Music

About this course

Ninth grade is where music becomes a high school subject in tone and demand. The theory unit covers time and key signatures, triads and seventh chords, chord progressions past the basic I-IV-V, harmonic analysis, counterpoint, musical form (ABA, rondo, theme and variations), and figured bass -- the Baroque shorthand where a bass line carries numbers telling a keyboard player which intervals to fill in above it, with the standard figures for inversions laid out one by one. Pitch study is grounded in acoustics rather than assertion: a full lesson on the overtone series explains why a string vibrating in halves and thirds produces a hidden chord above every note, why that makes a clarinet sound hollow and a trumpet bright, and why the octave and perfect fifth sound consonant to nearly every culture on earth. Around it sit the circle of fifths, the chromatic scale and enharmonic spelling, transposition, sequence and motif development, and the difference between relative and perfect pitch.

Rhythm covers syncopation, polyrhythm, compound meter, conducting, rhythmic dictation, drum notation, anacrusis, rubato, the historical development of notation from neumes, and African and Latin rhythmic traditions. The voice unit works through breath support, vowel formation, resonance, registers, diction, the four SATB parts, vocal health, and the different demands of solo and ensemble singing. The instrument unit surveys the orchestral families, instrument ranges, reading an orchestral score, ensemble roles, and instrument care. The history unit is the year's spine: the Psalms as songs, Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, Bach's devotional works, the Classical and Romantic eras, hymn history, and a substantial lesson arguing that Western music as we know it would not exist without the church -- Guido of Arezzo's staff, the cathedral schools, the acoustics of stone buildings shaping how music was written, and Mendelssohn's 1829 revival of the St. Matthew Passion.

There are 72 lessons in eight units of nine, about 40 minutes each. Units 7 and 8 return to rhythm and pitch with fresh material rather than repeating earlier lessons. Each lesson is a sustained reading, followed by a ten-question quiz that grades itself. No instrument is required to complete the course, and no prior playing experience is assumed, though a keyboard makes the harmony and figured-bass work much more concrete. The course contains no audio -- there is nothing to listen to inside it -- so the timbre, overtone, and repertoire lessons will land better if you can pull up recordings of the pieces and instruments they describe.

What the course covers

• Syncopation, polyrhythm, compound meter, rubato, and conducting
• Rhythmic dictation, drum notation, and the history of notation
• The overtone series, timbre, and the acoustics of consonance
• Scales, modes, the circle of fifths, and enharmonic spelling
• Sight-singing, solfege, transposition, and motif development
• Triads, seventh chords, harmonic analysis, and counterpoint
• Figured bass, Baroque continuo practice, and musical form
• Vocal technique, resonance, SATB parts, and vocal health
• Orchestral families, instrument ranges, and reading a score
• Sacred music history and the church's shaping of Western music

What your student will be able to do

• Analyze a passage harmonically using Roman numerals and identify its form
• Read and realize basic figured bass symbols
• Explain the overtone series and how it accounts for timbre and consonance
• Transpose a melody and spell enharmonic equivalents correctly
• Sing with supported breath, open resonance, and clear diction in an ensemble part
• Identify orchestral instruments by range and role within a score

Scope and sequence

All 8 units of Music for Grade 9, in the order they are taught.

Every lesson, by title

All 72 lesson titles are listed here — nothing is withheld until you download. Open a unit to read its contents.

One whole lesson, exactly as it comes

This is a real lesson taken from the middle of the course — the teaching text, the practice, the homework, and the first three quiz questions with their answers. It is not a marketing excerpt.

What you will need

Drawn from the materials named across all 72 lessons of this course. Most families already own most of it.