Unit Plan 13 (Grade 7 Band): Musical Form & Organization

Focus: Develop and organize musical ideas into clear AB, ABA, or call-and-response forms to support expressive intent.

Grade Level: 7

Subject Area: Band (Creating • Form & Structure • Musical Organization)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students learn how musical form helps organize ideas so that listeners can follow and remember them. Building on their work with motives and melodies, they experiment with creating and labeling AB, ABA, and call-and-response structures. Through listening examples, guided composition, and short performance tasks, they explore how contrast and return create balance and drama. By the end of the week, each student or small group will create a short piece in one of these forms, label its sections, and explain how the chosen form supports their expressive goal.

Essential Questions

• How do AB, ABA, and call-and-response forms help organize musical ideas?
• Why do listeners often enjoy hearing contrast followed by return in music?
• How can I use motives and melodies I create to build a clear, recognizable form?
• In what ways can choosing a certain form (AB, ABA, call-and-response) support my expressive intent?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Identify AB, ABA, and call-and-response forms in short listening examples, using simple diagrams and labels.
2. Organize their own rhythmic motives and melodies into short AB or ABA pieces, clearly labeling each section.
3. Create a short call-and-response passage that features a clear “call” idea and an answering “response” idea.
4. Notate their work using standard notation or a teacher-approved template, showing section labels (A, B, A′, call, response).
5. Perform or have their composition performed and explain how the form supports their expressive goal (e.g., question–answer, tension–release, change–return).

Standards Alignment — 7th Grade Band (custom, NAfME-style)

• BD:Cr2.7a — Develop and organize musical ideas into a clear form (such as AB, ABA, call-and-response, or theme and variation) to support expressive intent.
  • Example: Students organize a melody into ABA form and label where contrast occurs.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can hear and label AB, ABA, and call-and-response forms in short pieces.
• I can organize my own musical ideas into a clear AB or ABA structure with obvious contrast and return.
• I can write a call idea and a response idea that sound like a musical conversation.
• I can label sections (A, B, A′, call, response) and explain why I organized them that way.
• I can describe how my chosen form helps communicate a feeling, story, or idea in my music.