Home  National Standards  Fine Arts  Music Standards Grades K-4

• Students sing independently, on pitch and in rhythm, with appropriate timbre, diction, and posture, and maintain a steady tempo
• Students sing expressively, with appropriate dynamics, phrasing, and interpretation
• Students sing from memory a varied repertoire of songs representing genres and styles from diverse cultures
• Students sing ostinatos, partner songs, and rounds
• Students sing in groups, blending vocal timbres, matching dynamic levels, and responding to the cues of a conductor

• Students perform on pitch, in rhythm, with appropriate dynamics and timbre, and maintain a steady tempo
• Students perform easy rhythmic, melodic, and chordal patterns accurately and independently on rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic classroom instruments
• Students perform expressively a varied repertoire of music representing diverse genres and styles
• Students echo short rhythms and melodic patterns
• Students perform in groups, blending instrumental timbres, matching dynamic levels, and responding to the cues of a conductor
• Students perform independent instrumental parts (e.g., simple rhythmic or melodic ostinatos, contrasting rhythmic lines, harmonic progressions, and chords) while other students sing or play contrasting parts

• Students improvise "answers" in the same style to given rhythmic and melodic phrases
• Students improvise simple rhythmic and melodic ostinato accompaniments
• Students improvise simple rhythmic variations and simple melodic embellishments on familiar melodies
• Students improvise short songs and instrumental pieces, using a variety of sound sources, including traditional sounds (e.g., voices, instruments), nontraditional sounds available in the classroom (e.g., paper tearing, pencil tapping), body sounds (e.g., hands clapping, fingers snapping), and sounds produced by electronic means (e.g., personal computers and basic MIDI devices, including keyboards, sequencers, synthesizers, and drum machines)

• Students create and arrange music to accompany readings or dramatizations
• Students create and arrange short songs and instrumental pieces within specified guidelines (e.g., a particular style, form, instrumentation, compositional technique)
• Students use a variety of sound sources when composing

• Students read whole, half, dotted half, quarter, and eighth notes and rests in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 meter signatures
• Students use a system (that is, syllables, numbers, or letters) to read simple pitch notation in the treble clef in major keys
• Students identify symbols and traditional terms referring to dynamics, tempo, and articulation and interpret them correctly when performing
• Students use standard symbols to notate meter, rhythm, pitch, and dynamics in simple patterns presented by the teacher

• Students identify simple music forms when presented aurally
• Students demonstrate perceptual skills by moving, by answering questions about, and by describing aural examples of music of various styles representing diverse cultures
• Students use appropriate terminology in explaining music, music notation, music instruments and voices, and music performances
• Students identify the sounds of a variety of instruments, including many orchestra and band instruments, and instruments from various cultures, as well as children's voices and male and female adult voices
• Students respond through purposeful movement (e.g., swaying, skipping, dramatic play) to selected prominent music characteristics or to specific music events (e.g., meter changes, dynamic changes, same/different sections) while listening to music

• Students devise criteria for evaluating performances and compositions
• Students explain, using appropriate music terminology, their personal preferences for specific musical works and styles

• Students identify similarities and differences in the meanings of common terms (e.g., form, line, contrast) used in the various arts
• Students identify ways in which the principles and subject matter of other disciplines taught in the school are interrelated with those of music (e.g., foreign languages: singing songs in various languages; language arts: using the expressive elements of music in interpretive readings; mathematics: mathematical basis of values of notes, rests, and time signatures; science: vibration of strings, drum heads, or air columns generating sounds used in music; geography: songs associated with various countries or regions)

• Students identify by genre or style aural examples of music from various historical periods and cultures
• Students describe in simple terms how elements of music are used in music examples from various cultures of the world
• Students identify various uses of music in their daily experiences and describe characteristics that make certain music suitable for each use
• Students identify and describe roles of musicians (e.g., orchestra conductor, folksinger, church organist) in various music settings and cultures
• Students demonstrate audience behavior appropriate for the context and style of music performed