Grade 3-4

Week 1

  1. History
  • Stripped down song; times tables challenge
  • Why Music and Math
  • Life of Pythagoras
  1. Music Literacy
  • Terms (see glossary)
  • Specifically start with 3 fundamentals
  1. Pitch
  2. Rhythm
  3. Tempo
  4. Math fundamentals
  • Using music themed math problems to test basic addition, multiplication

Week 2

  1. Rhythm
  • Values of beats (quarter, half, dotted half, whole note)
  • Values of rests (quarter, half, whole rest)
  1. Exercises
  • Counting beats out loud
  • Clapping beats
  • Adding and subtracting beats
  • Multiplication (e.g. If I have 4 half notes how many beats?)

Week 3

  1. Pitch
  • 12 different pitches (C, C#/D♭, D, D#/E♭, E, F, F#/G♭, G, G#/A♭, A, A#/B♭, B
  • Each step between two adjacent notes is a “half-step”, while two steps is a “whole-step” (image of piano will be helpful here visually)
  • There are 7 notes in a scale (8 including the top note again)
  1. Exercises
  • Basic intervals between notes (e.g. How many steps between E and G♭?)

**Likely this will be the biggest logical step for these kids who haven’t been

    exposed to music theory

Week 4

  1. Musical Staff
  • Treble Clef
  • Spaces and lines, from line to space is 1 half step
  • Spaces: FACE
  • Lines: EGBDF
  1. Exercises
  • Naming notes on the staff
  • Basic intervals between notes using staff (e.g. How many steps between E and G♭?)

Week 5

  1. Time Signatures
  • What is a time signature? It’s how many beats go in a measure.
  • Teach 4/4 and 3/4 time signatures
  • How you can fill a measure with notes and rests as long as they add up to the top number of the time signature
  1. Exercises
  • Give a measure with some notes and rests and have the kid fill in the last or last few spaces that fit the time signature
  • Listen to songs and have the kids hear and feel the time signature

Week 6

  1. Comprehensive Review
  2. Exercises
  • Problems that include all the topics covered
  • Using intervals, time signatures, and rhythms to test their arithmetic and conceptual skills
  • e.g. Considering the given measure, draw in the last note as an F with the right rhythmic value to correctly complete the measure