Our Curriculum › Music › 3rd Grade
Music 3
A full year of 3rd-grade music with no instrument needed: reading and writing rhythm, shaping melodies, major and minor, meter, the four instrument families, composing and revising original pieces, and judging performances. It ends with a capstone composition.
180 lessons
One a day for a school year
9 units
Each opens to its lessons
4 instrument families
Plus a capstone composition
Standards
National Core Arts Standards (music)
What's taught, unit by unit
Steady beat and reading rhythmDays 1–16
Steady beat versus rhythm, body percussion, layering a rhythm over the beat, then rhythm notation: quarter notes (ta), eighth notes (ti-ti) and quarter rests. They read, clap and write patterns in picture and standard notation.
- 1 · Welcome to Music 3: A Year of Beats, Rhythms, and Sounds
- 2 · How Music Class Works: Practicing Like a Real Musician
- 3 · Steady Beat: The Heartbeat of Music
- 4 · Clap, Pat, March: Feeling the Beat in Different Ways
- 5 · Steady Beat vs. Rhythm: What's the Difference?
- 6 · Body Percussion: Your Body Is an Instrument
- 7 · Layering a Rhythm Pattern Over the Steady Beat
- 8 · Steady Beat and Rhythm Review: A Famous Rhythm Pattern
- 9 · Introducing Rhythm Notation: The Quarter Note (Ta)
- 10 · Two Quick Claps: Introducing Eighth Notes (Ti-ti)
- 11 · Silence with a Purpose: The Quarter Rest (Shh)
- 12 · Reading a Rhythm Grid: Iconic Notation Practice
- 13 · Standard Notation: Mixing Ta, Ti-ti, and Rests
- 14 · Clap It Out: Performing a Written Rhythm
- 15 · Write Your Own: Notating a Rhythm Pattern
- 16 · Rhythm Notation Review: Reading, Writing, and Clapping
Melody, timbre and a first sound pieceDays 17–30
Melody as up, down and same, mapping Twinkle Twinkle, Mary Had a Little Lamb and Happy Birthday, and drawing melody shapes. Then timbre (the color of a sound), a listening walk, and a short original sound piece.
- 17 · What Is Melody? Up, Down, and Same
- 18 · Singing and Mapping Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
- 19 · High or Low? A Pitch Matching Game
- 20 · Comparing Melodies: Mary Had a Little Lamb and Happy Birthday (Mid-Course Review)
- 21 · Drawing a Melody's Shape
- 22 · Melody Unit Review: Pitch, Contour, and Familiar Songs
- 23 · A New Word: Timbre (the Color of Sound)
- 24 · Timbre in Body Percussion: Why a Clap Isn't a Stomp
- 25 · A Timbre Listening Walk Around Your Home
- 26 · Timbre Unit Review
- 27 · Planning Your Sound Piece: Choosing Rhythm and Timbre
- 28 · Composing Your Sound Piece: Who Is It For?
- 29 · Performing and Evaluating Your Sound Piece
- 30 · Cumulative Review: Beat, Rhythm, Melody, and Timbre
Major, minor and meterDays 31–50
Hearing bright major and mysterious minor, and feeling duple (twos, marching) and triple (threes, waltz) meter. Children choose a tonality and meter for their own idea, add a melody, explain their choices, notate it and perform it.
- 31 · What Makes Music Sound Happy or Sad?
- 32 · Listening for Major and Minor in Songs You Know
- 33 · Sorting Songs: Bright or Mysterious?
- 34 · Feeling the Beat in Twos: Duple Meter
- 35 · Feeling the Beat in Threes: Triple Meter
- 36 · Marching vs. Waltzing: Duple and Triple in Motion
- 37 · Same Song, Different Meter: Exploring How Meter Feels
- 38 · Choosing a Tonality for Your Own Musical Idea
- 39 · Choosing a Meter for Your Own Musical Idea
- 40 · Putting It Together: Rhythm in Your Chosen Tonality and Meter
- 41 · Composing a Short Melodic Idea in a Major Feel
- 42 · Composing a Short Melodic Idea in a Minor Feel
- 43 · Matching Your Movement to Duple Meter
- 44 · Matching Your Movement to Triple Meter
- 45 · Adding Rhythm to Your Melodic Idea
- 46 · Describing Your Musical Choices: Why Major or Minor?
- 47 · Notating Your Idea: Iconic and Standard Notation
- 48 · Performing Your Idea for Family
- 49 · Self-Check: Evaluating Your Tonality and Meter Idea
Plus 1 review day, not listed.
Composing a piece, then revising itDays 51–70
Planning a piece for a purpose and audience, drafting two rhythm phrases, adding a melody, and giving it a beginning, middle and end. Then checking it against a rubric, revising, writing a clean copy and presenting it to family.
- 51 · What Is a Composition?
- 52 · Planning Your Piece: Purpose and Audience
- 53 · Choosing Your Piece's Tonality and Meter
- 54 · Drafting Rhythm Phrase One
- 55 · Drafting Rhythm Phrase Two
- 56 · Adding a Simple Melody to Your Rhythm
- 57 · Putting Phrases Together: Beginning, Middle, and End
- 58 · Notating Your First Draft
- 59 · Self-Check: Evaluating Your First Draft
- 60 · Sharing Your First Draft with Family
- 61 · Evaluating Your First Draft with a Rubric
- 62 · Revising for a Clearer Rhythm
- 63 · Revising to Match Your Tonality and Meter Feel
- 64 · Revising to Fit Your Purpose
- 65 · Adding Your Own Criteria with Family Input
- 66 · Writing Out Your Final Notation
- 67 · Writing Your Composition's Purpose and Context
- 68 · Rehearsing Your Presentation
- 69 · Presenting Your Finished Piece to Family
- 70 · Composing Unit Review
Timbre and the instrument familiesDays 71–90
Strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion: how each makes sound, what it can express, simple hands-on experiments with household objects, and why composers choose each. Also the voice as an instrument.
- 71 · Introducing Timbre: The Color of Sound
- 72 · Meet the String Family
- 73 · The Expressive Timbre of Strings
- 74 · Hands-On: Exploring String Timbre at Home
- 75 · Why Composers Choose Strings
- 76 · Meet the Woodwind Family
- 77 · The Expressive Timbre of Woodwinds
- 78 · Hands-On: Exploring Woodwind Timbre with Breath
- 79 · Why Composers Choose Woodwinds
- 80 · Meet the Brass Family
- 81 · The Expressive Timbre of Brass
- 82 · Hands-On: Exploring Brass-Style Timbre
- 83 · Why Composers Choose Brass
- 84 · Meet the Percussion Family
- 85 · The Expressive Timbre of Percussion
- 86 · Hands-On: Exploring Percussion Timbre at Home
- 87 · Why Composers Choose Percussion
- 88 · Voice as an Instrument
- 89 · Hands-On: Exploring Your Own Voice's Timbre
- 90 · Timbre and Instrument Families Review
Why people make musicDays 91–110
Music with a purpose and context: lullabies, birthday songs, work songs, national anthems, team songs, community songs, and comfort for a sad friend. Children compose short ideas for several purposes and study Beethoven's Fifth.
- 91 · What Is Music For? Purpose and Context
- 92 · Lullabies: Music That Comforts
- 93 · Compose Your Own Lullaby Idea
- 94 · Birthday Songs: Music for Celebration
- 95 · Compose Your Own Celebration Idea
- 96 · Work Songs: Music That Helps Us Work
- 97 · Compose a Work Song Idea
- 98 · National Anthems: Music for Belonging
- 99 · Team Songs and School Spirit
- 100 · Cultural and Community Songs
- 101 · How Context Shapes What a Song Means
- 102 · Music for Comfort When We're Sad
- 103 · Choosing Music to Comfort a Friend
- 104 · Music for Big Celebrations
- 105 · Purpose Match-Up: Review
- 106 · Beethoven: Music from the Heart
- 107 · Exploring Beethoven's Symphony No. 5
- 108 · What Beethoven Teaches Us About Music and Feeling
- 109 · Music in My Own Life
- 110 · Unit Review: Music and Context
Judging performances and family recitalDays 111–150
Judging a performance by three criteria (steady beat, expression, fits its purpose), applied to described performances and to their own work. Also performer and audience manners, then planning, rehearsing and giving a family recital. Criteria practice repeats often.
- 111 · Introducing Evaluation Criteria
- 112 · Applying Criteria: Keeping a Steady Beat
- 113 · Applying Criteria: Performing With Expression
- 114 · Applying Criteria: Staying True to the Purpose
- 115 · Evaluating a Sample Performance: All Three Criteria
- 116 · Choosing a Piece to Perform for Family
- 117 · Performance Decorum: How to Present Your Music
- 118 · Rehearsing and Self-Checking With Criteria
- 119 · Evaluating Another Sample Performance
- 120 · Checkpoint: Ready to Perform for Family
- 121 · Applying Our Criteria to a Calm Lullaby Performance
- 122 · Applying Our Criteria to an Energetic Wake-Up Song
- 123 · Self-Evaluating Your Earlier Beat Pattern
- 124 · Practicing a Known Song With Family
- 125 · Performer Decorum: How to Act When You Perform for Family
- 126 · Audience Decorum: Being a Respectful Listener at Home
- 127 · Applying Our Criteria to a Marching Band Cadence
- 128 · Self-Evaluating a Second Piece From This Course
- 129 · Are You Ready to Perform? Using Criteria to Check Readiness
- 130 · Fixing a Rushed Tempo: What to Do When Self-Evaluation Shows a Problem
- 131 · Family Echo-Clapping Game and Evaluation
- 132 · Comparing Two Versions of the Same Song: Steady vs. Rushed
- 133 · Criterion Spotlight: Expression Through Dynamics and Tempo
- 134 · Criterion Spotlight: Timbre and Expression
- 135 · Self-Evaluating a Third Piece From This Course
- 136 · Family Sing-Along: Applying All Three Criteria Together
- 137 · Explaining Your Ratings With Real Evidence
- 138 · Full Practice: Evaluating a Described Recorder Performance
- 139 · Building Your Reflection Portfolio
- 140 · Unit Review: Criteria-Based Evaluation
- 141 · Planning a Family Practice Recital
- 142 · Choosing a Piece for Your Family Recital
- 143 · Introducing Your Piece: Title and What It's About
- 144 · Writing and Practicing Your Spoken Introduction
- 145 · Practicing Recital Decorum: Entering, Waiting, and Order
- 146 · Dress Rehearsal: Checking Readiness With Your Criteria Checklist
- 147 · Performing for Family: Self-Evaluating After Your Recital
- 148 · Comparing Your Self-Evaluation to Family Reactions
- 149 · Setting Your Next Performance Goal
- 150 · Checkpoint: Ready for the Final Project
Capstone compositionDays 151–175
Composing and performing one final piece: choosing purpose, tonality, meter and voice or body-percussion sound, drafting rhythm and melody, notating, revising after self-checks, adding dynamics, and presenting it with a spoken introduction.
- 151 · Capstone Kickoff: Planning Your Final Piece
- 152 · Choosing Your Tonality: Major or Minor Feel
- 153 · Choosing Your Meter: Duple or Triple
- 154 · Choosing Your Sound Source: Voice or Body Percussion
- 155 · Your Capstone Plan: Putting the Choices Together
- 156 · First Draft: Composing Your Rhythm Pattern
- 157 · Adding a Melody to Your Rhythm
- 158 · Writing It Down: Your First Full Notation
- 159 · First Practice Performance
- 160 · Self-Evaluation Check #1: Applying Our Criteria
- 161 · Revising Your Rhythm Pattern
- 162 · Revising Your Melody
- 163 · Adding Dynamics and Expression
- 164 · Second Practice Performance
- 165 · Self-Evaluation Check #2: Comparing Progress
- 166 · Polishing Your Timbre Choices
- 167 · Final Notation: Writing the Finished Piece
- 168 · Final Practice Performance
- 169 · Preparing to Present: Planning Your Performance
- 170 · Dress Rehearsal
- 171 · Writing Your Spoken Introduction
- 172 · Performance Day: Presenting for Your Family
- 173 · Final Self-Evaluation Using Our Criteria
- 174 · Reflecting on Your Composing Journey
- 175 · From Plan to Performance: What Changed?
Portfolio review and celebrationDays 176–180
Looking back over the year's work in rhythm, melody, tonality, meter, timbre, composing and evaluating, reflecting on growth, and a celebration day. Mostly review.
- 176 · Portfolio Review, Part 1: Rhythm and Notation
- 177 · Portfolio Review, Part 2: Melody, Tonality, and Meter
- 178 · Portfolio Review, Part 3: Timbre, Composing, and Our Criteria
- 179 · How Your Music Skills Grew This Year
- 180 · Finale: Celebrating Your Year in Music!
By the end of the year, your child can
- Read, clap and write rhythms using quarter notes, eighth notes and rests
- Tell major from minor and duple from triple meter by ear
- Name the four instrument families and describe how each makes sound
- Compose, notate, revise and perform a short piece of their own
- Judge a performance using steady beat, expression and purpose
- Perform and listen with good concert manners