Music Lesson Plans Grade 2
The grade 2 music curriculum is all about setting up a strong foundation in basic concepts. Repetition is extremely important, especially with core concepts in beat, rhythm, and pitch.
I strongly recommend teaching the concepts in the following order, as it is easy to build each skill on the back of the one before it.
Duration (Rhythm) Guide for Grade 2
Duration refers to the length of time that a sound lasts.
- Beat vs Rhythm
- Fast & slow tempo
- 2/4 and 4/4 metres
- quarter note, eighth note, quarter rest
- rhythmic ostinato
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Grade 2 Music – Beat & Rhythm Worksheets – Music Interactive Notebook$3.29 -
Ostinato Lesson Plan Grade 2 for October – Rhythm – Ostinato and Composition$4.19 -
Grade 2 Rhythm Activities for September – Beat vs Rhythm Back to School Music$4.19 -
Rhythm Activities for Grade 2 – Music Rhythm Grid Activities for Whole Class or Centers$3.29
Melody / Pitch Guide for Grade 2
Pitch refers to how high or low a sound is. In grade 2, we build off the high/low skills learned in grade 1 to explore melodic contour and expand our knowledge of solfege.
- High & Low
- melodic contour – how pitches in a melody move up and down in a sequence
- Solfege: mi, so, la
Music Expression Guide for Grade 2
In Grade 2 students continue to develop their listening skills by identifying the differences in dynamics (crescendo – getting louder, and decrescendo – getting softer) and expression (staccato – choppy, and legato- smooth).
- Dynamics: Crescendo & Descrendo
- Expression: Staccato & Legato
Timbre Guide for Grade 2
Timbre is the quality of a sound that makes it unique from other sounds, even if they have the same pitch and volume. It’s what allows you to distinguish between different musical instruments or voices. Timbre is determined by several factors, such as the shape of the sound wave, the number and strength of the overtones or harmonics, and the way the sound is produced. It can be described using words like warm, bright, mellow, harsh, or metallic.
- Vocal Quality
- Body percussion
- Pitched & unpitched instruments
- Environmental and found sounds
Form & Texture for Grade 2
Form and texture basically refers to how a piece of music is organized.
Music texture refers to the way different musical elements, such as melody, harmony, and rhythm, are combined to create the overall sound of a piece of music. It can be thought of as the “thickness” or “layers” of the music.
- Texture
- single melodic line (monophony)
- Phrase
- Call and response
Don’t forget to pin this page so you can easily refer to this grade 2 music teacher’s guide later.