SPECIALTY SUBJECTS
MUSIC

The Laurel Hill School prides itself on its unique use of the performing arts as tools to teach self-expression, self-discipline, respect for the talents of peers, and enhancement of cooperative communication skills. In this light, the curriculum includes a portion of each year spent in the production and rehearsal of a fully staged, choreographed musical. Each homeroom presents their own, unique production carefully selected to cameo the vocal and dramatic talents and interests of middle school children. Recent selections include “Westside Story”, “Into the Woods”, “Seussical”, “Bye, Bye, Birdie”, and an evening of Broadway Cameo Performances.

Two choral groups perform at a songfest where works are selected from the vast repertoire of vocal literature for children and the changing voice. Two bands and group instrumental instruction continue to advance the techniques of students who began playing in the 4th and 5th grades.

Every year our students continue to earn high ratings in the NYSSMA Festivals. Our students are represented in the SCNEA Chorus, Division I and II, and the SCMEA orchestras.

Group musical efforts build character, perseverance and a collective sense of the greater self in the world.

6th GRADE

Composition:
- Students demonstrate an understanding of the elements of music
1. melody
2. rhythm
3. harmony
4. instrumentation
- Students demonstrate a working knowledge of:
1. major and minor keys and modes
2. knowledge of the chromatic aspects of the diatonic scale
3. construction of both individual and class models of original composition material
- Students experience guided listening of representative works from vocal and instrumental literature

Music History:
1.Pre-Rennaisance
2. Baroque
3.Classical
4.Impressionism
5. 20th Century (including popular music)
6. Post Modern

Performance:
1.Students learn choral works of appropriate difficulty to be performed in the following styles:
1. unison, canonic, 2 and 3 part harmony. Partner songs. (All students will be auditioned to determine vocal range. A functional knowledge of all major vocal parts including soprano, alto, tenor bass and cambiata is required.)
2. Preparation and performance of a musical play which includes music, choreography and dramatic rendering is required by all students. Representative works have included “Seussical”, “Into The Woods” and “Bye. Bye, Birdie”.

7th GRADE

The curriculum for 7th grade music involves an overview of the history of American Music. Students demonstrate knowledge of all units through listening experiences, performance of relevant literature, compositional study and related exposure to other studies in the humanities, arts and sciences.

Native American Music
- listening experiences from indigenous live recordings
- Participation in a drumming circle with both improvised and written rhythmic materials
American Slave Music
- The birth of Gospel Music
- Singing of traditional Southern songs

Birth of the American Choral Tradition (1725-1825)
- Study of representative American composers
- Billings, Hutchinson, The Moravian Tradition, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem Pa.
Minstrel Shows and Music of the Civil War
- Composers include Steven Foster, John Phillip Sousa
Musical Theater and Popular Music
- An overview of Vaudeville
- Tin Pan Alley
- The Birth of the Broadway Musical
- Representative composers include Victor Herbert, Morton Gould, Sigmund Romberg, Rogers and Hammerstein, -Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin
The origins of Jazz
- Introduction to improvisation
- Harmonic study of Blues and 7th chords
- Introduction to Ragtime Piano and Scott Joplin
- Boogie Woogie and the Swing Era
Popular Music of the Big Band Era
- Origins of the saxophone
- Biographical information on Duke Ellington and Johnny mercer
Study of Modern Classical Composers
- Introduction to atonality and poly rhythms
- Representative composers include Ives, Igor Stravinsky, Howard Hansen, Alan Hovhaness, Aaron Copland
Music of The Film Industry
- Study of programmatic music for film scores
- Mark Snow, John Cage representing the genera for film and TV
- The birth of MYV Video Industry
Electronic Music
- The emergence of the synthesizer and sampling of sounds
Rock Music and its relevance to cultural change

8th GRADE

The curriculum for grade 8 is predominately concerned with the teaching of the History of Music from antiquity to the 21st century. Instructional vehicles require a spiral curriculum which includes historical information from history, science, philosophy and literature and art to ascertain a well rounded, humanities approach to the understanding of musical as a cultural force.

Antiquity: Covers the historical period from 700b.c. – 38 A.D. Courses work discusses music as a social event spanning the era from Pythagoras to Aristotle.

The origins of harmony 350 A.D. – 1000 A.D: The understanding of polyphony and the influences of the Church upon notation and choral traditions through the use of listening and choral singing materials.

The Middle Ages: This section of course work traces the beginnings of secular music through juxtaposition of social history and the noted artists of the age including Dante, Chaucer and William Shakespeare.

The Renaissance 1450-1600: This unit traces the development of polyphonic music into harmonized music in 3 and 4 parts. Shakespeare and the rise of music of the populace spawns the birth of street instruments, dulcimer, lute etc.

The Baroque period 1600 – 1750: This unit traces the development of choral music, the Concerto Grosso and the flourishing of the string family and the chamber orchestra through J.S. Bach and George Frederick Handel.

The Classical Period 1750-1820: The study of Sonata Allegro form is studied in accordance with the influences of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven on the orchestra.

The Romantic Period 1830 – 1900: The popularization of the piano, the string quartet and vocal lieder is interfaced with the music of Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Verdi, Chopin , Schumann and Schubert. The birth of Grand Opera and the works of Verdi and Puccini.

The Twentieth Century 1900 – 200: Discussions include the birth of atonality and the influences of the World Wars, The Great Depression and developing theories of Einstein and the Metaphysicians on musical content. The era of Jazz and the Big Bands are discussed in conjunction with Expressionism and the birth of electronic music.

The Post Modern Period 2000-present: The use of micro-tonality, digital composition and the expanding technology of the recording industry.