The National Core Arts Standards (VI)

[US] National Coalition for Core Arts Standards

General Music

The National Core Music Standards are designed to guide music educators as they help their students achieve the goal ofindependent music literacy1.The structure of the standards organizes outcomes by Artistic Process, thereby facilitating sequential instruction while also authentically ref lecting the way musicians think and work.

The music standards are organized and presented as follows:

● All music performance standards are grouped under the Artistic Processes of Creating, Performing,or Responding.

● Because music connections are an essential part of each Artistic Process, open-ended Connecting outcomes cross-reference users to Creating,Performing, and Responding performance standards.

● Music performance standards are organized and coded according to the process components or“steps” of the Artistic Processes.The process components for each Process are as follows:

○ Creating: Imagine; Plan and Make; Evaluate and Refine; and Present

○ Performing: Select; Analyze; Interpret; Rehearse,Evaluate, and Refine; and Present

○ Responding: Select; Analyze; Interpret; and Evaluate

● Performance standards are provided for each grade level from Prekindergarten through Grade Eight.

● Four distinct “strands” of high school performance standards are provided, ref lecting the increasing variety of music courses offered in American secondary schools.

○ Ensemble, Harmonizing Instrument2(guitar,keyboard, etc.), Composition/Theory, and Music Technology performance standards are provided for three levels: Prof icient, Accomplished, and Advanced.

○ Because many students become involved in Ensemble and Harmonizing Instrument classes before they enter high school, performance standards for these strands also include two preparatory levels: Novice (nominally assigned to the f ifth grade level) and Intermediate (nominally the eighth grade level).

● To clarify the progression of performance standards across grade and high school levels, italic type is used to indicate changes from one grade level to the next.

● Similarities across the arts disciplines are highlighted in the eleven Common Anchors, which are shared by all five sets of discipline-specif ic standards.Each Anchor includes one or more process components.

● The standards are based on the assumption of quality resources, including instructional time, spanning PreK—8 and continuing at the high school level.

Draft Model Cornerstone Assessments3provide protocols to help music educators develop measures of student achievement.These assessments will be piloted in a diverse array of classrooms across the United States,refined for use in varied settings, and used to generate student work that will eventually be made available online to illustrate the standards.

Many additional tools are available on this National Coalition for Core Arts Standards web site.More detailed explanations of the organization and implications of the Core Music Standards can be found at http://nafme.org/standards.The National Association for Music Education (NAfME)site will present Opportunity-to-Learn Standards, outlining the resources needed to deliver quality instruction; advocacy resources for explaining standards-based education to decision-makers and the public; and links to available professional development, as well as advice on making the standards a reality in schools across the nation.

#Cr1.1

Artistic Process: Creating

Process Component: Imagine4—Generate musical ideas for various purposes and contexts.

Anchor Standard: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Enduring Understanding5: The creative ideas,concepts, and feelings that inf luence musicians’ work emerge from a variety6of sources.

Essential Question(s)7: How do musicians generate creative ideas?

Grade PreK

MU: Cr1.1.PKa With substantial guidance8, explore9and experience a variety of music.

Grade K

MU: Cr1.1.Ka With guidance, explore and experience music concepts10(such as beat11and melodic contour12).

MU: Cr1.1.Kb With guidance, generate musical ideas13(such as movements14or motives15).

Grade 1

MU: Cr1.1.1a With limited guidance, create16musical ideas (such as answering a musical question) for a specific purpose17.

MU: Cr1.1.1b With limited guidance, generate musical ideas in multiple tonalities18(such as major19and minor20) and meters21(such as duple and triple).

Grade 2

MU: Cr1.1.2a Improvise rhythmic and melodic patterns22and musical ideas for a specif ic purpose.

MU: Cr1.1.2b Generate musical patterns and ideas within the context23of a given tonality (such as major and minor) and meter (such as duple and triple).

Grade 3

MU: Cr1.1.3a Improvise rhythmic and melodic ideas, and describe connection24to specif ic purpose and context (such as personal25and social26).

MU: Cr1.1.3b Generate musical ideas (such as rhythms27and melodies28) within a given tonality and/or meter.

Grade 4

MU: Cr1.1.4a Improvise rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ideas, and explain connection to specif ic purpose and context (such as social and cultural29).

MU: Cr1.1.4b Generate musical ideas (such as rhythms, melodies, and simple accompaniment patterns)within related tonalities (such as major and minor) and meters

Grade 5

MU: Cr1.1.5a Improvise rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ideas, and explain connection to specif ic purpose and context (such as social, cultural, and historical30).

MU: Cr1.1.5b Generate musical ideas (such as rhythms, melodies, and accompaniment patterns) within specif ic related tonalities, meters, and simple chord changes.

Grade 6

MU: Cr1.1.6a Generate simple rhythmic, melodic,and harmonic phrases31within AB32and ABA33forms34that convey expressive intent35.

Grade 7

MU: Cr1.1.7a Generate rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic phrases and variations over harmonic accompaniments within AB, ABA, or theme and variation36forms that convey expressive intent.

Grade 8

MU: Cr1.1.8a Generate rhythmic, melodic and harmonic phrases and harmonic accompaniments within expanded forms37(including introductions, transitions,and codas) that convey expressive intent.

#Cr2.1

Artistic Process: Creating

Process Component: Plan38and Make—Select39and develop musical ideas for defined purposes and contexts.

Anchor Standard: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

Enduring Understanding: Musicians’ creative choices are influenced by their expertise, context, and expressive intent.

Essential Question(s): How do musicians make creative decisions?

Grade PreK

MU: Cr2.1.PKa With substantial guidance, explore favorite musical ideas (such as movements, vocalizations40,or instrumental accompaniments).

MU: Cr2.1.PKb With substantial guidance, select and keep track of the order for performing original musical ideas, using iconic notation41and/or recording technology.

Grade K

MU: Cr2.1.Ka With guidance, demonstrate42and choose favorite musical ideas.

MU: Cr2.1.Kb With guidance, organize personal musical ideas using iconic notation and/or recording technology.

Grade 1

MU: Cr2.1.1a With limited guidance, demonstrate and discuss personal reasons for selecting musical ideas that represent expressive intent.

MU: Cr2.1.1b With limited guidance, use iconic or standard notation43and/or recording technology to document and organize personal musical ideas.

Grade 2

MU: Cr2.1.2a Demonstrate and explain personal reasons for selecting patterns and ideas for music that represent expressive intent.

MU: Cr2.1.2b Use iconic or standard notation and/or recording technology to combine, sequence, and document personal musical ideas.

Grade 3

MU: Cr2.1.3a Demonstrate selected musical ideas for a simple improvisation44or composition45to express intent46, and describe connection to a specific purpose and context.

MU: Cr2.1.3b Use standard and/or iconic notation and/or recording technology to document personal rhythmic and melodic musical ideas.

Grade 4

MU: Cr2.1.4a Demonstrate selected and organized musical ideas for an improvisation, arrangement47, or composition to express intent, and explain connection to purpose and context.

MU: Cr2.1.4b Use standard and/or iconic notation and/or recording technology to document personal rhythmic, melodic, and simple harmonic musical ideas.

Grade 5

MU: Cr2.1.5a Demonstrate selected and developed musical ideas for improvisations, arrangements, or compositions to express intent, and explain connection to purpose and context.

MU: Cr2.1.5b Use standard and/or iconic notation and/or recording technology to document personal rhythmic, melodic, and two-chord harmonic musical ideas.

Grade 6

MU: Cr2.1.6a Select, organize, construct, and document personal musical ideas for arrangements and compositions within AB or ABA form that demonstrate an effective beginning, middle, and ending, and convey expressive intent.

MU: Cr2.1.6b Use standard and/or iconic notation and/or audio/video recording to document personal simple rhythmic phrases, melodic phrases, and two-chord harmonic musical ideas.

Grade 7

MU: Cr2.1.7a Select, organize, develop and document personal musical ideas for arrangements,songs, and compositions within AB, ABA, or theme and variation forms that demonstrate unity48and variety and convey expressive intent.

MU: Cr2.1.7b Use standard and/or iconic notation and/or audio/ video recording to document personal simple rhythmic phrases, melodic phrases, and harmonic sequences49.

Grade 8

MU: Cr2.1.8a Select, organize, and document musical ideas for arrangements, songs, and compositions within expanded forms that demonstrate tension and release50,unity and variety, balance, and convey expressive intent.

MU: Cr2.1.8b Use standard and/or iconic notation and/or audio/video recording to document personal rhythmic phrases, melodic phrases, and harmonic sequences.

#Cr3.1

Artistic Process: Creating

Process Component: Evaluate and Refine51—Evaluate and refine selected musical ideas to create musical work52that meets appropriate criteria53.

Anchor Standard: Refine and complete artistic work.

Enduring Understanding: Musicians evaluate and refine their work through openness to new ideas,persistence, and the application of appropriate criteria.

Essential Question(s): How do musicians improve the quality of their creative work?

Grade PreK

MU: Cr3.1.PKa With substantial guidance, consider personal, peer, and teacher feedback when demonstrating and refining personal musical ideas.

Grade K

MU: Cr3.1.Ka With guidance, apply personal, peer,and teacher feedback in refining personal musical ideas.

Grade 1

MU: Cr3.1.1a With limited guidance, discuss and apply personal, peer, and teacher feedback to refine personal musical ideas.

Grade 2

MU: Cr3.1.2a Interpret54and apply personal, peer,and teacher feedback to revise personal music.

Grade 3

MU: Cr3.1.3a Evaluate, refine, and document revisions to personal musical ideas, applying teacherprovided55and collaboratively56-developed criteria57and feedback.

Grade 4

MU: Cr3.1.4a Evaluate, refine, and document revisions to personal music, applying teacher-provided and collaboratively-developed criteria and feedback to show improvement over time.

Grade 5

MU: Cr3.1.5a Evaluate, refine, and document revisions to personal music, applying teacher-provided and collaboratively-developed criteria and feedback,and explain rationale for changes.

Grade 6

MU: Cr3.1.6a Evaluate their own work, applying teacher-provided criteria such as application of selected elements of music58and use of sound sources.

MU: Cr3.1.6b Describe the rationale for making revisions to the music based on evaluation criteria and feedback from their teacher.

Grade 7

MU: Cr3.1.7a Evaluate their own work, applying selected criteria such as appropriate application of elements of music including style59, form and use of sound sources.

MU: Cr3.1.7b Describe the rationale for making revisions to the music based on evaluation criteria and feedback from others (teacher and peers).

Grade 8

MU: Cr3.1.8a Evaluate their own work by selecting and applying criteria including appropriate application of compositional techniques60, style, form and use of sound sources.

MU: Cr3.1.8b Describe the rationale for refining works by explaining the choices, based on evaluation criteria.

#Cr3.2

Artistic Process: Creating

Process Component: Present61—Share62creative musical work that conveys intent, demonstrates craftsmanship63, and exhibits originality.

Anchor Standard: Refine and complete artistic work.

Enduring Understanding: Musicians’ presentation of creative work is the culmination of a process of creation and communication.

Essential Question(s): When is creative work ready to share?

Grade PreK

MU: Cr3.2.PKa With substantial guidance, share revised personal musical ideas with peers.

Grade K

MU: Cr3.2.Ka With guidance, demonstrate a final version of personal musical ideas to peers.

Grade 1

MU: Cr3.1.1a With limited guidance, convey expressive intent for a specif ic purpose by presenting a final version of personal musical ideas to peers or informal audience.

Grade 2

MU: Cr3.1.2a Convey expressive intent for a specif ic purpose by presenting a final version of personal musical ideas to peers or informal audience.

Grade 3

MU: Cr3.2.3a Present the final version of personal created music to others, and describe connection to expressive intent.

Grade 4

MU: Cr3.2.4a Present the final version of personal created music to others, and explain connection to expressive intent.

Grade 5

MU: Cr3.2.5a Present the final version of personal created music to others that demonstrates craftsmanship,and explain connection to expressive intent.

Grade 6

MU: Cr3.2.6a Present the final version of their documented personal composition or arrangement,using craftsmanship and originality to demonstrate an effective beginning, middle, and ending, and convey expressive intent.

Grade 7

MU: Cr3.2.7a Present the final version of their personal documented personal composition, song, or arrangement, using craftsmanship and originality to demonstrate unity and variety, and convey expressive intent.

Grade 8

MU: Cr3.2.8a Present the final version of their documented composition, song, or arrangement, using craftsmanship and originality to demonstrate the application of compositional techniques for creating unity and variety, tension and release, and balance to convey expressive intent.

National Core Arts Standards ? 2015 National Coalition for Core Arts Standards.Rights administered by State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE).All rights reserved.www.nationalartsstandards.org

Additional materials including discipline specific introductions and glossaries used by special permission.All rights reserved.www.nationalartsstandards.org

【Notes】

1 Music literacy: knowledge and understanding required to participate authentically in the discipline of music by independently(independently: working with virtually no assistance, initiating appropriate requests for consultation, performing in a self-directed ensemble offering ideas/solutions that make such consulting collaborative rather than teacher-directed) carrying out the artistic processes of creating, performing, and responding.

2 Harmonizing instruments: musical instruments, such as guitars, ukuleles, and keyboards, capable of producing harmonies as well as melodies, often used to provide chordal accompaniments for melodies and songs.

3 Model cornerstone assessment: suggested assessment process, embedded within a unit of study, that includes a series of focused tasks to measure student achievement within multiple process components.

4 Imagine: generate musical ideas for various purposes and contexts.

5 Enduring understanding: overarching (aka, “big”) ideas that are central to the core of the music discipline and may be transferred(transfer: use music knowledge and skills appropriately in a new context) to new situations.

6 Variety: presence of structural contrast within a work for the purpose of creating and sustaining interest, generally achieved through utilizing variations in the treatment of the elements of music (See Unity).

7 Essential question: question that is central to the core of a discipline-in this case, music-and promotes investigation to uncover corresponding enduring understanding(s).

8 Guidance: assistance provided temporarily to enable a student to perform a musical task that would be difficult to perform unaided,best implemented in a manner that helps develop that student’s capacity to eventually perform the task independently.

9 Explore: discover, investigate, and create musical ideas through singing, chanting (chant: most commonly, the rhythmic recitation of rhymes or poems without a sung melody; a type of singing, with a simple, unaccompanied melody line and free rhythm), playing instruments, or moving to music.

10 Concepts, music: understandings or generalized ideas about music that are formed after learners make connections and determine relationships among ideas.

11 Beat: underlying steady pulse present in most music.

12 Melodic contour: shape of a melody created by the way its pitches repeat and move up and down in steps and skips.

13 Musical idea: idea expressed in music, which can range in length from the smallest meaningful level (motive or short pattern)through a phrase, a section, or an entire piece.

14 Movement: act of moving in nonlocomotor (such as clapping and finger snapping) and locomotor (such as walking and running)patterns to represent and interpret musical sounds.

15 Motif/motive: Brief rhythmic/melodic figure or pattern that recurs throughout a composition as a unifying element.

16 Create: conceive and develop new artistic ideas, such as an improvisation, composition, or arrangement, into a work.

17 Purpose: reason for which music is created, such as, ceremonial, recreational/social, commercial, or generalized artistic expression.

18 Tonality: tonic or key tone around which a piece of music is centered.

19 Major scale: Scale (scale: pattern of pitches arranged in ascending or descending order and identified by their specif ic arrangement of whole and half steps) in which the ascending pattern of whole and half steps is whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half.

20 Minor scale: Scale in which one characteristic feature is a half step between the second and third tones; the three forms of the minor scale are natural, harmonic, and melodic.

21 Meter: grouping of beats and divisions of beats in music, often in sets of twos (duple meter) or threes (triple meter).

22 Rhythmic pattern: grouping, generally brief, of long and short sounds and silences.Melodic pattern: grouping, generally brief, of tones or pitches.

23 Context: environment that surrounds music, inf luences understanding, provides meaning, and connects to an event or occurrence.

24 Connection: relationship among artistic ideas, personal meaning, and/or external context.

25 Context, personal: unique experiences and relationships that surround a single person and are inf luenced by personal life, family,habits, interest, and preferences.

26 Context, social: environment surrounding something or someone’s creation or intended audience that ref lects and inf luences how people use and interpret the musical experience.

27 Rhythm: duration or length of sounds and silences that occur in music; organization of sounds and silences in time.

28 Melody: linear succession of sounds (pitches) and silences moving through time; the horizontal structure of music.

29 Context, cultural: values, beliefs, and traditions of a group of people that inf luence musical meaning and inform culturally authentic musical practice.

30 Context, historical: conditions of the time and place in which music was created or performed that provide meaning and inf luence the musical experience.

31 Phrase: musical segment with a clear beginning and ending, comparable to a simple sentence or clause in written text.

32 AB: musical form consisting of two sections, A and B, which contrast with each other (binary form).

33 ABA: musical form consisting of three sections, A, B, and A; two are the same, and the middle one is different [ternary form (ternary form: see ABA)].

34 Form: element of music describing the overall organization of a piece of music, such as AB, ABA, rondo, theme and variations, and strophic form (strophic form: vocal music in which the music repeats with a new set of text each time).

35 Expressive intent: the emotions, thoughts, and ideas that a performer or composer seeks to convey by manipulating the elements of music.

36 Theme and variations: musical form in which a melody is presented and then followed by two or more sections presenting variations of that melody.

37 Expanded form: basic form (such as AB, ABA, rondo, or theme and variation) expanded by the addition of an introduction,transition, and/or coda.

38 Plan: select and develop musical ideas for creating a musical work.

39 Select: choose music for performing, rehearsing, or responding based on interest, knowledge, ability, and context.

40 Vocalizations: vocal exercises that include no text and are sung to one or more vowels.

41 Notation: visual representation of musical sounds.Iconic notation: representation of sound and its treatment using lines, drawings, pictures.

42 Demonstrate: show musical understanding through observable behavior such as moving, chanting, singing, or playing instruments.

43 Standard notation: system for visually representing musical sound that is in widespread use; such systems include traditional music staff notation, tablature (tablature: system of graphic standard notation, commonly used for fretted stringed instruments, in which a diagram visually represents both the fret board and finger placement on the fret board) notation [primarily for fretted (fret: thin strip of material placed across the fingerboard of some stringed Instruments, such as guitar, banjo, and mandolin; the fingers press the strings against the frets to determine pitch) stringed instruments], and lead-sheet notation (lead-sheet notation: system symbol used to identify chords in jazz, popular, and folk music; uppercase letters are written above the staff, specifying which chords should be used and when they should be played).

44 Improvisation: music created and performed spontaneously or “in-the-moment,” often within a framework determined by the musical style.

45 Composition: original piece of music that can be repeated, typically developed over time, and preserved either in notation or in a sound recording.

46 Intent: meaning or feeling of the music planned and conveyed by a creator or performer.

47 Arrangement: setting or adaptation of an existing musical composition.

48 Unity: presence of structural coherence within a work, generally achieved through the repetition of various elements of music (See Variety).

49 Harmonic sequences: series of two or more chords commonly used to support melody(ies).

50 Tension/release: musical device (musical stress, instability, or intensity, followed by musical relaxation, stability, or resolution) used to create a flow of feeling.

51 Refine: make changes in musical works or performances to more effectively realize intent through technical quality or expression.

52 Musical work: piece of music preserved as a notated copy or sound recording or passed through oral tradition.

53 Criteria: guidelines used to judge the quality of a student’s performance [See Rubric (rubric: established, ordered set of criteria for judging student performance; includes descriptors of student work at various levels of achievement)].

54 Interpret: determine and demonstrate music’s expressive intent and meaning when responding and performing.

55 Teacher-provided criteria: qualities or traits for assessing achievement level that are provided to students by the teacher.

56 Collaboratively: working together on a common (musical) task or goal.

57 Collaboratively-developed criteria: qualities or traits for assessing achievement level that have been through a process of collective decision-making.

58 Elements of music: basic characteristics of sound (pitch, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, texture [texture: manner in which the harmonic (vertical) and melodic (horizontal) elements are combined to create layers of sound], form, and style/articulation) that are manipulated to create music.

59 Style: label for a type of music possessing distinguishing characteristics and often performance practices (performance practice:performance and presentation of a work that ref lect established norms for the style and social, cultural, and historical contexts of that work) associated with its historical period, cultural context, and/or genre.

60 Compositional techniques: approaches a composer uses to manipulate and refine the elements to convey meaning and intent in a composition, such as tension-release, augmentation-diminution, sound-silence, motion-stasis, in addition to compositional devices.

61 Present: share artistic work (e.g., a composition) with others.

62 Share: present artistic work (e.g., a composition) to others.

63 Craftsmanship: degree of skill and ability exhibited by a creator or performer to manipulate the elements of music in a composition or performance.