5 th Grade General Music Marshall Middle School 2011

 Writing your own music.  Someone who composes is called a composer.  Who are some famous composers?  What is the difference between composing and arranging? Improvising?

 Just like a good writer needs tools like grammar, spelling, a vocabulary, a composer has tools to help write music.  Notes, Rhythms, Time signatures, Clefs  Instruments and Voices

 With a partner, write a short song for unpitched percussion.  The song should be unision.  The second time may be a duet.

 With an partner, create a simple ostinato for body percussion and add a vocal melody.  The ostinato will act as an accompaniment.  When writing lyrics it is best to first form a topic. The lines may rhyme but rhyming is not required.

 You will compose a simple melody for a mallet instrument. The melody must be written on a staff, with a clef, time signature, bar lines, a rhythms (it must look like music)  A few hints: a good melody moves scale- wise, ends and starts on the same note, and uses quarter notes and eighth notes.

 This will use all of the skills we have developed so far.  In small groups, you will write a song with multiple parts (not unison) using all of the musical tools (notes rhythms etc.) that is at least 16 measures in length.  You may use mallets, unpitched percussion, body percussion, or vocals.

 Use a variety of instruments  Write all of you ideas down and then decide if you will keep them.  Don’t be afraid to experiment or make a mistake.  If you write more than one melodic part choose notes that work well together; usually space notes sound good with other space notes and lines notes sound good with other line notes.