d) Very soft

7. What is the abbreviation for fortissimo?

a) Very very loud c) Very loud

 b) Moderately loud d) Loud

8. A short musical idea. What do you call this?

a) Motive c) Pitch

b) Phrase d) Theme

9. A short section of music of a musical composition is called _________.

a) Motive c) Pitch

b) Phrase d) Theme

10. What pitch name is found on the first space of the staff on a treble clef?

a) C c) F

b) E d) G

Reflection

Write your reflection below upon the lesson.

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Fiinal Requirement

Search for a Filipino folksong with a music score. Analyze the song using the learned elements.

1. Rhythm

2. Meter

3. Dynamic markings

4. Chord Progression

References

Herminio M. Suarez, Ed.D., 2012, Understanding the Fundamentals of Music, 316 Culianin,
Plaridel, Bulacan, St. Andrew Publishing House

Allen Winold, 1966, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice Hall, Inc.

Lily Suzette Ramos-Morala, Music Application and Exercises for Piano, Solfege and Conducting

Electronic Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK0V54_E0bk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v44NY4fyxHA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K-PpCJWMHg
UNIT TITLE

Approaches to Music Education

INTRODUCTION

The goal of this chapter is to introduce the reader to the most well-known music teaching
methods used in music education. They are Zoltan Kodály, Emile-Jacques Dalcroze, Orff
Schulwerk, Edwin Gordon, and Shinseki Suzuki. This chapter also familiarizes the reader with
each method’s philosophy and principles, unique pedagogy, and practices and activities.

OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson the students should be able to:
1. Identify different methodologies in teaching music.
2. Compare the difference of a teacher teaching music and a music teacher.
3. Create a brief lesson plan implementing different music methodologies.
4. Make a semi-detailed lesson plan that incorporates different music methodologies.
5. Create a detailed lesson plan implementing different music methodologies.

POST-TEST

Make a Brief lesson plan per method. Attach the lesson plan on the module
Methods:
1. Kodaly
2. Dalcroze
3. Schulwerk
4. Gordon
5. Suzuki

LESSON PROPER

A music education, or any other type of education method, is a teaching approach that has: 1)
an identifiable underlying philosophy or set of principles; 2) a unified body of pedagogy unique
to it with a body of well-defined practice; 3) goals and objectives worthy of pursuit; and 4)
integrity (i.e., its reason for existence must not be commercial) (Chosky et al.).
Although these approaches are often taught in music education classes, they are highly
applicable, accessible, and integrated methods appropriate for anyone interested in working
with children and the arts, or music in education in addition to music education. All educators
can incorporate the basic techniques used in these methods as they offer creative, arts-driven
curricula through which to teach.

The music methods of Jaques-Emile Dalcroze, Zoltan Kodály, Carl Orff, and S. Suzuki are time-
tested and contain well-practiced and researched techniques for teaching music. All of these
approaches to music learning contain fundamental similarities in that they:
• Are systematic and sequential in design;
• Utilize music with authenticity and integrity, such as folk music;
• Are based on incorporating the “mother-tongue” approach to rhythm, pitch, and timbre
from the child’s persepective, innate behaviors and how interaction with their natural
environment; and
• Encourage active engagement with the student.
They are also “comprehensive and holistic [in preparing] children to be artists, creators, and
producers and not just consumers of music. They pair active and actual music-making with
conceptual learning experiences offered in a systematic approach” (Moore).
The holistic nature of these highly integrated approaches is still conducive today for
implementation in an integrated arts program. This is due to the fact that their core identities,
particularly Orff and Dalcroze, contain elements of drama, movement, sound, and music.

Orff Schulwerk Method

Philosophy

Since the beginning of time, children have not liked to study. They would much rather play, and
if you have their interests at heart, you will let them learn while they play; they will find that what
they have mastered is child’s play.
— Carl Orff

This method engages mind and body through dancing, acting, singing and using percussion
instruments. The idea is that children learn through “play” making it more engaging and fun. It is
developed by a German Composer called Carl Orff who co-founded Gunther-Schule, a school
for music, dancing and gymnastics. The children compose their own music or use folk music as
the basis of their performances. Teachers are free to devise their own classes. One example
would be to use a story or poem as a basis for creating a composition using percussion
instruments. Others in the class may act out the story to encourage more involvement.
Carl Orff’s definition of elemental music is based on small-scale musical patterns (e.g.,
ostinato, drone) familiar to the students.

What then is elemental music? Elemental music is never music alone but forms a unity with
movement, dance and speech. It is music that one makes oneself, in which one takes part not
as a listener, but as a participant. It is unsophisticated, employs no big forms and no big
architectural structures, and it uses small sequence forms, ostinato and rondo. Elemental music
is near the earth, natural, physical, within the range of everyone to learn it and experience it and
suitable for the child (1963). Orff Schulwerk utilizes children’s natural behaviors of play—
experimenting, improvising—to access children’s innate musicality. Schulwerk uses the native
language, sounds, timbres, rhythms, melodies, and tonal material surrounding the child,
particularly in its folk music repertoire. Similar to many of the other methods, the Orff Schulwerk
emphasizes that children should experience first and then analyze or intellectualize about music
afterwards, and encourages hands-on music-making regardless of skill level.

Orff believed that one of the easiest ways to encourage student participation in music while also
contributing to beautiful music-making is to have them play a simple accompaniment on a
xylophone. By second grade, most students will be able to keep a steady beat, with a fair
number able to do so by first grade. Below are some basic accompaniment patterns on the
xylophone or metallophone that students should be able to perform easily.

Orff’s Building Blocks Bloom’s Taxonomy

Imitation Remember
Exploration Understand
Improvisation Apply
Composition Create, Analyze

Limitation
Imitation builds the student’s repertoire of pitches, rhythms, meter, tempo, and dynamics.
Students absorb the fundamental music materials for their “tool box” to be used in more
complex activities in the future.

Exploration
Students begin to understand and even apply the knowledge learned through imitation. They
hear the movement of pitches, the content of rhythms, the movement of meter, and explore the
timbre of whatever instrument or voice with which they have access.
Improvisation
After exploration and imitation, students not only understand, but also can apply some of the
possible combinations of rhythms and pitches, form and dynamics, etc., within a musical
framework.
Composition
Composing is a pinnacle of music-making in that the composer must also analyze the musical
material s/he is working with in order to create a new piece.
Schulwerk understands that to be an excellent musician, the art form must be highly familiar and
internalized to the point of being second nature. Through the practice of imitation, exploration,
improvisation, and composition, students learn what music is by performing.

Step 1. Preparation for instrument playing

Before playing instruments, Schulwerk requires that all sounds be internalized, or practiced on
and in the body. The voice is primary, and singing songs and speaking and creating poems
should be mastered before playing an instrument, which is seen as an activity that extends the
body. Before playing a bordun on an instrument, the musician should be able to simultaneously
sing a melody and patsch (literally means “smack” in German, but refers to patting legs with an
open hand) or clap a separate part such as a bordun as body percussion.
The Orff method makes use of nursery rhymes, folktales, folksongs, folkdances, and authentic,
classical compositions—all music and literature of primary importance and quality.

Step 2. Body percussion

Orff also made use of body percussion—i.e. use of snap, clap, patsch, and stamping. The use
of body percussion is not only a helpful stage towards externalizing rhythm before instrument
playing, but when coupled with singing or rhythmic speaking, it allows practice towards the type
of multitasking required to perform multiple parts, e.g., harmony, polyphony, and so forth.

Orff Improvisation
Schulwerk’s elemental music is based on both experimentation and improvisation, allowing
children to explore the tones, rhythms, and timbres of music from their own abilities and creative
perspectives. To this end, Orff created frameworks or pathways to help children experiment
without pressure or stress.
The easiest way to experiment on the Orff instruments is to begin with the pentatonic scale, a
scale with only five pitches. The pentatonic scale may be major or minor. For a major
pentatonic scale, have children removed the F and B bars from their instrument leacing them
with C, D, E, G, and A. This allows them to create beautiful music beginning and ending on C
without having to worry about not sounding beautiful or making mistakes. For the minor
pentatonic scale, keep the same five pitches, but begin and end on A

Modes
Orff also made use of modes, which are types of scales with non-musical characteristics. The
Greeks used modes such as Lydian (F to F on the white keys of a piano), Dorian (D to D on the
white keys), Aeolian (A to A on the white keys or the natural minor scale), and Mixolydian (G to
G on the white keys).

Zoltan Kodaly Method

Originating in Hungary, this method focuses on the singing voice as the main tool in
understanding music. Traditional folk music is central to this method, as it contains the raw
elements of a person’s musical culture. The method also uses hand signs to represent notes in
the scale, pictures, Movable-Do (as in Do-Re-Mi), rhythm symbols and spoken syllables to
represent rhythms. The method suggests that everyone is musically capable and is something
Kodaly himself believed. Games and movement are also used, as with other methods, as well
as reading and writing. The pentatonic scale is used in the beginning and progresses from
there. The main sequence of learning is “listen – sing – understand – read and write – create”.
The method is particularly effective in developing listening skills and ear training.

Philosophy
The Kodály philosophy of music education supports music’s role in the intellectual, emotional,
physical, social, and spiritual development of every child. A central tenet of the Kodály approach
is that music belongs to everyone—that an education in music is the right of every human being
and cannot be left to chance.
Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) was an ethnomusicologist and composer from Hungary. He was
appalled by children’s poor singing quality, and began to create teaching methods to improve it.
His approach was highly sequential. He began with sight-reading and mastering basic rhythms
and pitches that gradually increased step by step to become more complex, sometimes by
adding only one new note or rhythmic value at a time.
Kodály was also appalled at the type of songs and repertoire children were learning in school,
and began to focus on utilizing authentic folk music and composed music of excellent quality
through which to teach children.

Hand signs
Although he adopted the signs to Curwen, Kodály did make alterations based on two previously
established hand sign systems—Sarah Glover’s Norwich sol-fa (1845) and John Curwen’s tonic
sol-fa (1858). The hand signs are very much associated with the Kodály method, which uses the
hand signs to help children visualize the spatial relationship between notes. This aids in proper
and correct on-pitch singing as well as sight-reading and ear training.

Solfege of Kodaly

Although solfege singing was around long before Kodály, he became known for it as he used it
extensively in his sight-singing system exercises and throughout his method. Solfege
corresponds to the notes of the major scale, using the syllables Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and Ti.
These words are often abbreviated to D, R, M, F, S, L, T, and D.

In terms of notation, Kodály’s exercises do not have to use the regular musical staff. Instead,
exercises and even songs can be written out using just the D, R, and M, etc., with the rhythm
notated about it. Use of the solfege is a highly effective way to teach children that music or
notes are separate entities from lyrics. Teaching a song using solfege rather than the lyrics
helps the listener hear patterns and intervals.

Solfege teaching sequence

Kodály singing technique begins with the child practicing only a few pitches and mastering them
before moving on to another note; e.g., beginning with only a minor 3rd interval of Sol and Mi,
and gradually adding the La after the Sol and Mi are mastered. Gradually, the child will expand
the number of pitches learned to include the major pentatonic scale (Do, Re, Mi, Sol, La), and
minor pentatonic scale (La, Do, Re, Mi, S).

Kodaly’s solfege examples

After these are mastered, the student is introduced to all of the diatonic pitches (Do, Re, Mi, Fa,
Sol, La, Ti, etc.) and then the accidentals.

Kodaly’s rhythm syllables

Kodály also incorporates rhythmic syllables in his method. These syllables are based on the
work of Emile-Joseph Chêvé, a French theoretician. These syllables are taught sequentially as
well, and begin from basic note values (i.e., quarter notes) up to more complex combinations.

Edwin Gordon Method

Edwin Gordon developed his Music Learning Theory after years of music research and studies.
Music Learning Theory explores how we learn when we’re learning music. Like many other
researchers before him, Gordon realized we are lacking in terminology to explain all of the
complex processes that go on with music learning and listening. Gordon’s main concept is
called audiation, which he defines as “hearing and comprehending in one’s mind the sound of
music that is not, or may never have been, physically present” (2007, p. 399).

Philosophy

According to Gordon, we are each born with music aptitude. As with other human learning
potentials, there is a wide range of music aptitude levels distributed among the human
population. Moreover, both music aptitude and music achievement are dependent on audiation;
i.e., our music learning potentials and our music learning achievements are based on our music
thinking. Most importantly, music thinking goes beyond mere imitation and leads to music
comprehension (2007).
Gordon’s Skill Learning Sequence is based on two main categories of learning: Discrimination
and Inference. Discrimination learning occurs by rote, and occurs when a teacher teaches the
basic building blocks of music—vocabulary and aural and rhythmic patterns. Inference learning
occurs conceptually, where the student is able to identify, create, and improvise with musical
materials already learned. The student at this point is discovering music on his or her own.
Rhythmic learning concerns understanding three basic concepts: the macrobeat, the microbeat,
and melodic rhythm. Macrobeats are those we feel as main beats or longer beats such as when
we’re dancing. In 4/4 or 2/4 time, for example, the macrobeat is represented by quarter notes,
while in 3/4 time it is represented by the dotted half.

Example of Macrobeats

Microbeats are shorter than macrobeats and represent the equal division of the macrobeat. In
4/4 or 2/4 time, microbeats would be represented by the eighth notes, while in 3/4 time
microbeats would be represented by the quarter notes.

Example of Microbeats

Melodic rhythm refers to any rhythmic patterns in a piece. Rhythms can relate to the melody or
text from a piece of music. Similar to Kodály, Gordon also used two types of solfege—tonal
solfege (do, re, mi, etc.) for the pitches and rhythm solfege for rhythm (du de, du de, etc. to
represent duple meter, and du da di, du da di to represent triple).

His approach begins on a holistic level, where the student experiences the whole song, piece,
and so forth; applies analysis; and then re-experiences the whole again but now through the
lens of having analyzed the inner workings in detail.
Similar to other sequenced learning approaches, such as Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal
Development or scaffolding, Gordon’s approach relies on a gradual increase in skill level
difficulty as the student progresses. For example, because improvising music is far more
complex than imitating basic patterns, the latter is required in order to perform the former. This
“Whole-Part-Whole” process recommends first engaging in generalized activities to “experience
the whole,” then progressing to “Study the parts,” finally returning again to the entire piece of
music (Valerio, n.d.)
Dalcroze Method

Emile-Jacques Dalcroze is a Swiss educator best known for eurhythmics, which incorporates
rhythm, structure, and musical expression with movement. The ultimate goal is to develop total
cognitive and kinesthetic awareness through sound. The music acts as a stimulus to which the
body responds, after which sensation returns to the brain to form emotions, which deepens the
significance of the experience.
Connects music, movement, body and mind. Developed by Emile Jaques- Dalcroze, the aim is
to improve ear training and improvisation. Students are encouraged to express the rhythm they
hear through movement. E.g. rhythm and structure are represented using stepping and
clapping. Solfege is used to improve sight singing and ear training.

Philosophy

The Dalcroze philosophy centers on the concept that the synthesis of the mind, body, and
resulting emotions is fundamental to all meaningful learning. Plato said in his Laws: “Education
has two branches, one of gymnastics, which is concerned with the body, and the other of music,
which is designed for the improvement of the soul” (Pennington, 1925, p. 9). Emile-Jaques
Dalcroze believed that every musician should strive to be sensitive and expressive, and to
express music through purposeful movement, sound, thought, feeling, and creativity.

Mead (1994) cites four basic premises that encapsulate the Dalcroze philosophy:
1. Eurhythmics awakens the physical, aural, and visual images of music in the mind.
2. Solfege (sight singing and ear training), improvisation, and eurhythmics together work to
improve expressive musicality and enhance intellectual understanding.
3. Music may be experienced through speech, gesture, and movement.
4. These can likewise be experienced in time, space, and energy. Humans learn best when
learning through multiple senses. Music should be taught through the tactile, kinesthetic,
aural, and visual senses.

The Dalcroze approach is based on eurhythmics, which teaches rhythm, structure, and musical
expression through music. Eurhythmics begins with ear training, or solfege, to develop the inner
musical ear. This differs from Kodály’s use of solfege in that it is always combined with
movement. Another component of the method concerns improvisation, which helps students
sharpen their spontaneous reactions and physical responses to music.

Types of Movement
Each movement involves time, space, and force, and all three should be taken into account
when moving, paying close attention to the musical attributes of the movement.
• Time: Tempo (rate of speed) and duration (fast, moderate, slow)
• Space: Direction, distance covered, level, dimension (large, small), path (straight,
twisted), and focus
• Force: Energy or power expended, quality of the movement, and any adjectives to
describe the movement (e.g., heavy, light, sharp, energetic, gentle)

Movement that stays stationary is called non-locomotor, while movement that moves through
space is locomotor.
• Non-locomotor (movement in place):
• Stretch, curl, clap, snap, patsch, tap, stomp, twist, turn, conduct, sway, jump,
bend, speak, stretch, swing, reach
• Locomotor (movement through space):
• Walk, slide, skip, run, leap, gallop, hop, jump, slither, creep, roll, jog
Regardless of the type, movements should above all be musical. Movements should also be
focused and thoughtful; i.e. preparation should occur before each movement; the movement
should take into account the full length of the beat; and the movement should return back to pre-
preparation status. It is essential that the movement coordinate with the beat of the music, the
rhythm, and the phrasing (depending on the exercise).
Dalcroze’s exercises are always sequential, beginning with the simplest and becoming more
complex as students master and develop their skills. Children are introduced to key musical
elements such as meter, dynamics, rhythms, tempo, duration, melody, form, phrase, and pitch.

Types of Eurhythmics

There are four types of basic eurhythmic exercises:

1. Follow
2. Quick reaction
3. Interrupted canon
4. Canon

1. A follow exercise is a basic music-movement response exercise. Students physically

respond to the sounds they hear.
Examples:
Students walk to the beat of music (piano, drum, etc.) and respond to changes of tempo
(speeding up or slowing down), rhythms (walking on quarter notes, running on eighth notes,
skipping on dotted rhythms), etc.
2. A quick reaction exercise requires students to respond to verbal signals or cues.
Examples:
Students move while the music is playing and freeze when the music stops or the teacher yells
out a command. Students also can change their movements on a given signal, such as
switching from a loco-motor to a non-loco-motor when they hear a drum beat or chime or when
the music stops.
3. An interrupted canon is similar to an “echo” where students imitate or echo a beat, pattern,
etc. The interrupted canon is a preparatory exercise for the canon.
Examples:
Students hear a rhythm and then echo it back on their body (lap, clap, etc.).
4. A canon requires students to echo back a pattern, but one measure later. While they are
performing their pattern, they are simultaneously listening and memorizing the new pattern.

Examples:
The teacher claps patterns. Students respond one measure later while continually absorbing the
pattern currently being performed. Pass the pattern: A more challenging version of this is to
have students form two straight lines. The teacher stands in front and “passes” a pattern to the
first student in one of the lines. That student then “passes” it to their partner across the aisle,
who then passes it across the aisle, etc. All the while, new patterns are being formed and
passed.
Dalcroze movement requires that children listen and respond simultaneously. The music mirrors
the physical motions expected. For example, music for walking or marching is in duple meter
and uses steady quarter notes, running music contains eighth notes, skipping music uses dotted
rhythms, jumping music contains large interval leaps, and so forth.

Examples of music for Dalcroxe movement exploration

Shinzeki Suzuki Method

Philosophy

I want to make good citizens. If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth and learns to
play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart.
—WShin’ichi Suzuki

Originates in Japan and came to the US in the sixties. It was developed for violin, but is applied
to all instruments now. The method centres on involvement of the child’s parents, who also
attend the lessons and ensure it is practiced properly in the home. It is known as the “mother-
tongue approach” with the belief that children have no problem learning their native language
from their parents, so the same principle can be applied to music. With this in mind, children
learn by observation and imitation and should be exposed to music from birth. They become
familiar with their instrument, playing from memory before learning to read music. Music is a
large part of the child’s life being exposed to it everywhere. It is even played as background
music in schools to help develop the musical ear. Formal lessons will start at age 2 or 3.

More than 50 years ago, Japanese violinist Shin’ichi Suzuki realized the musical implication of
the fact that all children learn to speak their native language with ease. He began to apply the
basic principles of language acquisition to music learning, and called his method the mother-
tongue approach.

Suzuki understood that making good musicians requires investment in developing the whole
child – from their morality to their character and ability to be good citizens. Only in this larger
context can the child focus on developing their musical ability. The ideas of parent responsibility,
loving encouragement, constant repetition, etc., are some of the special features of the Suzuki
approach.
When a child learns language, they undergo a very extensive form of enculturation. They begin
by listening and repeating, mastering the linguistic process step-by-step. They have to then
memorize, build vocabulary, and are motivated by environmental, cultural and social factors,
including that of love. To learn music using the Suzuki approach, the child must replicate the
steps of language learning by listening to excellent recordings so that beautiful music becomes
part of their natural environment. Recordings also provide inspiration, and lay the groundwork
for understanding music’s vocabulary and structure. Parental involvement is also key to the
student’s success, and parents provide daily motivation, encouragement, and support. Parents
often learn the instrument along with the child, acting as musical role models, and maintaining a
positive learning atmosphere for the child to succeed.

Application

Create a Semi-detailed Lesson plan incorporating the following methods:

1. Kodaly
2. Dalcroze
3. Schulwerk
4. Gordon
5. Suzuki

Reflections/Learning Insights

Guide Questions:

1. How these teaching methodologies will help you to become a better music teacher?
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2. What are the difference between music teacher and a teacher teaching music?
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Final Requirement

Make a Detailed Lesson plan incorporating the following methodologies:

 1. Kodaly
2. Dalcroze
3. Schulwerk
4. Gordon
5. Suzuki

Reference

https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/music-and-the-child/chapter/chapter-4/