Swedish Mellanstadiet (Grade 4-6) Music Syllabus

This information is derived from the Swedish National Agency for Education's curriculum for music in compulsory school (grundskolan).

Introduction

Music exists in all cultures and affects people both physically and emotionally. It serves various functions and holds different meanings for each individual. Music plays a vital role in social communities and can influence personal identity development. In our time, music from different cultures and eras merges with other art forms in new expressions. Knowledge in and about music increases the opportunities to participate in society's cultural life.

Purpose

The purpose of music education is to develop students' knowledge and skills to participate in musical contexts, both by making music themselves and by listening to music. The teaching should provide students with the opportunity to acquire music as a form of expression and communication. Students should develop the ability to use their voice, musical instruments, digital tools, and musical concepts and symbols in various musical forms and contexts.

Central Content

• Making Music and Musical Creativity (Grades 4-6):
• Singing, playing melodies, and accompaniment in ensembles of different genres.
• Ear training following musical examples, such as chord progressions, periods, and compositional models.
• Imitation and improvisation with voice and instruments, rhythms, and tones.
• Musical creation based on musical examples and forms, such as chord progressions and bass lines.
• Music performances.
• Musical Tools (Grades 4-6):
• Voice care and hearing protection during musical activities, such as warm-up exercises.
• Healthy sound levels and different types of hearing protection.
• The voice as an instrument for different vocal expressions.
• Chord and melody instruments, bass, and percussion for melody and rhythm playing or accompaniment.
• Rhythm, timbre, dynamics, pitch, tempo, periods, time signatures, verse, and refrain as building blocks for composing music in different genres.
• Musical symbols, graphic notation, notes, and chord symbols.
• Digital tools for sound and music creation.
• Musical Contexts and Functions (Grades 4-6):
• The physical, mental, and emotional impact of sound and music on people in different contexts. How music is used for influence and recreation and in various ritual contexts.
• Words and concepts needed to read, write, and talk about music-making and impressions and experiences of music.
• Music together with images, text, and dance. How different aesthetic expressions can interact.

Grade 6 Knowledge Requirements

• Music Making: Participates in ensemble singing, following rhythm and pitch with relative accuracy. Plays substantial parts of simple adapted melody, bass, and percussion lines, and accompanies on a chord instrument, changing chords smoothly. Sings or plays an instrument with relatively good timing and appropriate expression.
• Musical Creativity: Creates music based on own musical ideas, using voice, instruments, or digital tools, starting from simple musical examples and forms, and combining them into a largely functioning composition.
• Musical Analysis and Discussion: Provides developed reasoning about own and others' music-making. Expresses own musical experiences in a developed way and describes and gives examples of how music can affect people. Identifies and gives examples of musical characteristics from different genres and cultures with relative certainty, and gives examples of instruments from different instrument groups with relative certainty.