Curricula
The weight given to music can be seen on the chart below, in which music as part of aesthetic education takes only 9% of the total curriculum time given to all the other subjects.
- Time for music in relation to the other curriculum subjects in Greece
Music competences are mentioned with more or less weight in all curricula. The general range of activities and learning fields includes specific “Learning Outcomes” for four different age levels referring to seven years old, end of primary, end of general compulsory schooling and the end of secondary II. However, since music takes place up to the end of high school reference will only be made to the specific goals and content for music.
Content guiding principles for music in the Greek curriculum | General goals (knowledge, skills, attitudes and values) |
1st Level (preschool, 1st and 2nd year of primary school / age 4-7) | |
Performing: controlling sounds made by the voice and a range of instruments | · Learn to appreciate and enjoy music · Identify sounds and relate them to pictures from nature, i.e. animal sounds, urban working environment · Play a variety of simple instruments and control the sounds they make; perform simple rhythmic and melodic patterns · Sing songs in groups and as a class |
Composing: creating and developing musical ideas | · Explore, create, select and organize sounds in simple structures · Record the compositions for later recall, using symbols and recording equipment |
Evaluating: responding and revising | · Listen attentively to various kinds of music and identify basic musical elements using basic music vocabulary |
Listening and applying knowledge | · Listen attentively, internalize and recall sounds · Structure and use expressively the basic musical elements: pitch, duration, dynamics and tempo |
2nd Level (3rd-6th year of primary school / age 8-12) | |
Performing: controlling sounds made by the voice and a range of instruments | · perform more sophisticated rhythmic patterns, using musical symbols · Sing songs and play music from different times and cultures |
Composing: creating and developing musical ideas | · Invent and develop musical ideas with a simple structure · Compose and record music, using musical symbols. |
Evaluating: responding and revising
| · Listen attentively to various kinds of music · Identify basic musical elements with increasing accuracy · Justify their music preferences, using simple terms |
Listening and applying knowledge
| · Listen attentively, internalize and re-call sounds with increasing music memory · Explore, select, order sounds and make expressive use of some of the musical elements, including pitch, duration, dynamics and tempo; create compositions that have a simple structure · Realize that music can be produced from a wide range of sources and can be recorded in and communicated through conventional staff notation · Identify ways in which music creation and expression are influenced by time and place |
3rd Level (1st-3rd year of high school / age 12-15) | |
Performing: controlling sounds made by the voice and a range of instruments | · Play a variety of music from conventional staff notation; sing and play a more sophisticated music repertoire individually, in pairs, in groups and as a class · Develop the ability to listen to other performers while singing songs in two parts or playing pieces which have several parts (part-singing and playing); · Plan, present and evaluate their own work |
Composing: creating and developing musical ideas | · Improvise, compose and revise rhythmic and melodic ideas in pairs, groups or individually · Develop an understanding of harmony and refine students’ ability in part-singing · Evaluate and revise their compositions |
Evaluating: responding and revising
| · Recognize and identify musical elements, including long rhythmic and melodic patterns, in a wide range of vocal and instrumental music · Display knowledge of music from different musical traditions |
Listening and applying knowledge
| · Listen, recognize, internalize and recall sounds · Identify ways in which musical creation and performance is influenced by the environment in which music takes place · Identify the resources, the conventions and the process of composing music, including the use of information technology, conventional staff notation and other kinds of notation |