A comprehensive classroom music program by Fairbairn-Leehy-O’Mara.

Written for teachers of students at about their fourth year of primary school.

Continuing to build on skills and concepts covered in Music Rooms 1 to 3

Download a sample pdf with

  • The first Lesson
  • Contents Page
  • What is Music Room?
  • How to use Music Room
  • Rationale, Aims and Outcomes
  • Content/Outcomes Checklist

How is Book 4 set out?

The program is set out in 4 units of lesson plans.

Unit 1 – Musical Elements – building blocks: beat and rhythm
8 lesson plans whose primary focus is the musical elements of beat and rhythm.
and time, crotchets, quavers,
minims and dotted minims are covered, as well
as accent, rhythm patterns, reading, writing, improvising and basic lyric writing through rhyme. The musical elements of pitch, melody, form, dynamics, are also addressed.

Unit 2 – Musical Elements – building blocks: pitch and melody
8 lesson plans whose primary focus is the
musical elements of pitch and melody. Major, minor and pentatonic scales are explored, as well as harmony, drone, signature tunes, reading, writing, composition, scat and improvisation.
The musical elements of beat, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, form and texture are also addressed.

Unit 3: Exploring Sound
8 lessons plans.
Students explore sound, moods and emotions through voice and through a variety of sound sources (classroom instruments and found objects to develop their understanding of the musical elements (particularly tone colour). Improvisation and composition are explored, and reading covered. Beat, rhythm, pitch, form, texture are also covered.

Unit 4: Music All Around Us
6 lesson plans and a concert.
Students experience music and dance in a variety of contexts (different times, places and purposes).
Students consolidate skills and understandings of musical concepts and elements.
Students make choices about the content and production of an end-of-year performance.

Contents:

UNIT 1 BUILDING BLOCKS: – Rhythm, Raps & Rhymes
LESSON 1 Welcoming rhyme
LESSON 2 Counting fours
LESSON 3 Beat grouping – fours
LESSON 4 Beat grouping – fours
LESSON 5 Counting in threes
LESSON 6 Playing in threes
LESSON 7 Introducing too-oo-oo
LESSON 8 Evaluation – threes or fours?

UNIT 2 – BUILDING BLOCKS: – Pitch & Pattern
LESSON 1 Signature tunes
LESSON 2 Word play
LESSON 3 Improvising in threes
LESSON 4 Improvising in fours
LESSON 5 Drone
LESSON 6 Drone
LESSON 7 Scat
LESSON 8 Evaluation: group compositions

UNIT 3 – TONE COLOUR: Exploring Sound
LESSON 1 Mouth Music
LESSON 2 Mouth music
LESSON 3 Sound words
LESSON 4 Short & long sounds
LESSON 5 Vocal rhythms
LESSON 6 Atmospheric sounds
LESSON 7 Tin music
LESSON 8 Junk music

UNIT 4 – MUSIC ALL AROUND US
LESSON 1 Music from different times
LESSON 2 Music from different lands
LESSON 3 Music for different purposes
LESSON 4 Music for dancing
LESSON 5 Dance that tells a story
LESSON 6 Music for effect
END OF YEAR PERFORMANCE