We covered several topics in the first marking period of Music In Our Lives.
MUSIC THEORY:  Students reviewed the basics of music theory in the Music Lab using Alfred's Music Theory.  Students completed Unit I on treble and bass clef notation, Unit II on rhythm and time signatures, and Unit III on eighth notes.   PIANO: Using the keyboards in the music lab, students learned to play simple melodies in the Key of C with chordal accompaniment played by the left hand.  DRUMS:  Students played rhythmic sticking patterns using Smart Music and the Smart Board with drumsticks and either a drum pad or a snare drum and floor tom.  All patterns were in 4/4 time.  Students also learned how to perform a flam and a multiple bounce.
GUITAR:  The students practiced strumming using different types of chords.  Dropped D-tuning was used first to get students moving across the fretboard and following chord progressions over many measures. We barred across all six strings in playing the chords for Dropped D-tuning.  We then moved on to the simplest power chords, A5, E5, and D5 and played a twelve bar blues progression.  Finally we progressed to reading chord diagrams and learned basic open chords including G, Em, D6, D7, Am7, and A.
HISTORICAL MUSIC:  During the first marking period, students heard several examples of Medieval music and wrote about them in a listening journal.  They learned about the types of instruments used during the Middle Ages and how events such as the crusades affected the music of the time.  Key musical concepts introduced include monophonic and polyphonic texture, the use of a drone and organum as early examples of harmony, the popularity of the strophic form versus the verse/chorus form popular today, the use of early written music notation with neumes, and the differences between the sacred and secular music of the time.  Students also learned that  many musicians of the 21st century make their living performing music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.