China 九年级（初三） Arts: Music
Chapters: 5
1. Sem.1 U1 Digital music
Music creation in the digital age; one-person music project
- Music Technology: from Sound to Digital Music – Music technology turns sound into signals and numbers we can record, edit and share. A microphone changes air vibrations into a voltage; an audio interface samples it many thousands of times a second (sample rate) and stores each sample as a number (bit depth). A DAW arranges audio and MIDI tracks, and mixing sets each track's level, pan and effects before the music reaches speakers, films, games or streaming.
2. Sem.1 U2 How music spreads
Journey of a work; its partners
- The Music Industry: From Song to Listener – The music industry is the chain of people and businesses that turn a song into something people hear and pay for: songwriter, performers, producer and engineers, record label and publisher, distributors and platforms, and live-event organisers. Copyright protects the song and the recording. Money from sales, streams, radio, films and concerts flows back as royalties and fees.
3. Sem.1 U3 Judging music
Differences and standards in musical taste
- Music Appreciation: How to Listen and Understand Music – Music appreciation means listening with attention, noticing what is happening in the music, and being able to talk about it. Every piece is built from a few elements: pitch and melody, rhythm and tempo, dynamics (loud and soft), timbre (tone colour), texture (how many layers) and form (the plan of the piece). Knowing these words helps you compare music from any culture, from a symphony to a raga to a film song, and explain why you like it.
4. Sem.1 U4 A school musical
Planning, creating, performing, promoting
- Staging a School Musical: Plan, Create, Perform, Promote – A school musical happens in four stages. Plan: choose the story, cast, songs and dates, and give jobs to a team. Create: write the script and songs. Rehearse: practise scenes and songs again and again until the show is smooth. Promote: use posters and word of mouth so people come. Rehearsal makes the show good; promotion fills the seats.
5. Sem.2 (current edition) Appreciation and singing
Chinese folk songs and xiqu (Huangmei opera etc.) · Western classical and popular music · Recorder playing; singing
- Western Classical Music (1650–1910): Baroque, Classical and Romantic – From 1650 to 1910 Western art music passed through three eras. Baroque music (1650–1750) used a small string group with a harpsichord continuo, sudden loud/soft steps and forms like the concerto and fugue. Classical music (1750–1820) used a bigger orchestra, balanced phrases, gradual crescendos and sonata form. Romantic music (1820–1910) used huge orchestras, very wide dynamics, rubato and strong personal or national feeling, and made the piano a star.
- Recorder Playing and Choral Singing – On the recorder, breath hits the window edge and shakes the air inside the tube. Covering holes makes the air column longer, so the note gets lower (B, A, G). Steady, gentle breath gives a clear note; too hard jumps an octave and too soft gives no note. In a choir, good posture and breathing, careful listening and blending of low, middle and high parts make one sweet chord.