(a) General requirements. Students may fulfill fine arts and elective requirements for graduation by successfully completing one or more of the following music courses: Band II, Choir II, Orchestra II, Jazz Ensemble II, Jazz Improvisation II, Instrumental Ensemble II, Vocal Ensemble II, World Music Ensemble II, Applied Music II, Mariachi II, Piano II, Guitar II, and Harp II (one credit per course). The prerequisite for each Music, Level II course is one credit of Music, Level I in the corresponding discipline.
(b) Introduction.
  (1) The fine arts incorporate the study of dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts to offer unique experiences and empower students to explore realities, relationships, and ideas. These disciplines engage and motivate all students through active learning, critical thinking, and innovative problem solving. The fine arts develop cognitive functioning and increase student academic achievement, higher-order thinking, communication, and collaboration skills, making the fine arts applicable to college readiness, career opportunities, workplace environments, social skills, and everyday life. Students develop aesthetic and cultural awareness through exploration, leading to creative expression. Creativity, encouraged through the study of the fine arts, is essential to nurture and develop the whole child.
  (2) Four basic strands--foundations: music literacy; creative expression; historical and cultural relevance; and critical evaluation and response--provide broad, unifying structures for organizing the knowledge and skills students are expected to acquire. The foundation of music literacy is fostered through reading, writing, reproducing, and creating music, thus developing a student's intellect. Through creative expression, students apply their music literacy and the critical-thinking skills of music to sing, play, read, write, and/or move. By experiencing musical periods and styles, students will understand the relevance of music to history, culture, and the world, including the relationship of music to other academic disciplines and the vocational possibilities offered. Through critical listening, students analyze, evaluate, and respond to music, developing criteria for making critical judgments and informed choices.
  (3) Statements that contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(c) Knowledge and skills.
  (1) Foundations: music literacy. The student describes and analyzes music and musical sounds. The student develops organizational skills, engages in problem solving, and explores the properties and capabilities of various musical idioms. The student is expected to:
    (A) compare and contrast exemplary musical examples using technology and available live performances;
    (B) compare and contrast melodic and harmonic parts using a melodic reading system such as solfège, numbers, letter names, note names, or scale degrees;
    (C) compare and contrast concepts of music notation, intervals, and chord structure using appropriate terminology;
    (D) compare and contrast concepts of rhythm and meter using appropriate terminology and counting system;
    (E) compare and contrast musical forms such as song, binary, ternary, and rondo selected for performance and listening;
    (F) compare and contrast concepts of balance and blend using appropriate terminology;
    (G) compare and contrast concepts of music such as rhythm, meter, melody, harmony, key, expression markings, dynamics, and timbre; and
    (H) apply health and wellness concepts related to music practice such as body mechanics, hearing protection, vocal health, hydration, and appropriate hygienic practices.
  (2) Foundations: music literacy. The student reads and notates music using an appropriate notation system. The student is expected to:
    (A) read and notate music that incorporates rhythmic patterns in simple, compound, and asymmetric meters; and
    (B) interpret music symbols and expressive terms referring to dynamics, tempo, and articulation.
  (3) Creative expression. The student demonstrates musical artistry by singing or playing an instrument individually and in groups. The student performs music in a variety of genres at an increasing level of difficulty. The student performs from notation and by memory as appropriate. The student develops cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills. The student is expected to:
    (A) demonstrate increasingly mature, characteristic sound appropriate for the genre;
    (B) refine and apply psychomotor and kinesthetic skills such as appropriate posture, breathing, text, diction, articulation, vibrato, bowings, fingerings, phrasing, independent manual dexterities, and percussion techniques;
    (C) demonstrate rhythmic accuracy using appropriate tempo;
    (D) demonstrate observance of key signatures and modalities;
    (E) demonstrate correct intonation, appropriate phrasing, and appropriate dynamics; and
    (F) create and notate or record original musical phrases at an appropriate level of difficulty.
  (4) Creative expression. The student sight reads, individually and in groups, by singing or playing an instrument. The student reads from notation at an increasing level of difficulty in a variety of styles. The student is expected to:
    (A) exhibit increasingly mature, characteristic sound appropriate for the genre while sight reading;
    (B) demonstrate, refine, and apply psychomotor and kinesthetic skills such as appropriate posture, breathing, text, diction, articulation, vibrato, bowings, fingerings, phrasing, independent manual dexterities, and percussion techniques while sight reading;
    (C) demonstrate correct articulation and rhythmic accuracy while sight reading using a counting system within an appropriate tempo;
    (D) demonstrate observance of multiple key signatures and changing modalities while sight reading;
    (E) demonstrate use of a melodic reading system such as solfège, numbers, letter names, note names, or scale degrees while sight reading;
    (F) demonstrate application of dynamics and phrasing while sight reading; and
    (G) demonstrate accurate intonation while sight reading using concepts such as vowel shapes, ensemble blend, and just intonation.
  (5) Historical and cultural relevance. The student relates music to history, culture, and the world. The student is expected to:
    (A) compare and contrast music by genre, style, culture, and historical period;
    (B) define uses of music in societies and cultures;
    (C) identify and explore the relationships between music and other academic disciplines;
    (D) identify music-related vocations and avocations;
    (E) identify and explore the impact of technologies, ethical issues, and economic factors on music, musicians, and performances; and
    (F) identify and explore tools for college and career preparation such as personal performance recordings, social media applications, repertoire lists, auditions, and interview techniques.
  (6) Critical evaluation and response. The student listens to, responds to, and evaluates music and musical performance in formal and informal settings. The student is expected to:
    (A) exhibit informed concert etiquette as a performer and as an audience member during live and recorded performances in a variety of settings;
    (B) design and apply criteria for making informed judgments regarding the quality and effectiveness of musical performances;
    (C) develop processes for self-evaluation and select tools for personal artistic improvement; and
    (D) evaluate musical performances by comparing them to exemplary models.

Source Note: The provisions of this §117.311 adopted to be effective July 28, 2013, 38 TexReg 4575