1963-1973:  Contemporary Music Project (May, 1963)

Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Form, Dynamics, Style, Articulation, Tempo, Timbre, Texture

Contemporary Music Project (CMP) sponsored projects, workshops, seminars, and pilot programs of contemporary music in the schools, and partnered with the Ford Foundation now involved with MENC. Two important developments were very notable from the CMP. During the Northwestern Seminar, the music elements (or concepts) approach was developed, involving: Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Form, Dynamics, Style, Articulation, Tempo, Timbre, Texture, etc. Also decided was that music educators should be competent in performance, composition, improvisation, teaching, aesthetics, analyzing, and research; thus resulting in stronger music teachers.

Knauss Music Curriculum is core-centered on all of the Music Concepts and also concurs that the best music educators are those who keep their performance skills sharpened and continually expand their education.

1963:  Yale Seminar (June)

Listening, Singing, Chanting, Moving, Playing, Creating, Reading, Notating

Yale Seminar was a conference in arts education funded by US government to improve elementary and secondary music education. The activities approach was a very important development of the Seminar: Listening, Singing, Chanting, Moving, Playing, Creating, Reading, Notating, etc. This active participation approach was a forerunner of the 1994 National Standards in Music, which are structured around these same activities. The Seminar also underscored Orff, Kodaly, and Dalcroze music education approaches.

K.M.C. emphasizes active participation as the primary way to know experientially and internalize music skills and artistry. K.M.C. features detailed, practical applications of Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze, and Suzuki approaches in easy-to-follow instructions.

1964:  Julliard Music Project

Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary, and Folk

Julliard Music Project developed from the Yale Seminar. A premise was formulated that the arts could improve the sciences, and a repertoire of world music for instrumental, vocal, and general in 7 stylistic categories: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Contemporary, and Folk.

K.M.C. teaches the fundamentals of all music eras through how the music concepts are combined, which are exampled by hundreds of music listening selections.

1965-1969:  Manhattanville Music Curriculum Project

Spiraling and Cycling Curriculum

Manhattanville Music Curriculum Project (MMCP) was funded by the US Office of Education and was intended to provide an alternative to traditional music teaching practices and music education techniques. MMCP resulted in a highly structured spiraling and cycling curriculum, in which students' skills and achievements became the basis for planning instruction, not the calendar in weeks or months. The relationship between student skills and cognitive growth became the dominant factor driving curriculum, in which the role of the teacher was more of a resourcer and facilitator. Music laboratory classroom concept using electronic keyboards, electronic music, and instrumental. Emphasis on creating music in the 20th century techniques of 12 tone, aleatoric, time-based sequences, etc.

K.M.C. is a highly structured spiraling and cycling curriculum in which music skills, understanding, active participation, and artistry are expanded and broadened in each cycle, in which the teacher is a master adapter and facilitator. K.M.C. empasizes that skill mastery determines when students progress to the next level, rather than weeks on a calendar.

1992-1994:  National Standards in Music

Nine Content Standards in Music

National Council on Education Standards and Testing (NCEST, 1992) called for national standards and assessments in the core subjects of math, english, science, history, and geography with other subjects to follow. The development of National Standards was funded by US Dept. of Education, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). National Standards for Dance, Music, Theater, Visual Arts was published in 1994. All national standards comprised the passage of the Goals 2000 Act in 1994. Published with the National Standards in Music was the School Music Program in 1994 [Music National Standards with standard, proficient, and advanced achievement levels]; and the Performance Standards for Music in 1996 [Music National Standards with strategies and benchmarks for assessment]. The Music National Standards, delineated into three sections of Grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12, are all structured around the music activities of listening, singing / chanting, moving, playing / performing, creating / improvising, reading / notating, and describing / evaluating.

K.M.C. explicitly charts in the Preface of each book the Music Content Standards featured in every lesson.