Unit Plan 25 (Grade 5 Orchestra): Style & Character

Focus: Apply dynamics and bowing styles to match musical character and mood in beginning string music.

Grade Level: 5

Subject Area: Orchestra (Foundations • Technique • Expression)

Total Unit Duration: 1–2 weeks, 30 minutes per session

I. Introduction

Students explore how style and character in music change when they play loud/soft and smooth/detached. Through listening, movement, and short playing examples, they compare a “calm” version and an “excited” version of the same notes. Students learn that dynamics and bowing style are tools they control with bow speed, bow weight, and contact point, and that the whole orchestra must match these choices to make the piece sound clear and expressive.

Essential Questions

• How do dynamics (loud/soft) and bowing styles (smooth/detached) change the character of music?
• How can our bow choices help a piece sound calm, excited, or strong even if the notes stay the same?
• Why is it important for the whole orchestra to match style and character, not just play the right notes?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate legato (smooth) and detached bowing on open strings and simple patterns.
2. Use bow speed and bow weight to play loud and soft while keeping a clear, characteristic tone.
3. Describe, in simple language, how changing dynamics and bowing style changes the character or mood of a short piece.
4. Perform a short class piece following simple style markings (e.g., p, f, legato, detached) as directed by the teacher or the music.
5. Create and perform a short “Style Phrase” that includes at least one change in dynamics and one bowing style and explain their choices.

Standards Alignment — Grade 5 Orchestra (custom, NAfME-style)

• OR:Pr4.5c — Demonstrate basic expressive elements (loud/soft, fast/slow, smooth/detached bowing) and describe how they change musical character.
  • Example: Students play a phrase legato and then detached and describe the difference.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can show the difference between smooth (legato) and detached bowing on my instrument.
• I can change my bow speed and pressure to play loud or soft with a clear sound.
• I can explain how my playing sounds calm, excited, or strong by using dynamics and bowing style.
• I can follow simple style markings (like p, f, legato, detached) in our class music.
• I can create a short musical idea that uses style on purpose and tell why I chose those sounds.