VA SOL Goals for Music Education

The content of the Music Standards of Learning is intended to support the following goals for students: 

• Develop understanding of music through experiences in singing, moving, listening, and playing 
instruments. 
• Develop the ability to read and notate music. 
• Create compositions that transcribe their thoughts and emotions into concrete musical forms of 
human expression. 
• Exercise critical thinking skills by investigating and analyzing all facets of the music discipline. 
• Demonstrate awareness of and responsibility for the safe and ethical use of materials, equipment, 
methods, and technologies. 
• Demonstrate understanding of the relationship of music to history and culture. 
• Make connections between music and other fields of knowledge. 
• Demonstrate the ability to apply aesthetic criteria for making artistic choices. 
• Develop awareness of copyright and royalty requirements when rehearsing, performing, or otherwise using the works of others.