Curated OER
Composing with Non-Chord Tones to Ornament a Melody
Students develop melodies based on a simple chord progression. They develop the tools need to begin to compose their own music. Students explore the qualities of each NCT and identify them in a composition. They develop listening skills...
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 lesson can be adapted to any time frame, but the author suggests a considerable amount of time...
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.
SoundTree
When The Saints Go Marching In: A Lesson for Middle School Keyboard Lab Students
After listening to a variety of interpretations of "When the Saints Go Marching In," partners compose and then perform their own renditions of this classic before joining a full-class jam session.
Curated OER
The Sound of Music: Do-Re-Mi
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 using the...
Curated OER
Arranging Patriotic Songs for Chorus
Students examine the melody of a patriotic song by playing it on the piano and having them sing it back to the teacher and are assigned a specific patriotic song to arrange for voices. They create their own four-part choral arrangement...
Curated OER
A Round and A Round
Students practice singing rounds in daily warm-ups for 2 weeks prior to beginning this composition lesson. Students incorporate movement to the rhythm of each syllable, discuss syllables of words and their relationship to note values and...
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
Amazing Fibonacci
Students integrate the patterns of Fibonacci into music. In this geometry lesson, students apply the concepts of recursion, pattern and Phi or Golden Ratio to composing and playing music on various instruments. They lesson is co-taught...
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
Totally Ternary
First graders compose a simple nursery rhyme with percussion and instrumental accompaniment in the general music classroom setting. AB form and rhythmic patterns are emphasized in this 35-40 minute lesson plan.
Curated OER
Sakura
Students create, notate, and perform the melody of and a rhythmic accompaniment to the traditional Japanese folk song, Sakura. This lesson plan requires a networked computer lab with headphones.
Curated OER
Younger Generation
Students discuss the composer Aaron Copland and the lyricist Ira Gershwin and their significance in/contributions to American music of their time while singing the song "Younger Generation" in the choir setting. Emphasis is placed on...
Curated OER
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Students study the life and music of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They practice listening for the downbeat of a musical selection. They participate in a physical exercise where they march around in a circle and clap to the...
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
"Ricercare" from Musical Offering by J.S. Bach
Pupils sing pounds or partner songs. They listen for one melody in a polyphonic texture. Afterward, they use a pencil to draw the "shape" of the melody on paper.
Curated OER
Pavane pour une Infante Defunte
Students describe the music in terms related to basic elements such as melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, form, style, etc. They identify timbres heard in "Pavane" by movement and respond by movement to timbre.
Curated OER
Introduction to Technologies in Music Education
Students identify and define a canon. Then, they create a canon in as many parts as they can and describe the various canons. Students also identify and interpret history of canons that includes their origins in Italy and France,...
Curated OER
Subtracting from Ten: Using Math with Music
Students explore basic math functions by singing with their classmates. In this addition and subtraction lesson, students sing the song "5 Green and Speckled Frogs"and complete a list of subtraction problems. Students complete a...
Curated OER
Write Your Own Rap
Third graders create a rap using basic AB form composition. Evaluation of performances are based on rubric formed during the first lesson by all students. This three to four day lesson culminates in student performances and evaluation.
Curated OER
Follow the Drinking Gourd
Students listen to the song "Follow the Drinking Gourd" and repeat what they have heard. They discuss the significance of the story and how it relates to Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. They observe a map of areas in the...
Curated OER
Creating Sight-Singing Originals
Students create sight-singing examples for presentation in the high school choir class. Day One is used for review/introduction of the material. Day Two is used for student work time and Day Three is for presentation and evaluation.
Curated OER
Blues Improvisation
Students practice playing and improvising while playing the 12 bar blues. They practice compositional skills, evaluate and perform musical pieces focused on the blues.