Unit Plan 17 (Grade 8 Vocal Music): Rehearsing Created Music

Focus: Rehearse original or arranged vocal music (student-created or teacher-arranged) with increasing accuracy, ensemble skills, and expressive detail, using targeted rehearsal strategies, feedback, and recordings to track progress.

Grade Level: 8

Subject Area: Vocal Music (Choir • Rehearsal Techniques • Musicianship)

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

I. Introduction

In this unit, students shift from creating musical ideas to rehearsing them as a polished ensemble. Using short original pieces, arrangements, or class-created compositions from previous units, they apply structured rehearsal strategies to improve intonation, blend, balance, rhythmic precision, and part independence. Students also learn to use peer/teacher feedback and simple recordings to set goals, monitor growth, and refine expressive choices. By the end of the week, each ensemble can perform a piece of created music with clear evidence of improvement over time.

Essential Questions

• How do effective rehearsal strategies help a choir improve accuracy and ensemble skills more efficiently?
• What does it mean to sing with strong intonation, blend, balance, rhythmic precision, and part independence in student-created music?
• How can feedback and recordings help us notice details we miss in the moment and guide our next rehearsal steps?
• How do we know when a performance of our own music is truly ready, not just “good enough”?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Apply specific rehearsal strategies (count-singing, solfege, chunking, looping, part-only practice, metronome work) to improve accuracy in created music.
2. Demonstrate improved intonation, blend, balance, and rhythmic precision in their ensemble performance of an original or arranged piece.
3. Maintain part independence while hearing other lines, including entrances, sustained harmonies, and overlapping phrases.
4. Use recordings and peer/teacher feedback to identify strengths and weaknesses in their rehearsals.
5. Set short-term rehearsal goals (e.g., “improve m. 9–16 entrances” or “clean up cutoffs on the final chord”) and show evidence of progress.
6. Reflect on how their rehearsal choices and feedback use led to a more accurate and expressive performance of created music.

Standards Alignment — Grade 8 Vocal Music (custom, NAfME-style)

• VM:Pr5.8a — Apply rehearsal strategies to improve ensemble intonation, blend, balance, rhythmic precision, and part independence.
  • Example: Students rehearse entrances and cutoffs, then adjust balance so melody is heard.
• VM:Pr5.8b — Use teacher/peer feedback and rehearsal recordings to set goals, track progress, and improve accuracy and expressiveness over time.
  • Example: Students review a recording, identify one weakness (diction/intonation), and set a measurable rehearsal goal.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can use specific rehearsal strategies (like count-singing or looping measures) to fix problem spots in our piece.
• I can hear and adjust intonation, blend, balance, and rhythmic precision while singing with my section and the full ensemble.
• I can keep my part independent even when other parts are moving around me.
• I can listen to a recording of our rehearsal and name at least one strength and one area to improve.
• I can set a clear rehearsal goal, work toward it, and explain how our final performance improved.