Zimbabwe Lower 6 Music Curriculum

This curriculum outlines the Musical Arts syllabus for Lower 6 (Form 5) in Zimbabwe, covering theoretical and practical aspects of music. It emphasizes a deeper understanding of music creativity and organization, placing musical arts within socio-economic, political, and cultural contexts.

Principles of Musical Arts:

• Exploration of creative and organizational principles, modes of representation, and sense and meaning within various musical traditions:
• African
• Indonesian
• South American
• Chinese
• Japanese
• Independent research report on a selected musical culture.

Music Literacy Practices:

• Melodic reading and writing:
• Reading melodies in ternary rhythms.
• Notating melodies in major and minor keys.
• Rhythm and Body Percussion:
• Articulating complex rhythms through clapping and body percussion.
• Modulating between different rhythmic ratios (e.g., 2 against 3).
• Performing 3, 4, and 5-part orchestration with rhythmic modulations.
• Harmony:
• Demonstrating overtones on a string and column of air.
• Interpreting pentatonic and blues scales.
• Identifying chromatic and compound intervals.
• Keyboard Harmony:
• Playing and naming 7th chords in C Ionian mode.
• Playing the cycle of 4ths/5ths and chord chains.
• Playing II V I progressions with different voicings.
• Applied Harmony and Improvisation:
• Identifying modal and pentatonic scales for improvisation.
• Improvising over selected chords.

Performance Practices:

• Documenting stylistic features of Zimbabwean music.
• Exploring performance practices (sacred, secular, contemporary events) within:
• African
• Indonesian
• South American
• Chinese musical traditions.

Performance Proficiency:

• Creating and performing an ensemble recital piece involving various performers.
• Writing a recital outline.

Interpretation of Zimbabwean Musical Arts:

• Outlining vocal techniques, styles, and dance movements characteristic of Zimbabwean indigenous arts.
• Analyzing the context, meaning, songs, instrumentation, and staging of traditional and contemporary Zimbabwean musical performances.

Multimedia Design in Music:

• Tracing the historical development of recording and storage equipment.
• Critically analyzing pre-recorded music (audio and video).
• Recording, editing, and producing live musical performances.
• Identifying and using audio and video editing software.
• Disseminating recorded musical works.

World Music Cultures:

• Studying the history, culture, genres, instrumentation, and styles of:
• North African
• Indonesian
• South American and Caribbean
• Chinese musical arts.
• Performing a musical artwork from each of the studied cultures.

Artistic Expression:

• Identifying and performing various music and dance styles from different cultures (Indonesian, South American, Chinese).
• Creating and demonstrating choreographed patterns.
• Extemporizing melodies over selected chords.

Innovation and Creativity:

• Identifying musical themes from everyday life experiences.
• Creating musical artworks based on chosen themes.
• Constructing hybrid musical instruments.
• Utilizing sounds from different musical genres to create new musical artworks.

Protest Music and Conflict Management:

• Identifying and classifying Zimbabwean protest songs.
• Analyzing the role of music in the Chimurenga war and conflict management.

Music Criticism:

• Demonstrating an understanding of multiple perspectives on musical artworks (artists, media, audience, scholars, professionals, politicians).
• Creating a body of knowledge encompassing these perspectives.

Musical Enterprise Skills:

• Describing the process of intuitive music creation.
• Managing time and resources in music production.
• Identifying and pursuing musical business opportunities.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for Indigenous Musical Arts:

• Outlining the impact of IPR on indigenous musical arts.
• Producing an IPR model for indigenous musical arts.
• Comparing and contrasting Zimbabwean musical rights with existing copyright laws.