Curated OER
Composing Project
Students design, compose, and present short musical compositions for keyboard in this lesson plan meant for the high school choir class. This instructional activity can be adapted to any time frame, but the author suggests a...
Leading Learner
Using Music to Tell a Story or Describe a Scene
Young composers demonstrate their understanding of the stylistic features of descriptive music, including pitch, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, and timbre, by developing a melody and countermelody for a main character in a story. As part of...
Curated OER
Echo Me! - A Melodic Dictation and Tonal Memory Game
Students demonstrate five-finger hand positions (C, G, D, etc.) by playing short melodic phrases using only those notes in the given position and creating short melodies. Requires a networked keyboard lab.
Curated OER
Melodic Variation
Students participate in activities in which they apply various techniques of melodic variation. After reviewing sheet music for the song "Marianne", they compare lines 1 & 3, then 2 & 4 and discuss the variations in the song. ...
Curated OER
"Movies That Rock": Moulin Rouge
Upper graders explore musical film and the Bohemian lifestyle common in Europe during the turn of the century through the musical Moulin Rouge. After listening to (or viewing) songs from the movie, they discuss the Bohemian era and how...
Curated OER
Classical Music
Students explore the history of music written during the classical era. They compare the melodic contours of specific thematic music, identifying the trills, slurs and articulations. As a class, students discus the characteristics of...
Curated OER
Exploring the Musical Shape of Student Names in a One-Computer Classroom
Students demonstrate musical direction while singing alone and with others while reading music. They discuss and demonstrate shapes that describe the music and compare that to melodic direction. Students make music out of the letters...
Curated OER
VH1 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons Lesson 2
Students discuss pop culture, pop culture icons, and female composers.
Curated OER
Song Writing
In this music worksheet, students identify specific tips for composing a song. They use strophic form where each verse has the same melody. Students also select a chord sequence and use cadences at the end of each phrase and modulations...
Curated OER
Composing Music on Computers
Students compose pandiatonic works using computers as a compositional tool. Following the anticipatory set, they work individually to create their own pieces. The instructional activity concludes with a "concert" of the created student...
Curated OER
The Composer's Blueprint
Students recognize AB and ABA form in music and distinguish between these two forms. They explore meaning of tempo and how to perform accents in written music.
Curated OER
VH1 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll Lesson 3
Learners examine female artists who perform in the genres of rhythm & blues, jazz, soul, and hip-hop/rap. They compose lyrics and melody in one of these genres.
Curated OER
Music Composition
Students compose a simple melody using the notes of the D Major Scale. Criteria/Rubric for evaluation is provided with variations depending on skill level of students. A minimum of one forty-five minute class period is needed for this...
Curated OER
Original Band Compositions
Students create and perform original band compositions using their own band instruments. This two day lesson requires student compositions to be done at home. Students evaluate performances using a checklist for composing (included).
Curated OER
West Virginia Def PB Wants You!
Students write, adapt, and compose a song related to the West Virginia State Museum. In this music instructional activity, students create a composition for a work of visual art. Students incorporate major and minor melodies.
Curated OER
Spooky Notes
Second graders move to, sing, compose, and interpret various musical techniques through the use of "America", Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers", and a song called "Skin and Bones". Emphasis is placed upon identifying names and values...
Curated OER
Twelve-Bar Blues
Students examine blues music. In this music genres activity, students discover details about the history of the musical genre and compositional techniques. Students then compose melodies of their own with 12-bar blues chord progression.
Curated OER
VH1 Classic Presents: Paul McCartney: Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Lesson 3
Students in a guitar class perform the Beatles song, Eleonor Rigby and study it's melodic and harmonic structures. They discover the process of arranging the song for a 4-part guitar ensemble.
Curated OER
H1 Classic Presents: Paul McCartney: Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Lesson 2
Students are introduced to the various songwriting techniques of Paul McCartney. They explore and compare the basic melodic, harmonic, and lyrical tendencies of the different types of pop music.
Curated OER
"Laideronette, Empress of the Pagoda" from"Mother Goose Suite" by Maurice Ravel
Students are introduced to the active teacher, composer and pianist Maurice Ravel and his masterpiece "Laideronette, Empress of the Pagoda", from Mother Goose Suite by Maurice Ravel. They utilize aural skills to notate the rhythm of the...
Curated OER
Mozart Tonight/ Ah! Vous dirai-je, maman Theme and Vars. 1,5 and 8
Fourth graders analyze and practice the musical concept of contrasting segments. They view and discuss a musical whole that is described by the connections between the theme and variations and demonstrate the concept by composing...
Berklee College of Music
Create Your Own Afro-Latin Groove
The backbone of Latin American music is the beat! Young musicians work on blending Afro-Latin rhythms and beat patterns before incorporating the major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and blues scales in their own compositions.
Curated OER
The Magic Opera
Introduce your young learners to opera by dressing up as Mozart and recounting some of the fascinating details of his life and music. After exploring the Metropolitan Opera's site for kids, the class listens to a reading of Kyra...
