Hone those musical ears to identify consonance and dissonance in music being played live or on a recording. Learners will work through four activities where they will listen to consonant and dissonant notes being played first by the...

Fun awaits both you and your class as you embark on a musical activity. After discussing different rhythmic meters they choose a poem to set to music. The poem must rhyme and be set to a melody in the key of C Major. Because the activity...

Students explore music appreciation by creating their own music pieces in class. In this music composition lesson plan, students collaborate in small groups with their instruments and compose a short song which they will play for class....

Students explore music appreciation by reading sheet music. In this musical score analysis instructional activity, students utilize their individual instruments to play the song "Peter and the Wolf." Students listen to an online version...

This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...

An outstanding lesson on music awaits your young composers! They learn about patterns found in music, the different sections of an orchestra, and see the differences between musicians and a composer. Excellent streamed videos and good...

Need a musical lesson for your drama or performing arts class? VH1 has put together a really neat lesson, in which learners use biographical information about Alicia Keys to write and perform a one-act musical related to her life. This...

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...

Learners compose short compositions using Doodle Pad.  For this Musical composition lesson, students a clef and note lines to prior knowledge of the treble clef and note lines to write short songs on the computer.  Learners use...

Students research a musician or composer of their choice and present their research through a written paper and free choice activity. This lesson can be done over the course of five to six classes with some homework. The paper...

Students compose lyrics for a rap song. In this music instructional activity, students choose a topic, such as "Our School," and use rhyming words to compose a rap song. Students perform the song for their classmates.

Students practice identifying different genres of music by creating posters.  In this music appreciation lesson, students research Duke Ellington and complete worksheets based on his style of music, Jazz.  Students collaborate...

Students discover music that was inspired by the spooky and bizarre. In this music of Hector Berlioz and Camille Saint-Saens lesson, students identify elements of music and listen to the Symphonie Fantastique and Danse Macabre....

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.

Students explore rap music and its components. They listen to examples of rap music and discuss their common features. After selecting a topic, they compose a rap with both words and the beat and sing it to the class. As a class they...

Engage little learners in this moderately developed three-instructional activity unit on the composer Camille Saint-Saens and his piece "The Carnival of Animals." Each instructional activity includes a listening, discussion, and an art...

Take a trip to the Grand Canyon! Lesson one explores how Ferde Grofe painted a musical landscape of America when he wrote the Grand Canyon Suite. Learners then examine art that shows the Grand Canyon in lesson two. Finally, lesson three...

Really? Rapping The Odyssey? Really. A discussion of the oral tradition of story telling and its links to Epic poetry sets the stage for a series of activities that encourage improvisation to integrate music into other classrooms....

Learners closely examine chamber music as it has changed from the Middle Ages to today. They work in small groups to research the composers, instruments and typical presentation in 5 time periods. They write biographies and share their...

Seventh graders create a simple melody using the Solfedge syllables. In this melody lesson, 7th graders watch the movie The Sound of Music and focus on the "Do Re Mi" clip. Students examine solfege syllables and create a melody...

Students discover film making by participating in a music performance.  In this performance arts lesson, students perform music and physical acting to convey an already written script for their peers.  Students collaborate with...

Students compose songs using vocabulary words. In this vocabulary lesson, students are introduced to a new set of vocabulary words and their definitions. Students collaborate in groups of three or four to write new lyrics to the tune of...

Students select an instrument and create a musical composition. In this musical composition lesson, students invent an original piece of music that is 16 measures long. Students hum and record their pieces.

Students explore sound, pitch, volume, frequency, and musical notes. In this homemade instrument lesson, students use materials such as jars, buckets, strings, rackets, rubber bands, and bottles to create their own unique instrument....