GRADE 8 GENERAL MUSIC
UNIT 1 – Keyboard
Basics
The building blocks of
music (elements):
Beat - a
steady recurring pulse
Rhythm - patterns
of long and short sounds and silences
Pitch - the
highness or lowness of a sound
Melody - a
pattern or patterns of pitches
Harmony - the
combination(s) of pitches or melodies
Timbre - the
quality or texture of a sound. The reason a sound sounds the way it does.
Form - the
structure of a piece of music; the way the different sections of the music are
put together
The major scale
DO RE MI FA SOL LA TI
DO
W W h W W W h
C Scale: c d e f g a b c
1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5
Fingers:
Thumb–
1
Index–
2
Middle–
3
Ring–
4
Pinky–
5
Treble clef:
Spaces: Lines:
Fine
E
Does
C
Boy
A
Good
F
Every
Bass clef:
Spaces: Lines:
Always
Grass
Fine
Eat
Do
Cows
Boys
All
Good
Given a key:
- Identify and play
the scales in that key
- Identify and play
the I, IV, V, and vi chords in that key
UNIT 2 – Chord
progressions in songs we know
A BASIC progression:
C F G7
I IV V7
Songs with the I IV V
progression:
Louie,
Louie The
Twist
& Shout The Beatles
Summer
Nights (from ‘Grease’)
THE turnaround progression:
C a- F G7
I vi IV V7
Variation: substitute d-7 for F
(that’s ii
for IV)
Sometimes
called the 50’s progression or the Doo-Wop progression.
Songs with THE turnaround progression:
Last
Kiss covered
by Pearl Jam
We
Go Together (from
‘Grease’)
Those
Magic Changes (from ‘Grease’)
Stand
By Me Ben E.
King, covered by John Lennon
Earth
Angel The
Penguins
This
Boy The
Beatles
Stay covered
by Jackson Browne
Every
Breath You Take The Police
Jesus
of Suburbia Green Day
In
The Still Of the Night The Five
Satins, covered by Boyz II Men
Blue
Moon The
Marcels
The
Longest Time Billy Joel
Heart
and Soul …you know
it…
Octopus’
Garden The Beatles
The
Reason Hoobastank
Please
Mr. Postman covered by the
Beatles
Crocodile
Rock Elton
John
KKK
Took My Baby Away The Ramones
Welcome
to My Life SimplePlan
UNIT 3 – The Blues
Progression and its Place in Pop Music
The BASIC chords needed:
I IV V7
Can you identify these chords in any key, major or minor? You
should be able to…
For example, In C: I =
C, IV = F, V7 = G7
This
website can tell you all you
need to know about the blues progression
Here is
a 12-bar blues:
I I I I
IV IV I I
V7 IV I V7
Ending
on the V7 creates a “turnaround” that restarts the progression.
UNIT 4 – The
importance of Lyrics
Lesson1: (project)
Billy Joel “We
Didn’t Start the Fire”
Lesson2: (project)
Write a song along the lines of
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” starting in your year of birth OR address one
social/political concern of your own.
-
Lyrics and possible
chord changes
-
Guitars/keys (some
type of harmonic material)
-
A bass part that goes
with that harmonic material
-
Beats/drums
-
Record vocals