12th Grade Music Making:

Benchmark: Students synthesize elements of music, notation, and performance practice.

Students will be able to:
Recognize form and structure through playing traditional and non-traditional instruments
and/or singing.
Develop polyrhythmic compositions using instruments, tapping, or clapping.
Perform and master repertoire with attention to dynamics, tempo, articulation, and
phrasing.
In addition to Core Music Indicators, if studying Vocal Music, students also will be able to:
Adapt their performance to the requirements of a variety of vocal ensembles
Perform at sight a piece with accurate tempo, balance, dynamics, expression, articulation,
and intonation.
Sing in tune.
Benchmark: Students emerge as artists through performance, improvisation, and
composition.
Students will be able to:
Perform repertoire with authentic interpretation with regard to style and expression.
Arrange or compose and perform a piece based on any genre, with authentic
interpretation regarding style and expression.
Create musical structure and improvise with it.
In addition to Core Music Indicators, if studying Vocal Music, students also will be able to:
Improvise while performing folk songs, pop tunes, jazz pieces, and spirituals.
Benchmark: Students integrate vocal and instrumental technique, artistry, historical
context and performance practice.
Students will be able to:
Make musical choices through the exploration of voices and instruments.
Apply conducting gestures while singing, playing and moving.
In addition to Core Music Indicators, if studying Vocal Music, students also will be able to:
Create assessment tools to evaluate and make improvements in vocal technique.
Benchmark: Students assume leadership roles specific to performance, ensemble, and
classroom.
Students will be able to:
Determine musical goals, process, and outcomes for specific repertoire and/or organizing
performances.
Utilize instruments and technology to create and present original work.

Benchmark: Students create and critique ensemble music-making procedures and

behaviors.
Students will be able to:
Create assessment tools to evaluate presentations.
Benchmark: Students develop expertise in music in the following areas:
Elements, Notation, and Vocabulary
Students will be able to:
Evaluate repertoire using the language of music.
Notate what they hear.
Read and sight-sing diatonic melodies with a variety of rhythmic values.
Recognize, identify, and notate the pitches of the treble and bass staves, and
become familiar with other clefs.
Listen to live or recorded performances of different music (e.g., jazz and
classical), compare and describe using vocabulary such as: polyphonic and
homophonic, staccato and legato, Major and minor.
Genre and Style
Students will be able to:
Evaluate repertoire for expressive qualities.
Use specific music terminology to describe how composers use dynamics,
range, rhythm, instrumentation, etc. to achieve a musical effect in a selected
repertoire.
Perform and discuss music with attention to forms, such as binary, ternary,
rondo, and popular song in verse.
Verbalize-either orally or in writing- a detailed emotional response to a variety
of traditional and non-traditional genres of music.
Describe similarities and differences in the way diverse composers utilize
musical elements.
Describe origins and importance of musical styles and instruments in various
cultures.
Articulate personal connections and responses using appropriate musical
terminology after performing and listening to a variety of musical repertoires.
Instruments, Voices, and Ensembles
Students will be able to:
Analyze how voices and instruments are used in repertoire.
Create an original composition, combining voices and instruments.
Production and Technology
Students will be able to:
Plan and produce performance events.
Participate in key roles in a variety of musical events in their school and

community.
Use music technology tools to read, write, and analyze music.
Create and perform an original piece of music that employs standard notation
using composition software.
A complete education in music develops the ability to use and understand language of
music through:
Listening and responding to live and recorded repertoire.
Notation, recording, and music technology.
Description, analysis, and evaluation.
Benchmark: Students develop expertise in music
In addition to Core Music Indicators, if studying music, students will also be able to:
Integrate vocal technique and musicianship in performance.
Read a contemporary score with traditional and non-traditional or inverted markings.
Read and perform mixed meter scores.
Change score markings according to direction.
Recognize, notate, and perform complex rhythms with dependable accuracy.
Demonstrate proficiency sight-reading complex rhythms and melodies.
Analyze form in writing and discussion using musical vocabulary.
Distinguish between song styles: aria, art, folk, jazz, musical theater, and popular.
Critique performance quality in writing and discussion: make corrections in vocal quality
(breath, articulation, tone), improve, use of vocabulary (tempo, dynamics, pitch, timbre)
and refine performance
Make personal connections in writing and discussion: connect text and music to dramatic
purpose, express text through personal experience, and identify how tone color changes
interpretation.
Core Music Learning Opportunities
Have students:
Describe, using appropriate musical vocabulary, the similarities and differences between
two genres of music, such as opera and musical theater, e.g. La Boheme (Puccini) and
Rent (Larson) or Madame Butterfly (Puccini) and Miss Saigon (Boubilil/Schonberg).
Discussion might include: setting of text, use of spoken word, vocal range, and musical
representation of characters.
Keep a listening log- to develop critical listening skills and fluency in music vocabularyof music by varied composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Charlie Parker, Duke
Ellington and Aaron Copeland, among others. Discuss and write about ways diverse
composers use the elements of music.
Vocal Music Learning Opportunities
In addition to Core Learning Opportunities, have students:
Listen to recordings of Georgia on My Mind (Carmichael, Gorrell) performed by
various artists. Discuss the feelings they evoke. Sing this song and discuss how the
recorded versions impact the expressiveness of the performed version.

Follow all parts in a choral score being rehearsed. Be aware of rhythm, phrasing, and
entrances of all voice parts.
Use computer software to reinforce the sight-singing skills being developed in
rehearsal.
Listen to performances of choral ensembles (live or recorded) with attention to details
such as: tone quality, sense of ensemble, voicing, articulation, phrasing, breath,
expression of the text, range of tessitura, and artistry. Discuss and/or write a response.

Benchmark: Students demonstrate an understanding of correlations to musics role in

society in a variety of contexts.
Students will be able to:
Identify corresponding elements within representations of music, visual arts, dance, and
architecture, such as form, color, texture.
Integrate multiple bodies of knowledge to demonstrate how they relate to one another
(e.g. Shakespeare and Mendelssohn, or Picasso and Stravinsky).
Benchmark: Students demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which musical
elements, artistic development, and processes interrelate.
Students will be able to:
Articulate the impact of a performance using appropriate, specific vocabulary and
language.
Benchmark: Students creatively express their personal connections to a wide variety of
musical styles.
Students will be able to:
Identify and classify a variety of musical styles and genres with supportive explanations
of how they are distinct from one another.
A complete musical experience is enriched by making connections:
Recognizing parallels between music and other disciplines
Getting an understanding of the cultural and historical context of music.
Exploring personal connections with music.
Core Music Learning Opportunities:
Have students:
Develop a multi-arts project involving a museum exhibition, a dance performance, and
appropriate, related musical selections. For example, schedule a class trip to the Museum
of Modern Art to view Jacob Lawrences Migration Series. Follow with DVD of the
Alvin Ailey Dance Company performing Revelations.
Discuss the impact of Southern Migration on New York City and other urban cities, and
have students sing the spirituals Wade In the Water and Rock-A-My-Soul with added
percussion accompaniment.
Discuss the ways in which Revelations characters may relate to Jacob Lawrences
subjects, and how the music is a bridge between them.

Prepare oral and written critiques of artistic experiences and opportunities. Critiques will
utilize language appropriate to the art form, and each will describe, assess, and provide
personal responses to the artistic experiences.
Research, prepare, and deliver an oral class presentation on the history, culture,
geography, politics, music history, and state of the arts of a specific country. Students
may incorporate a variety of multi-sensory experiences in the presentation. Food, music,
dress, instruments, geographic location of a country, etc. will be addressed in the
presentation.

Benchmark: Students develop awareness of issues that shape and affect various musical
communications in the world.
Students will be able to:
Debate methods of musical distribution. Discuss how musical forms and cultural
elements are appropriated in the creation of contemporary music. Debate the ethics of
these practices.
Critique a guest artists presentation.
Benchmark: Students select cultural opportunities as informed consumers or participants.
Students will be able to:
Identify immediate and long-term musical interests.
Select appropriate community resources to fulfill these interests.
Justify their listening choices.
Benchmark: Students express informed opinions
Students will be able to:
Evaluate exemplary performances.
Discriminate between artistic and technical excellence.
Defend their critique of music selections.
Core Music Learning Opportunities
Have Students:
Work with the music teacher and teaching artists to develop their personal musical voice. For
example:
An instrumentalist providing opportunities for sectionals, master classes, and workshops
A musician whose skills complement those of the music teacher offering particular
needed expertise
A singer working with individuals to develop solo repertoire
A jazz musician facilitating a students workshop on improvisation or scat singing.
A composer helping facilitate the composition and performance of a new piece for small
or large ensemble.

Consult local listings of cultural events in the community and throughout the city. Utilize
resources such as free concerts, student rush tickets, open rehearsals, and online listings to find
opportunities.
Recognize and model high standards of musical performance.
Visit exemplary college/university programs and share findings with younger students.
Collaborate research, production, and performance utilizing the resources within the arts
community of New York City.
Benchmark: Students demonstrate lifelong music involvement.
Students will be able to:
Participate in a variety of musical events in their school and community.
Forecast the role music will play in their lives.
Cultural Music Learning Opportunities:
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