Garfield High School – Chorale A&B

Mar 2026 · 2nd Semester

Chorale is a year-long course. Students enrolled in Chorale learn appropriate technique, tone, articulation, phrasing and style through the performance of literature from multiple genres and eras. Students learn melodic, rhythmic and harmonic theory as it applies to the concert ensemble. They improve their ability to sight sing. Students utilize habits of a good musician and ensemble etiquette. Semesters 1-2: Students learn beginning vocal technique. Students refine their ability to match pitch and correctly perform rhythms in a piece of music. Students learn solfege syllables and apply it to repertoire. Students learn basic music notation terminology and apply it to music reading. Students practice correct performance etiquette, including timely arrival, supportive audience behavior, and facial and body engagement in performance. Students analyze and evaluate group choral performances from recordings. They are introduced to the concepts to perform in various styles and repertoire appropriate for the ensemble. Semesters 3-4: Students sing with breath energy, support, and good vocal tone. They maintain established tempo of a given piece. Students distinguish and sing stepwise and skipping passages from the written notation. Students visually and aurally distinguish between whole and half steps, understand duple vs. triple meter, and apply this knowledge in their singing. Students identify and perform examples of staccato and legato articulation and accents. Students analyze and evaluate the performances of other choirs and solo artists, using that knowledge to set goals for the ensemble. Semesters 5-6: Students obtain experiences necessary to become musicians in the industry through increased leadership responsibilities, understanding of the roles of all members of the ensemble, and the responsibilities required of all musicians to properly prepare for a variety of performance situations. Students develop skills to select repertoire and suggest appropriate music for various performance situations. Students continue to build skills, including advanced sight-singing and self-assessment. Students expand their grasp and demonstration of correct vocal technique. They demonstrate growth in their ensemble skills by beginning to sing with attention to blend among individual sections and balance between parts. In music literacy, students read/perform/notate/create syncopated rhythm patterns and dotted eighth-sixteenth patterns. Semesters 7-8: Students gain experiences observing and apprenticing with professionals in performing ensembles and deepen their understanding of the expectations of performers/composers/educators in the music industry. Students perform a wide variety of musical styles with high levels of complexity. Students expand their mastery of the voice as an instrument. They gain the skills to identify their own musical strengths and areas of growth. Students demonstrate an appreciation of the various historical aspects of choral music and articulate their appreciation to audiences. As a preparatory Career and Technical Education (CTE) equivalent course, students demonstrate leadership and employability skills. Students have expanded opportunities to make direct connections to careers as working artists. Course content may include: portfolio development, guest speakers from arts industries, and development of professional responsibility skills such as time management, reliability and punctuality, ability to multi-task and present oneself professionally. Students may receive CTE credit after fulfilling all Fine Arts credit requirements. This course may be repeated for credit. This course is auditioned and open to students 9-11.