1. A High School General Music Curriculum

2. Supporting Philosophy
“In a typical high school the potential population (those not currently enrolled in performance classes) is 85 percent. (Thompson, 2007).
Paraxial (doing) constructivist (students constructing their own knowledge base) model.

3. Bennett Reimer
“When we approach music we should attend to the doings – the actions of musicians – as of primary interest.” (2003, p. 48).
“When we teach music we should do the same, that is to attend to helping people do what musicians do, because those doings, those ‘practices’ are what is valuable about music.” (2003, p. 48).

4. General Music Curriculum Includes
Use of voice, piano, and guitar as adult tools to explore things that musicians do.
Both serious and popular music.
Emphasis on attendance of concerts presented by amateur as well as professional musicians.

5. Students Rural/Mill Town population.
Low to middle socio-economic level.
Most parents graduated high school but no college.
Country music and pick-up trucks.

6. Strategies
Discovery is a more exciting way of learning than being taught what has already been discovered. (Pogonowski, 2002).
Teaching strategies are authentic, multiple, and collaborative. (Shively, 2002).

7. Susan Farrell on Assessment
“Process of collecting and organizing information or data that make it possible for people to ‘judge’ or evaluate.” (Farrell, 1997, p. 1)
“Match knowledge, skills, and attitudes that teachers are teaching as well as those which the students are expected to learn.” (Farrell, 1997, p. 1)

8. First Year High School General Music (First Semester)
Date
August
September
October
November
December
Genre or Topic
Intro to General Music and Songs You Need to Know
American Indian Music
Folk Music
*****
Symphony Orchestra and Solo Piano
Musical Careers
Texture and Form
December Holiday Traditions: Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa.
Skill
Posture, Breathing, Notation, Music Reading, Guitar Tuning
Intro to Drumming
Easy Guitar: Folk Music
Play Easy Piano Mussorgsky. Review and Identify Instruments of Orchestra
Composing, Arranging, Conducting, Critique
Listening, Mapping, Composing, Arranging
Sing and play (piano/guitar) traditional holiday songs/activities. Compare Cultures
MENC 9-12 Standard
1, 2, 5
1, 2, 3, 9
1, 2, 3, 9
2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9
1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9
Concert Option
Cherokee Pow Wow, Rome, GA. 9/5/ $7.00
Atlanta Symphony, Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, 10/2/2009
$30.00
Rome, GA Heritage Holidays Celebration, 10/17/2009 to 10/24/2009, $4.00
Band and Choral Concerts at High School. Free
Three Rivers Singers, Rome, GA. Christmas Concert, Free 12/13/2009

9. First Year High School General Music (Second Semester)
Date
January
February
March
April
May
Genre
Review of Singing, Guitar, Piano
African American Composers, Jazz, 12-Bar Blues
*****
Choral Festival Music and Part Songs
Band Festival Music and March
Opera, Musical Theater
Performance
Skill
Posture, Tuning, review of notation, music reading
Improvisation, Composition
Singing Canons, Partner Songs, and SAB, Conducting
Listening, Conducting, March Form
Listening, Singing, Stage Movement/Dance
Prepare for
“In-formance”
MENC 9-12 Standard
1, 2, 5,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9
1, 5, 6, 7
6, 7
1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7
Concert Option
MLK Celebration and Concert, Rome, GA, $7.00
Clock-tower Jazz Ensemble, Rome, GA, Heart, Soul, and Motown, (2/14/2009), $5.00
High School Band and Choral Pre-Festival Concerts
Atlanta Opera, Magic Flute, 5/2/2009,
$30.00.
High School Musical, $5.00
Fine Arts Club NY Trip, 4/22/2009 – 4/25/2009, Broadway Musical, $750

10. Second Year High School General Music (First Semester)
Date
August
September
October
November
December
Genre or Topic
Review of General Music and Songs You Need to Know
Classical Composers
Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven
Folk Music/ American Indian Music
World Music, Mexico, Bali, China
December Holiday Traditions: Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa.
Ballet (Nutcracker)
Skill
Posture, Breathing, Notation, Music Reading, Guitar Tuning
Listening, Research, Begin Part II of Faber Adult Piano Book, Unit 10, p. 98.
Listening, Mapping, play “Easy to Play” Beethoven
Guitar: Begin Part II of Alfred Book I, p. 56. (Finger Picking)
Singing, Accompanying Listening, Describing, Critique
Sing and play (piano/guitar) traditional holiday songs/activities. Compare Cultures
MENC 9-12 Standard
1, 2, 5
2, 5, 6, 9
2, 5, 6, 7,
1, 2, 3, 5, 9
1, 2, 5,6, 7, 9
1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9
Concert Opportunity
Cherokee Pow Wow, Rome, GA. 9/5/ $7.00
Rome Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven V, Overture to Marriage of Figaro, (10/4/2008)
Rome, GA Heritage Holidays Celebration, 10/17/2009 to 10/24/2009, $4.00
Radio City Christmas, (Parade of Wooden Soldiers) Fox Theater, 12/9/2010, $30
Band and Choral Concerts at High School. Free

11. Second Year High School General Music (Second Semester)
Date
January
February
March
April
May
Genre
Review of Singing, Guitar, Piano
African Music, Caribbean Music
Jazz, 12-Bar Blues
Ballet, String Quartet, Vivaldi
Choral Festival Music and Patriotic Songs
Band Festival Music and Patriotic Songs
Performance
Skill
Posture, Tuning, review of notation, music reading
African Caribbean Drumming, Hal Leonard, World Drumming
Composition, Improvisation
Research, Listening, Mapping, Movement
Research, Listening, Conducting
Research, Listening, Conducting
Prepare for
“Inform-ance” Presentation
MENC 9-12 Standard
1, 2, 5
1, 2, 3, 7, 9
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
6, 7, 8,
1, 5, 6
6, 7
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Concert Option
MLK Celebration and Concert, Rome, GA, $7.00
Atlanta Ballet, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, (3/25/2009), $30.00
High School Band and Choral Pre-Festival Concerts, Free
High School Musical, $5.00
Three Rivers Singers, In Remembrance: Memorial Concert, 5/31/2010, Free

12. “Inform-ance” Assessment
Informal meeting of students, parents, teachers, administrators where members of the class demonstrate improvisational techniques, describe compositional processes, explain self-constructed listening maps, or present research projects.

13. Conclusion
Hope to implement at least part of this curriculum into my school’s music program.
Re-introduce music to large population not currently served.

14. Presentation References
Farrell, S. (1997). Tools for powerful student evaluation (2nd ed.). Galesville, MD: Meredith
Music Publications.
Pogonowski, L. (2002). The role of context in teaching and learning music. In E. Boardman
(Ed.), Dimensions of musical learning and teaching: A different kind of classroom (pp ). New York: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
Reimer, B. (2003). A Philosophy of Music Education (3rd ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Incorporated.
Shively, J. (2002). Musical thinking and learning in the beginning instrumental music
classroom. In E. Boardman (Ed.), Dimensions of musical learning and teaching: A different kind of classroom (pp ).
Thompson, K. & Kiester, G. (Eds.). (2007). Strategies
for teaching high school general music.
New York: Rowman & Littlefield Education.