Modern Band Syllabus

Instructors: Madison Howbert, Madison Hines,

Lydia Parish, Ethan Aubrey-Mitchell
Band Office
Phone: (555) 555-5555
Email: bandrox@email.com

Course Meeting Time: Monday, Wednesday, every other Friday from 2:30 - 3:20 (7th hour)

Purpose: To heighten the student’s level of musicianship and how to rehearse and perform in
a group. This goal/objective will be achieved through exposure to music theory in the
classroom, which will be applied in the form of lecture and reading music, and music
performance, which will be applied through rehearsals and performances.
____________________________________________________________________________
Requirements:
1. A pencil, notebook, and staff paper are required for taking notes and completing written
assignments.
2. If using a school owned instrument, there is an instrument rental fee of $10.

Course Overview: In this course, students will learn how to perform in the modern band
setting. This will include learning various instruments, including guitar, bass, drumset, keyboard,
and vocals. Students will learn to read music using chord charts and lead sheets. The course
will also cover performance skills, including working with an ensemble, stage presence, and
performing for an audience.

Texts:
There is no textbook for this course. All information for this course will be gathered through
taking notes from in class lectures and supplemented materials. All tests, quizzes, and
assignments will be based on this material.

Objectives:
Objectives of the course are to gain a better understanding of how to gain musicianship in an
ensemble setting, as well as gaining a higher understanding of musicianship through theory.
● Students will gain skills in basic keyboard, guitar, bass, and drum set technique
● Students will learn ensemble techniques
● Develop a creative understanding of music
● Approximation of melody
● Students will learn basic concepts of tonality and form

Expectations:
Expectations of this course are that you come prepared and ready to learn. We also expect you
to have a good attitude, and a respect for not only others, but for our classroom as well.
Course Calendar (with Assignments):

Date Topic Assignment

M, 8/19 Welcome! Introduction and

Course Discussion

W, 8/21 Brief History of Modern Modern Band take-home

Band quiz - due 8/23

F, 8/23 Guitar – Day 1

(Tuning and Strings)

M, 8/26 Guitar – Day 2

(Beginning Chords)

W, 8/28 Guitar – Day 3

(Licks)

M, 9/2 NO CLASS – LABOR DAY

W, 9/4 Guitar – Day 4

(Strumming Patterns)

F, 9/6 Guitar – Day 5 Video Recording

(Wrap Up – Informal assignment of a chord
Assessment) progression of any song
learned in class - due Su
9/8

M, 9/9 Bass – Day 1

(Tuning and Strings)

W, 9/11 Bass – Day 2

(Reading Chords)

M, 9/16 Bass – Day 4

(Basslines and Riffs)
W, 9/18 Bass – Day 5 Video Recording
(Wrap Up – Informal assignment of the bass
Assessment) progression of any song
learned in class - due Su
9/17

F, 9/20 Drums – Day 1

(Body Percussion and
Basic Patterns)

M, 9/23 Drums – Day 2

(More Patterns –
Introduction to Styles)

W, 9/25 Drums – Day 3 Video Recording

(Fills) assignment of 2
contrasting drumming
patterns any song learned
in class - due Su 9/24

M, 9/30 ROCKTOBER Performance

Prep (Choose Song and
Parts)

W, 10/2 ROCKTOBER Performance

Rehearsal

F, 10/4 WELCOME TO
ROCKTOBER – COMMONS
PERFORMANCE

M, 10/7 Keyboard – Day 1

(Introduction to Instrument)

W, 10/9 Keyboard – Day 2

(Reading Charts)

M, 10/14 Keyboard – Day 3

(Chord Patterns and
Inversions)
W, 10/16 Keyboard – Day 4
(Licks)

F, 10/18 Keyboard – Day 5 Video Recording

(Wrap Up and Informal assignment of a chord
Assessment) progression of any song
learned in class - due Sun
10/17

M, 10/21 Vocals – Day 1

(Singing Basics)

W, 10/23 Vocals – Day 2

(Harmonizing)

M, 10/28 Vocals – Day 3

(Using Microphones)

W, 10/30 A Day in the Life – A look at Reflection on discussion -

what it’s like to be a part of due 11/1
a performing group

F, 11/1 Introduction to Groups and Start projects - due 11/6

Research Project

M, 11/4 Workday for Research

Presentations

W, 11/6 Band Research

Presentations

M, 11/11 Introduction to Final

Performance Project

W, 11/13 Introduce Class Piece #1

F, 11/15 Introduce Class Piece #2

M, 11/18 Introduce Class Piece #3

 W, 11/20 Planning Day for Group Submit your selected
Pieces piece and plan for your
group project by the end of
the class period (11/20)

M, 11/25 Rehearsal Day for Group

Pieces

W, 11/27 NO CLASS – TURKEY

BREAK

F, 11/29 NO CLASS – TURKEY

BREAK

M, 12/2 Rehearsal for Class Pieces

W, 12/4 Rehearsal for Group Pieces

M, 12/9 Rehearsal for Class Pieces Bring all additional

equipment for dress
rehearsal (12/11)

W, 12/11 Class Dress Rehearsal

F, 12/13 A ROCKIN’ HOLIDAYS –

COMMONS
PERFORMANCE

M, 12/16 NO CLASS – FINALS WEEK Study and practice with

your performance groups!

W, 12/18 Final Class Performances at Have a great break!!

Assisted Living Homes

Anticipated Lessons:

Unit One - Guitar

 Introduce guitar and how to tune and differentiate strings. Go over how to read
beginning, intermediate, and advanced chords. Learn different strumming patterns and how to
improvise on the instrument.
Unit Two - Bass
Introduce bass and all it's strings, including how to tune. Go over how to read the bass
line and where each note is on the instrument. Learn bass lines and riffs, as well as how to
improvise on the bass.
Unit Three - Drums
Introduce the drums with body percussion and how to set up a kit. Go over patterns and
how to fit them with different styles. Learn how to do fills and more advanced patterns.
Unit Four - Rocktober
Split into small band groups and have each one learn a song to perform for Rocktober.
Unit Five - Keyboard
Introduce the keys and basic chords. Go over how to read chords and how to advance
them with moving lines. Learn different modifications for chords and improvisation.

Unit Six - Vocal

Introduce basic vocal techniques. Go over how voice will sound with a band and how to
properly sing with a mic.
Unit Seven - Research Project
Introduce project and have students split off into groups. Let them come up with a topic
related to the project that was given and have them research it. Finally, they come up with a
presentation and show it to the class.
Unit Eight - Final Group Pieces
With all the new information and skills learned within the class, have the students create
three songs for the holiday season. Come up with parts and lyrics and practice for them to
perform at the end of the semester.

Reflections:

Ethan Aubrey-Mitchell:

The making of the course syllabus was a very applicable experience. It was not the first
syllabus I had assistance with writing, but it is always interesting thinking of the same variables
as a teacher in the field. (The time is drawing nearer!) Just as we have been discussing specific
goals to include within our curriculums, it was an interesting and rewarding experience thinking
of what we, as educators, wanted our students to get out of this course experience. While there
were no required texts for the course we created, we wanted to make sure and cover potential
instrument rental fees and what course materials were required for the course.
This was a very applicable assignment, and was great practice for the future. It was also
well structured in this course that we are taking as not to be too overbearing during this part of
the semester. What assisted in this process greatly was our ability to divide and conquer in an
efficient manner.
Lydia Parish

This is my first syllabus and I definitely stressed a little more about it than I should. It's
always just so daunting to come up with a schedule that spans for months and try to stick with it.
Once I kind of got an idea of what to do, it was a little easier to plan things out. With that being
said, I was able to start somewhere.
One thing that was tricky was trying to think of assignments. With students being at
different levels, it's so hard to grade them on their abilities when they still have room to grow.
That's why I liked the recording assignments since it encourages them to practice to a proficient
enough level to submit a decent recording. I just want to keep them accountable of their growth
and hope that this kind of program encourages them to continue in music.

Madison Hines
This project will be very applicable to our careers as educators, so it was very beneficial
to go through this process. I was tasked with designing the course calendar and laying out the
framework for the lesson progression. This took a lot of careful planning, starting by laying out
all the dates and then deciding how many days we could spend in each unit. This allowed me to
think about what I would need to prepare for each class period to fill up the time and give
students the most beneficial experience. I also had to think about planning performances and
scheduling around holidays or days off of school.
One area that I struggled to come up with was what would be taught outside of the
instruments. There are many aspects to performing and discussing modern music, but I found it
challenging to think about how those discussions could be structured and what the topics would
be. With more experience, I think that it would become clearer how to form activities and
discussions around these topics.
I enjoyed going through this process and how we were able to divide it up. This made it
less daunting and we could rely on each other for help if we were stuck. This provided a good
entry to making a syllabus, and we can refer to this project and other course syllabi when
forming our own in the future.

Madison Howbert
Creating this syllabus was interesting for me. I was tasked with the Objectives and
Expectations portions, and I struggled with the objectives portion. I struggled mainly with trying
to come up with objectives that weren’t already referenced in the Purpose portion of the
syllabus. Coming up with how to then word those objectives and incorporate them in a way that
doesn’t sound overwhelming was fun.
I enjoyed how this assignment was geared towards just giving us free reign to choose
our course. Letting us choose how to structure the course, and how we wanted to structure
units, let us really take charge of what we wanted the students to get out of our course when
their time with us is through. I also enjoy how these assignments so far are divide and conquer,
because that makes an overwhelming task more manageable and easier to break down.