MUED CURRICULUM

PROJECT

Theory and Composition Semester

Class
Georgia Orfanides
 ● Harrisonburg High School
○ Harrisonburg City Public
Schools
■ 1 high school, two
middle schools, six

Who? elementary schools

■ General Operating
Budget 2023:
$107,110,882
● Harrisonburg High School has
6400 students
○ more than 40% are English
language learners
 ● Theory and Composition Semester Class
(meets every other day on A days for 1 hour
and 10 minutes)
○ Students will learn the basic concepts
of western music theory and notation
(notes on the treble and bass staff,
key signatures, major and minor
triads, meter, melody, countermelody,
harmony, song form, etc)

What? ○ Students will learn ear training skills

and be able to; distinguish major and
minor tonalities, distinguish simple
vs. compound meter, distinguish
melody vs. harmony, etc)
○ Students will be able to create
original compositions
○ Students will be able to perform
and/or showcase original
compositions
 ● Mac computers with Sibelius
and Garageband
● Electric pianos

Resources and Funding ●

●
Recording studio
Harrisonburg High School
Band Budget: $157,732
○ Unsure how money is
allocated to other music
departments
 ● Music Theory
● Jazz Theory

Existing General Music ●

●
Music Technology
Music History
Classes ● Class Piano
Prior Experiences in ● Skyline Middle School: Band
and Choir
MS ● Thomas Harrison Middle
School: Band, Choir, General
Music, Orchestra
 ● Harrisonburg City Public Schools Community
Outreach budget: $430,850
● Volunteers help with cafeteria, media center
and classroom support
● Local Organizations
○ Big Brothers/Big Sisters
Matches students with a ‘Big

Community
■
Brother or Sister’
■ They serve as mentors for
disadvantaged students

Involvement ○ Boys and Girls Club

■ After-school program for
students
○ On the Road Collaborative
■ Provides educational
opportunities and hands-on
career experiences to middle and
high-school youth outside of
regular school
○ Second Home
■ Affordable Child-care
Culturally Responsive and Philosophy/Influences

● This class will use musical examples from a variety of genres and include artists
that students are currently listening to. This curriculum will be translated into
Spanish upon approval so that it is accessible to Spanish speakers that are
learning English. This class will allow students to be creative and create their own
music using whatever method they prefer. Students will be able to learn about
music theory and notation through writing their own music every week through
mini projects. These projects allow for students to use all three learning
modalities; visual, aural and kinesthetic, every week. Students do not have to
follow specific ‘rules’ about writing music and can learn how to write music that
expresses their individual experiences.