Music History Lesson Plans

Students experience the aesthetics of music and learn about freedom songs that motivated the Civil Rights activists. In this music history lesson, students learn how music can motivate and move listeners. Students then describe how sharing their musical talents can be a form of philanthropy.

Students listen to pieces of classical music by Handel and Palestrina. They explore the concepts of timbre and polyphony. In groups, they are to identify when different tones of music are being played.

Students research the various music composers of the Baroque music period. They conduct Internet research, take notes about their selected composer, and write an essay that includes important information about their composer.

Students research and write about a composer from the Classical Music period. They select a Classical Period composer, conduct Internet research, and write an essay about their selected composer.

Students read and discuss 'Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra: Mixing Treasures by Duke Ellington and Edvard Grieg,' exploring how jazz transformed European music and the influence jazz has had on modern music. They write musical reviews.

Students discuss style and characteristics of musical time periods as well as the definition of "pop culture." They compare and contrast modern-day popular icons to music icons throughout history.  This lesson requires a video, which is not included.

Students examine the development of ragtime music and its relation to jazz. They participate in an online Interactive timeline and read about the history of ragtime music, listen to examples of music, and in small groups create short syncopated rhythm examples of music in various meters.

Young scholars recite Willie Nelson's lyrics in one voice and then analyze their tone and vocabulary usage. They research Willie Nelson's history and dramatize the song: "On the Road Again."

Students, in groups, research a music composer of their choice. They create a video showing the composer's life in which students act in it. They also create a pamphlet for a future band concert for that composer.

Young scholars research the music from the Baroque and Classical periods using books and the Internet. They take notes on the research before writing an essay in which they compare the music from the two periods.