Secondary Methods Unit Plan Final Project

Teacher: Jacob Morese

Unit Title: Diatonic Chords
Grade: 10
Number of Classes: 4

MA Frameworks:

 2.6 Read and sing at sight simple melodies and intervals in both the treble
and bass clefs
 2.11 Read and sing at sight moderately difficult melodies, all intervals and
their inversions from unison through an octave, and triads and their
inversions in arpeggiated form
 4.6 Improvise and compose simple harmonic accompaniments

National Standards:

MU:Cr3.2.C.Ia Share music through the use of notation, performance, or

technology, and demonstrate how the elements of music have been employed to
realize expressive intent.

Rationale:

This unit is important because it covers a variety of topics that are intended to
give students skills that are vital for both musical analysis and music creation.
The lessons of this unit explore musical concepts that include: key signatures,
intervals, diatonic triads in major and natural minor, and diatonic seventh chords
in major and natural minor. The long-term goals of the curriculum map are to do
such things as making simple compositions that contain secondary dominant
chords and modal borrowing chords by the end of the school year, and this unit is
vital to cover in order to reach that long-term goal.

Essential Questions:

 How do you interpret key signatures in major and natural minor?

 How do you write key signatures for major and natural minor keys?
 How do you determine the interval between two given notes?
 What are diatonic triads?
 How do you write diatonic triads in major and natural minor?
 What are diatonic seventh chords?
 How do you write diatonic seventh chords in major and natural minor?
 How do you compose a simple harmonic progression in major and natural
minor using diatonic seventh chords?
Enduring Understanding:

At the end of this unit, students will be able to: (1) identify, write, and describe
key signatures in both major and natural minor with 5 or less sharps/flats, (2)
analyze and determine the interval between two given notes, (3) write, analyze,
and “spell” diatonic triads in both major and natural minor, and (4) write, analyze,
and “spell” diatonic seventh chords in both major and natural minor, and create
simple compositions using these diatonic seventh chords.

Behavioral Objectives:

The specific knowledge and skills that students will learn from this unit include
ability to:
 recognize and identify the major and natural minor keys from a given key
signature of 5 or less sharps/flats
 write any flat or sharp key signature for all major and natural minor keys with 5
or less sharps/flats
 analyze and determine the interval between two given notes
 write an example in musical notation using two notes for a given interval
between a unison and octave
 sing the given intervals using solfege
 interpret and analyze diatonic triads in major and natural minor
 arpeggiate diatonic triads using solfege
 write and “spell” diatonic triads in major and natural minor
 interpret and analyze diatonic seventh chords in major and natural minor
 arpeggiate diatonic seventh chords using solfege
 write and “spell” diatonic seventh chords in major and natural minor
 compose a simple harmonic harmonic progression using diatonic seventh
chords

Assessment/Evaluation:

Informal – Once the fourth and final lesson of the unit (on diatonic seventh
chords) is concluded, as an informal assessment, students will be instructed to
compose their own harmonic progressions using diatonic seventh chords.
Students are to use the grand staff and are to utilize both the treble and bass
clefs when constructing their chords. Their harmonic progression must be in 4/4
and must only use diatonic seventh chords in any major or minor key that has 3
or less sharps/flats in the key signature. The harmonic progression will be a total
of five measures with the fifth/final measure being the 1 chord on whole notes.
The first four measures are to be… written in half notes only (2 chords per
measure). Each chord is to be written in root position and labeled (Example: C-E-
G-B is to be labeled C Maj 7). Also, the concept of a cadence will be briefly
covered so that students end their harmonic progression with V-I. If time, once
every student or most of the students have finished their compositions, one or
two volunteer students will have their harmonic progression played at the piano.
 Formal – Once the second lesson of the unit (on intervals) is concluded,
students will be given a formal assessment to check each student’s
understanding and command of the topics covered in the unit thus far. This
assessment will be in the form of a test. Students will first be asked to identify
several given key signatures with 5 or less sharps/flats with their corresponding
major or natural minor key. Then, students will be given a couple major and
natural minor keys and will be asked to write its key signature. After that,
students will be given a couple questions where they are presented with two
notes and will have to provide the interval between them. Finally, the students
will be asked a couple questions in which the music educator says an interval,
and the students must provide an example in musical notation that reflects that
interval. Once the class is done, the student’s assessments will be collected but
not graded. They will be corrected only to highlight where a student may need
more help.

Long Range Project – Once the final lesson of the unit is completed,
students will be given an assignment that is to be due the following week. Using
the informal assessment done at the end of the fourth lesson as reference,
students will compose a 16-bar harmonic progression using both diatonic
seventh chords and diatonic triads in any major or natural minor key of their
choice. There are to be two chords per measure and the eighth measure must
end with V-I. Students must also include the corresponding roman numeral and
quality of each chord. Once they have completed their harmonic progression, it is
to be brought to the following class where they will enter it into a music notation
software and play it back to hear what they have created. The music educator is
to explain how to use the notation software, and walk around the classroom
constantly to ensure all the students are on the right track.

Prior Knowledge and Skills:

Before beginning this unit, students must be able to:

 Read and interpret notes in both the treble clef and bass clef
 Understand the function of a flat or sharp when added to a given note (down by
step; up by step)
 Sing major and natural minor moveable Do solfege with Do-based minor when
given a starting pitch and using the proper solfege syllables

Accommodations:

1. Special needs – For those students who cannot sing the solfege due to
an inability to match pitch or due to a speech disability, solfege hand
signs will be used. The music educator is to use the solfege hand signs
while simultaneously singing the corresponding solfege syllable. The
whole class will also use the hand signs along with their singing of the
solfege. Having the entire class use the solfege hand signs while
 singing would ensure the students with special needs aren’t singled out
for only using the hand signs.

2. ELL – For those students who are English Language Learners, the
music educator is to never explain a musical concept verbally without
also explaining it by writing it in musical notation. This means that for
everything that the music educator explains or introduces to the class
verbally, it must also be explained through examples using music
notation, drawing, and writing. This allows for ELL students to not be
left behind when possibly not understanding the explanation of musical
concepts when they are explained through words alone.

School to Home/community connection:

(N/A)

Activator:

The activities that the students will do in order to activate prior knowledge to
support the new material in this unit are:
 An activity in which students will write in the corresponding notes for all of the
lines and spaces in both the treble and bass clefs. This activity will assess
students on their ability to identify all of the notes on the grand staff from E bellow
the bass clef to the A above the treble clef. Students will be asked to draw a
grand staff (with no flats or sharps) on staff paper. Then the music educator will
ask the class to fill in all of the A’s, B’s, C’s, etc. within that low E to High A range
explained earlier. This will result in a total of 7 questions, and the note letter
names will be asked in a random order so students are not just simply following a
pattern. For example, Number 1 could be all the G’s within that range, Number 2
could be all the C’s in that range, and so on.
 An activity in which the class is given a starting pitch and is asked to sing major
or natural minor solfege beginning on that pitch. This will be done using several
different starting pitches over the course of the activity. The class will also be told
to use the solfege hand signs along with the corresponding solfege syllable. As
the class sings up and down the given major or natural minor scale in solfege,
the music educator is to walk around the classroom and help students who may
be struggling with the correct solfege syllables, hand signs, or intonation. There
will also be a call-and-response portion of the activity in which the students will
echo the intervals that the music educator sings in solfege. For example, the
music educator sings Do-La or Do-Mi-Sol, and the students repeat it. This call
and response portion will be especially useful when singing intervals in the
interval lesson of the unit, as well as being useful to sing the notes that create a
given diatonic triad or seventh chord.
Repertoire:

(No repertoire is applicable to the lessons of this unit. The lessons of this unit
cover topics that are not best explained through specific repertoire. Instead,
these lessons on key signatures, intervals, diatonic triads, and diatonic seventh
chords are to be explained through writing using musical notation, playing
examples on the piano, and singing examples using solfege as a class. Playing a
specific musical piece or video would not do the trick to properly introduce and/or
break down these relatively rudimentary music theory concepts and topics.)

Materials Needed:

 PowerPoints
 Laptop
 Staff paper
 White board markers
 Pencils
 Doc camera
 Projector
 Piano

Lesson Outlines

1. Key Signatures for Major and Natural Minor

Behavioral Objective – Students will be able to recognize and identify the

major and natural minor keys from a given key signature with 5 or less
sharps/flats, and write any flat or sharp key signature for all major and natural
minor keys with 5 or less sharps/flats.

Assessment/Evaluation – Students will be asked to write a key signature

with 5 flats in the treble and bass clefs. They will then be asked to write a key
signature with 5 sharps in the treble and bass clefs. After that, they will be asked
to write the key signature for three major keys and three natural minor keys that
the music educator asks.

Prior Knowledge and activator – Students will have to have the prior
knowledge of how to read and write notes on the treble and bass clefs,
understanding how sharps and flats affect a note when added to it, and
moveable Do solfege with Do-based minor (given the starting pitch). The
activator would be an assessment to test the student’s understanding of these
concepts by asking them to identify notes in the treble and bass clefs, and to
have the class sing major and natural minor solfege while walking around the
room to hear how each student is doing.
 Lesson content:
 Introducing major key signatures with 5 or less flats
 Introducing major key signatures with 5 or less sharps
 How to identify the major key of a given key signature
 How to write key signatures of major keys with 5 or less sharps/flats
 Introducing natural minor key signatures with 5 or less flats
 Introducing natural minor key signatures with 5 or less sharps
 How to identify the natural minor key of a given key signature
 How to write key signatures of natural minor keys with 5 or less sharps/flats

2. Intervals

Behavioral Objective – Students will be able to analyze and determine the

interval between two given notes, write an example in musical notation using two
notes for a given interval between a unison and octave, and sing the given
intervals using solfege.

Assessment/Evaluation – students will be given a formal assessment to

check each student’s understanding and command of the topics covered in the
unit thus far. This assessment will be in the form of a test. Students will first be
asked to identify several given key signatures with 5 or less sharps/flats with their
corresponding major or natural minor key. Then, students will be given a couple
major and natural minor keys and will be asked to write its key signature. After
that, students will be given a couple questions where they are presented with two
notes and will have to provide the interval between them. Finally, the students
will be asked a couple questions in which the music educator says an interval,
and the students must provide an example in musical notation that reflects that
interval. Once the class is done, the student’s assessments will be collected but
not graded. They will be corrected only to highlight where a student may need
more help.

Prior Knowledge and activator – Students must have the prior knowledge
that they needed for lesson one, as well as an ability to echo a sung interval in
solfege that the music educator sings.

Lesson content:
 Introducing all of the intervals that can be between two given notes from unison
to octave
 Explain the amount of whole steps/half steps that make up each interval
 Singing intervals in solfege
 Writing examples of given intervals in musical notation
3. Diatonic Triads in Major and Natural Minor

Behavioral Objective – Students will be able to interpret and analyze

diatonic triads in major and natural minor, arpeggiate diatonic triads using
solfege, and write and “spell” diatonic triads in major and natural minor.

Assessment/Evaluation – The students will be given an assessment in

which they are to write all of the diatonic triads of a couple given major keys, as
well as all of the diatonic triads of a couple given natural minor keys. They will
then label these triads accordingly with roman numerals and the qualities.

Prior Knowledge and activator – The students must have a good

understanding of the material covered in the previous lessons, as well as an
ability to echo the arpeggiations sung by the music educator.

Lesson content:
 Introducing diatonic triads in major
 How to write the roman numerals for chords and their qualities
 Analyzing and looking at the intervals in diatonic triads in major
 Introducing diatonic triads in natural minor
 Analyzing and looking at the intervals in diatonic triads in natural minor

4. Diatonic Seventh Chords in Major and Natural Minor

Behavioral Objective – Students will be able to interpret and analyze

diatonic seventh chords in major and natural minor, arpeggiate diatonic seventh
chords using solfege, write and “spell” diatonic seventh chords in major and
natural minor, and compose a simple harmonic harmonic progression using
diatonic seventh chords.

Assessment/Evaluation – as an informal assessment, students will be

instructed to compose their own harmonic progressions using diatonic seventh
chords. Students are to use the grand staff and are to utilize both the treble and
bass clefs when constructing their chords. Their harmonic progression must be in
4/4 and must only use diatonic seventh chords in any major or minor key that has
3 or less sharps/flats in the key signature. The harmonic progression will be a
total of five measures with the fifth/final measure being the 1 chord on whole
notes. The first four measures are to be… written in half notes only (2 chords per
measure). Each chord is to be written in root position and labeled (Example: C-E-
G-B is to be labeled C Maj 7). Also, the concept of a cadence will be briefly
covered so that students end their harmonic progression with V-I. If time, once
every student or most of the students have finished their compositions, one or
two volunteer students will have their harmonic progression played at the piano.

Prior Knowledge and activator – The students must have a good

understanding of the material covered in the previous lessons, as well as an
understanding of how to write chords with roman numerals as was done with
diatonic triads.

Lesson content:
 Introducing diatonic seventh chords in major
 Analyzing and looking at the intervals in diatonic seventh chords in major
 Introducing diatonic seventh chords in natural minor
 Analyzing and looking at the intervals in diatonic seventh chords in natural
minor
 Composing using diatonic seventh chords in either major or natural minor