Unit Plan 34 (Grade 7 Band): Purposeful Music Choices

Focus: Explain why certain band music fits specific audiences or purposes by analyzing instrumentation, tone color, articulation, style, and personal connections.

Grade Level: 7

Subject Area: Band (Responding • Connecting • Programming)

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

I. Introduction

In this unit, students explore how and why band music is chosen for different audiences and occasions—such as school assemblies, concerts, ceremonies, and community events. They listen to and rehearse contrasting pieces, examining how instrumentation, tone color, articulation, tempo, and style create different moods and messages. Students also consider how their own interests, experiences, and goals shape what music they enjoy and feel confident performing. By the end of the week, each student (or small group) proposes purposeful music choices for a specific audience or event and explains why those pieces fit.

Essential Questions

• How do instrumentation and tone color help band music fit a particular mood, audience, or purpose?
• In what ways do articulation, tempo, and style change how a piece feels and what it communicates?
• How do my interests, experiences, and goals as a band musician influence the music I choose or enjoy?
• What does it mean to make purposeful music choices instead of just picking songs we “like”?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Describe how instrumentation, tone color, articulation, and style contribute to the character and meaning of a band piece.
2. Compare at least two contrasting band works, explaining which audiences or purposes each might fit (e.g., pep rally, memorial, elementary assembly).
3. Reflect on their own musical interests, experiences, and goals, connecting these to the kinds of pieces they feel drawn to perform.
4. Use musical evidence (e.g., “low brass fanfares,” “soft woodwind chorale,” “fast staccato rhythms”) to justify why a piece fits a specific audience or purpose.
5. Create a short Purposeful Program Proposal describing 1–2 pieces for a particular audience/event and explaining why those choices are appropriate and meaningful.

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

• BD:Re7.7b — Explain how instrumentation, tone color, articulation, and style contribute to meaning in band music.
  • Example: Students explain how brass and woodwind timbres create contrasting character in a piece.
• BD:Cn10.7a — Explain how interests, experiences, and goals influence musical choices and growth as a band musician.
  • Example: Students set a personal goal (range, articulation, confidence) and explain why it matters.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can describe how instrumentation and tone color affect the mood or meaning of a band piece.
• I can explain how articulation, tempo, and style make a piece better for one audience or event than another.
• I can connect my own interests and goals to the kinds of music I enjoy playing or want to perform.
• I can choose music for a specific audience or purpose and justify my choices with musical evidence.
• I can clearly communicate my ideas about purposeful programming in speaking or writing.