Welcome to the 7th Grade Music Page

You will find various different units listed on this page. We will be covering many different aspects of music throughout the year. Stay posted!

For virtual assignments please click here:

Guitar

Exciting news we will be able to learn guitars again this year! What a great way to use our musical skills and have fun while we do it! Learning guitar is very progressive, so hang in there and stay with me. We will be jamming along with some classics before you know it!

We will have playing tests as well as written quizzes as well.


Programme Music and Leitmotifs


Programmatic Music, music that tells a story.... The study of the music that makes our movies and television shows. The origins of where they come from, takes us back to leitmotifs - melodies for specific characters- and programmatic music - the over-all story of a song, or group of songs. 

  • Listen to the following programmatic pieces. Listen and read about the intended storyline.
  • Choose one.
  • Create an eight bullet  point timeline that tells the story that you hear in collaboration with the composers intended story. (If you need to fill the story out a little with your own imagining please do. I need 8 points to match the music and tell the story.) Be elaborate in your bullet points about what exactly is happening.
  • Complete the animation cell worksheet provided - possibly next class.
Programmatic Examples to choose from

36 In the Hall of the Mountain King - Grieg.mp3

EdvardGrieg's 'Peer Gynt Suite' tells the story of a young boy – Peer Gynt, who falls in love with a girl but is not allowed to marry her. He runs away into the mountains but is captured by trolls who take him to their King. Peer Gynt tries to escape but is chased by the trolls and runs into the troll King but eventually gets away.

81 The Aquarium - Saint-Saëns.mp3

The composer, Camille Saint-Saëns offers an amusing portrait of various animals by utilizing various instruments – either alone or in various different combinations. In this movement he tries to show musically what it would look and sound like if you were looking into a dimly lit aquarium.

97 Spring - Vivaldi.mp3

AntonioVivaldi used the following poem to inspire this work: Spring has come, and joyfully, the birds greet it with happy song. And the streams, fanned by gentle breezes, flow along with a sweet murmur. Covering the sky with a black cloak, thunder and lightning come to announce the season. When these have quieted down, the little birds return to their enchanting song.

100 The Skaters Waltz - Waldenteufel.mp3

In "The Skaters' Waltz", Èmile Waldteufel set out to portray a winter day in Paris, with ice-skaters venturing on to the frozen Seine River, in Paris. Skating on a River can be very dangerous. You can hear a little bit of the tentativeness in the song.

76 Flight of the Bumblebee - Rimsky-Korsakov.mp3

"Flight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky Korsakovis an interlude written for the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan. Its composition is intended to musically evoke the seemingly chaotic and rapidly changing flying pattern of a bumblebee.

91 Album For The Young Op.68_10 - The Merry Peasant - Robert Sc.mp3

Originally part of a collection that Robert Schumann wrote for his daughters, this song is supposed to represent 'The merry peasant', returning from work or 'The Happy Farmer'. This tune was used as the basis for a lot of the underscoring of The Wizard of Oz.

Epic Video Game Music

OUR FOCUS: The use of a “layered loop” in gaming music: a loop of music that can be played over and over again and that changes or grows in intensity through the clever use of varying orchestration.

Taking this concept, you can create an epic battle theme which is 8 bars in length, but has 3 different versions, building loops upon one another.

http://www.soundtrap.com

Here's what you do:
  • The first 8-bar version of the theme is gentle and a little mysterious. This would be used say, when the player is walking around, exploring the landscape.

  • The second 8-bar version of the theme includes a few extra parts to increase the intensity. This part of the theme would be triggered when the player is nearing a bad guy and/or they are approaching a combat situation.

  • The third 8-bar version of the theme is the most intense and includes all instrumental parts. This version of the theme would accompany the battle itself. It’s strong, powerful and fierce.

  • Make sure that at least 4 of your tracks are homemade, created melody pattern, or rhythmic sequences! (Be sure to rename them so that I know they are yours.)

Ex. Espionage Spy Music.mp3

Assignments Due: 

   

Mr. Gratkins' Class
 Video Game Music

Marcia and Sofia Island Search.mp3

You are sent to find a group of missing people on an island. They are stranded on a deserted island and they need to escape. You were left on the island by your crew but they had to leave to go find people on another island. You need to search the island and find a way to bring them back to the mainland. There are resources on the island but not enough to survive more than 5 days, so you need to be fast. Find a way out of the island by gathering wood resources and more to escape. 

- Sofia and Marcia

Chloe and Annie video game-Phantom Velocity.mp3

Night race in a ghost town. This will take place in a ghost near the water. You are the racer and racing against another player. The goal of the game is to win to be able to escape.

 - Chloe and Annie

Forest Video Game Music Justin and Fletcher.mp3

A knight is walking through an enchanted forest after a big fight and he is tired. As he progresses deeper the forest gets darker. Later he starts to encounter monsters that just stare at him as if they were waiting for something to happen.Then he unexpectedly encounters a big monster and has to fight it with his sword to get out of the woods.

 - Justin and Fletcher

Video Game Project - Emma Williams.mp3

A whimsical, old timey boss fight. Like in prodigy they have normal walking around the town music and then in combat sounds with the town music.  The landscape is a medieval town with magical ruins that are now held together for the combat of mystical creatures. 

- Emma

Connor and Grayson Basketball Video Game Song.mp3

You are MP. You are in the 2K Park ready to suit up and play your next 1v1. You're up to play next and the game is getting intense. The way to win is by scoring more points than your opponent in a basketball 1v1.

- Connor and Grayson

Video Game Joseph E and Preston C.mp3

Our game is about running a laundromat. You will have to repair machines, help customers, and manage employees. You can also buy new things which will cause more customers to come. You win by getting a five star rating.

- Joseph and Preston

Blinding Lights, Screaming Tires (Hugh + Ben).mp3

On a busy day in Las Vegas at midday, the police are chasing after you, a wanted killer. This is a very high duty police chase where you must outrun them to succeed. If you want to win, take shortcuts and throw mysterious obstacles at the cops. Are you willing to participate in the hardest police chase game ever? Go try it out now!

Ben and Hugh

Assignment Apr 10 (1).mp3

Super Mario. In the Mario game we will be on the last level called Bowser's Castle. Bowser's Castle has dark trees and looks very haunted. That level is also very scary because Bowser is the most powerful character ever and his house is very creepy with lava flowing beside it. To win the game we will need to complete a set of obstacles by getting past bowser jr, then we will have to get past Bowser’s little army of Koupas, and after that we will have to get past Bowser which is the hardest part. To get past Bowser we will have 2 lives each and Bowser we recharge energy every 25 seconds. 

- Billy and Jeovi

Brooklyn & Evie Princess Baking Comp..mp3

For our project we are doing a princess baking competition. The scene is magical, a bunch of princesses go head to head to see who is the best. It is very stressful in the last few minutes, which gives the song a more upbeat feeling. They are all in Paris, France where all the baking and love happens. It is the evening, closer to sunset. 

-Evie and Brooklynn

Mrs. Hoerner's Class 
 Video Game Music

Tommy and Jack's Taco Shack.mp3

The game is going to be at a taco shop. It starts with Spanish music that you would typically listen to. As you're making tacos a robber comes in and all you have is taco ingredients to stop him. When this happens the music will get intense as you are trying to stop him with your taco ingredients. 

Tommy and Jack

Marcus Mondala.mp3

(Audio download seems to be distorted.)

This is a game where you explore an eerie building to rescue a friend who was missing after entering. Upon entering it seems normal and creepy but as you get deeper into the building you hear footsteps and things moving around. The next thing you know you get chased by something, having you jump over objects and duck over debris as you travel back to the entrance.

Marcus

Isaac Anderson - Robot Apocalypse.mp3

You are a person who lives in a valley next to an overrun mega city. The city was taken over by robots who destroyed their creators for efficiency. To survive you have to go into the city and scrounge for spare parts of broken machines and robots for resources. You have to go into abandoned shops for food and water. You have to do all this without being caught by the robots. There is a rebel group of humans still living on the top of the skyscrapers who can help you if you help them, or harm you if you don’t do what they want. This takes place in the future in a dystopian world ruled by robots. To beat the game you need to have all the resources needed to go into the city without being detected. You will also need to have the rebel group help you to do this. You would need to fight and destroy robots so you can get into their headquarters and eventually shut down the supercomputer that runs the AI for all the robots. Once you do this you will win the game.

Isaac

Trey And Michael.mp3

We are going to do super mario bros where we are going through levels and getting various coins and lucky blocks. We will also go through bosses when we defeat them then it will make a sound that we have defeated the bosses. When we jump it will make a sound it will make the sound boing and when we walk we will make it clack. The flag when we get it will be the flag fan fare. How we will be when we go through different worlds. Mario is in a brick area with plants all around and floating bricks with lucky blocks on the floor of it.

Michael and Trey

Claire Hege Pirate Adventure.mp3

Immerse yourself in a world full of pirates! Become the captain of the high seas, Captain Blackheart. Sail upon the fastest ship there is, Sea Legs. Throughout the game, you must dock at ports, gathering resources, completing quests, and most importantly, building your crew. As your journey comes to its climax, you will try to get to the biggest treasure trove there is! Unfortunately, legend has it that it is being guarded by a legendary sea kraken, and no pirate known to go searching for it has ever come back. Will you finally be the one to beat the kraken and get riches, glory, and honor?

Claire

Jonah and Logan.mp3

You are a video game character named Jason. Jason is on a mission to get to an island. But then you come across a battle in the middle of the sea where the kraken and the megalodon are in a fight. Your character is stood in shock and then a kraken tentacle hits and flips your boat. The kraken sees you and finishes the fight and comes after you. You have to act fast and flip your boat over and speed away to shore to win and successfully get away from the kraken.

Jonah and Logan

A pirateś search for treasure - Sydney and Josie.mp3

You are a pirate on a mission to find treasure. Your pirate is your character that you will have to control throughout the game. Your character will start on the shore of your his/her homeland. You will have to board your boat to find the treasure that is hidden on an island. You will be given a map at the beginning of the journey that will show you the way to the prize. When your pirate arrives on the island, you will have to go through many quests, but you as your pirate will eventually find the treasure. However, your pirate will have to compete with others to win the prize. If you win, you’ll win then treasure and move to the next level, but if you lose, you will start from the beginning. As said, you will win when you fight off the enemies and win the treasure without being killed.

Sydney and Josie

Caleb Ruffatto - Island Exploration.mp3

In my game, an adventurer will be exploring an island that hasn’t been explored or charted yet (by humans 😈). You are a traveler who gets chosen to go explore the island. There are caves, jungles, and even some animals that also are new to humans. It is in the middle of the Pacific, and still hard to get to. You can win by fully charting the island, and coming back alive.

- Caleb

Nate Simons-Haunted castle.mp3

You are a medieval knight And you were strolling through a forest. Later you find a small village that used to be a mighty kingdom. But the kingdom fell when the king died. You have come to investigate the castle. Legend says the castle is haunted and no one returns.

Nate

Turtle-Topia Fantasy Forest and Village.mp3

My video game is going to be about a turtle who goes around and helps people out with quests, or plays pranks on people.The point of the game is to either cause so much mischief that everyone leaves and then the boss comes and tries to kick you out but if you beat the boss you can start your own village and be in total control. Or, you can help with quests, gain the trust of others and when you defeat the boss (some friends might help you if you gained their trust therefore making it easier) and become the village hero or some combination of both.

- Gigi

Danny Race Car Game.mp3

Race Car Game

- Danny

CHARLEE (2).mp3

Boss fight in a castle. Defeat them if you can. Your life may depend upon it.

Charlee

Class Picks


Isaac Anderson - Robot Apocalypse.mp3

Claire Hege Pirate Adventure.mp3

Jonah and Logan.mp3

Honorable mentions


Tommy and Jack's Taco Shack.mp3

Blinding Lights, Screaming Tires (Hugh + Ben).mp3