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Overview of concepts covered in Grade 2 of Step-by-Step Classroom Music

Grade 2 looks at finding beat in daily life and the relationship between words and music. Other topics include moods in music, beat and rhythm (separately and together), pitch and pitch mapping, defining dynamics and tempi and identifying them in selected pieces.

Grade 2 also includes: singing nursery rhymes and learning their historical significance, composing new lyrics to an existing song and performing it, making a story and animating it with sounds. The lessons also discuss how to create/reproduce sounds that are to be used when creating commercial jingles. The students are introduced to orchestral instruments and taught how to identify them visually and by listening; these include woodwind, brass, percussion and stringed instruments.

There is the theme song "Colorful Stew" and includes related lessons on: listening, matching pictures to lyrics, relating colors and sounds, listening and responding by coloring, identifying elements of music (tempo, beat and pitch) in the theme song and performing the song with actions.

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Overview of concepts covered in Grade 3 of Step-by-Step Classroom Music

Grade 3 includes lessons on: moving to beat and rhythm, pitch mapping and musical elements (beat, rhythm, tone color, dynamics, tempo and pitch); identifying and drawing quarter notes and rests and whole notes and rests; creating and presenting a commercial jingle with an emphasis placed on the correct use of the aforementioned musical elements.

 It deals with the recognition of feelings evoked by elements of music in various songs i.e., "Cradle Song", "Wedding March" and "Ode to Joy"; The study of foundational elements are emphasized through singing and analyzing songs ("Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat", "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" and "I've been Working on the Railroad"); The book also includes lessons on Vivaldi's "Spring" and responding to music through visual arts.

Students learn the theme song, "Percussion Song" by singing along. Four forms of accompaniment are provided on audio tracks (full instrumental and vocal, vocal with verses but without chorus, vocal with chorus but without verses, and instrumental only). Follow-up lessons focus on percussion and percussion instruments with specific lessons on the rhythm sticks, Maracas, shakers, drum tambourine, hand bells and the hand drum. Elements of music such as beat, dynamics and pitch are also emphasized. The book culminates with a performance of the theme.

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Overview of concepts covered in Grade 4 of Step-by-Step Classroom Music

Grade 4 contains lessons on listening and moving to sounds and music, short and long sounds, listening, identifying, clapping and reproducing: quarter, half, eighth and whole notes and rests.

Grade 4 also introduces the treble and bass clefs and staves and how to draw them, identifying note names for the treble and bass staves, identifying lines and spaces as well as the recognition of skips and steps and the grand staff.
It deals with creating new lyrics to familiar songs; singing and breathing techniques, vocal warm-ups for Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor/Alto, and Baritone; listening to and identifying orchestral instruments and families; mood, singing and historical significance of such songs as "Alouette" and "London Bridge"; melodic ostinato; conducting in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time; learning and performing "Media Song" with attention given to verse, chorus and unison singing.

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Overview of concepts covered in Grade 5 of Step-by-Step Classroom Music

Grade 5 covers: note and rest review from whole note to 16th note values, accidentals, the keyboard/naming sharps and flats, intervals/tones and semi-tones, key signatures and major scales.

It also includes lessons on: conducting in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time; singing and breathing techniques, vocal warm-ups and singing major scales for Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor/Alto, and Baritone; creating lyrics to major scales; naming and identifying orchestral instruments and families; identifying tone color.

Grade 5 contains lessons on: manipulating musical elements, creating lyrics to existing songs; making up a commercial jingle (group assignment), using nursery rhymes to change musical elements and lyrics to create new compositions and storylines; the Renaissance period and composing songs using cantus firmus; conveying and understanding mood; identifying form and learning and performing the theme song, "Castles of Stone".

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Overview of concepts covered in Grade 6 of Step-by-Step Classroom Music

Grade 6 reviews notes and rests from whole note to 16th note values, accidentals, notes on the keyboard and key signatures. There are lessons on: singing and breathing techniques, vocal warm-ups and singing major scales for Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor/Alto, and Baritone; tone color- listening to the same melody with different instruments and naming instruments in specific tracks.

Grade 6 also contains lessons on: conducting in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time; listening to differences when melody, rhythm, harmony and style have been changed using the same song; applying nursery rhyme lyrics to various instrumental tracks of different styles, tempi etc.; using these techniques, the students are asked to compose a jingle using real or found instruments to enhance the performance; introducing the Baroque and Classical eras complete with listening exercises.

It contains lessons on: learning and performing the theme song with choreography, form (verse and chorus); studying musical texture in the theme song as well as dynamics and tempi.

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Overview of concepts covered in Grade 7 of Step-by-Step Classroom Music

In Grade 7 Students will review: the treble and bass staves, accidentals. Using the keyboard as a guide, students will study the relationship between notes, intervals and key signatures. Students will also be introduced to the circle of fifths (order of sharps) and circlel of fourths (order of flats). In the Musical Journey lesson, students will study what goes into making songs and apply this knowledge using instrumental tracks provided. These lessons are supplemented with extensions for further presentations and cross-curricular assignments (e.g., Music in Culture Assignment).

Grade 7 contains lessons on: conducting in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time; review of notes and rests from whole note to 16th note values; syncopation; singing and breathing techniques, vocal warm-ups and singing major scales for Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor/Alto, and Baritone; Italian terms; song endings; and musical texture.

It includes lessons on: binary and ternary form, naming and identifying orchestral instruments and families, intervals, and the history of instruments and an introduction to the Romantic Era. The book includes such hands on activities as critically analyzing and creating commercials, using nursery rhymes to create a story line and lyrics, and the creation of a rhythmic track to help convey mood.

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Overview of concepts covered in Grade 8 of Step-by-Step Classroom Music

Grade 8 reviews note and rest values from whole note to 16th note values, note names and the grand staff, accidentals and key signatures including circle of fourths and fifths, the major scale, vocal and breathing techniques, vocal warm-ups and singing major scales in Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor/Alto, and Baritone ranges; and Italian musical terms. There are also lessons on song endings and musical texture.

Grade 8 contains lessons on: review of conducting in 2/4,3/4, 4/4 time; recognizing rondo form, theme and variation and form in the music they perform and hear; Absolute and Program music; responding to musical performances and videos; the study of Romantic Era history and composers.

The performance  deals exclusively with the drums. Lessons cover: the history of the drum; drum sets, the construction and notation of drums; learning and practising single-stroke, double-stroke and paradiddle drum rolls; a drum research assignment and composition and performance of a piece using a student-made drum set.

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