Unit Plan 10 (Grade 6 Band): Scale & Key Awareness
Grade 6 band unit building scale fluency by performing scales with correct fingerings, key signatures, steady tempo, and improved intonation.
Focus: Perform scales and scale patterns with correct fingerings, key signatures, and intonation, while maintaining a steady tempo and reading basic expressive markings.
Grade Level: 6
Subject Area: Band (Performing • Reading • Technical Skills)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students build their scale and key awareness so they can read and play music more confidently. Through daily warm-ups, focused scale practice, and simple patterns, they learn how key signatures connect to fingerings and positions on their instruments. Students work on playing scales with steady tempo, even rhythm, and characteristic tone, while also listening carefully for intonation (in-tune playing). By the end of the week, they can explain which key they are in, show basic understanding of key signatures, and perform at least one or two concert scales smoothly and accurately.
Essential Questions
- How do key signatures and scales help us understand what to play in band music?
- Why are correct fingerings, steady tempo, and even rhythm important for scale performance?
- How can I listen and adjust to play more in tune on my instrument during scales?
- How does practicing scales and patterns make it easier to learn real band pieces?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Read basic key signatures used in band repertoire (e.g., concert B♭, E♭) and identify the corresponding concert scales.
- Perform at least one or two concert scales with correct fingerings/positions, even rhythm, and steady tempo.
- Play simple scale patterns (stepwise patterns, thirds) that reinforce fingerings and note-reading.
- Demonstrate attention to intonation by listening, adjusting, and matching pitch within the ensemble during scale work.
- Explain how scales and key signatures relate to their band music and how scale practice supports reading and performing new pieces.
Standards Alignment — 6th Grade Band (custom, NAfME-style)
- BD:Pr4.6b — Read and perform band music using standard notation, including basic key signatures, rhythms, and expressive markings, maintaining steady tempo.
- Example: Students perform a piece with dotted rhythms and dynamic markings at a steady tempo.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can name and play at least one or two concert scales with correct fingerings and mostly even notes.
- I can read the key signature and say which notes are sharp or flat in that key.
- I can keep a steady tempo and even rhythm when playing scale lines and patterns.
- I can listen and adjust my pitch to be more in tune with my section and the full band.
- I can explain how scale practice helps me read and play band music more easily.