Students recognize significant developments in New Orleans jazz music. They improvise blues licks using notes from a minor pentatonic scale.

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...

Students practice playing and improvising while playing the 12 bar blues. They practice compositional skills, evaluate and perform musical pieces focused on the blues.

Students watch a video on improvisation. They improvise original melodies over given chord progressions. They develop criteria to evaluate the merits of improvisational performances and apply the criteria in their personal listening and...

Students explore non-locomotor movements and instrument improvisation creating accompaniments to the song "Vitamin A" in this elementary-level General Music lesson. The lesson nutrition messages links and student challenges for advanced...

Students research and analyze various percussion instruments from different countries and cultures in this Music lesson for the upper-elementary classroom. Emphasis is placed on internet research and hands-on drumming techniques from...

Little ones are led through a series of rhythmic songs and chants while they march, clap, and use their tummies as percussive instruments. They work on singing in pitch, chunking, and keeping a steady beat. 

Students identify and pat the beat. They move to and play quarter notes, half notes, and eighth notes to create a "factory" movement and instrument improvisation. Students get into groups of three. Each person in the group moves to one...

Students sing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" with others in small groups and as an entire class. Using correct posture, correct rhythms, and accurate pitches, students play improvised melodies as accompaniment to the song. This lesson emphasizes...

Students identify sounds played on instruments from around the world. In this music instructional activity, students listen to music played on various low brass instruments from Tibet, Switzerland and Haiti to determine the...

Young scholars learn to sing a song in another language.  In this music instructional activity, students learn a song about rain in English and Spanish.  Young scholars listen to the song Que Llueva in Spanish and It's Raining,...

Students assess the impact of music to portray emotions and tell stories. Examples are taken from the life of Rosa Parks and a piece of band music called "A Movement for Rosa". Evaluation is accomplished through in-class participation...

First graders listen to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and identify the pitch of the bears' voices as high, medium, and low. They improvise on xylophones a melody to accompany the bears in the telling of the story.

Students keep a steady beat by body movement exercises, improvise, identify a beat/no beat sequence and sing a nursery rhyme from Portugal in this Kindergarten General Music lesson. The use of simple rhythmic instruments is required.

Students analyze rhythmic patterns (beat versus no beat), sing an echo song on Solfege syllables, improvise melodies, and express music through creative movement. This lesson is written to meet State and National Standards for the Arts.

Students practice math, language, and music skills. In this interdisciplinary lesson, students learn the song "Roll Over!" practicing repeating word patterns and subtraction skills. Students improvise in the song by adding...

Students create movement, improvise rhythmic accompaniment, practice, and perform the song "Phytochemicals" in this excellent elementary-level General Music instructional activity. The instructional activity includes instructional...

Students perform creative movement to music, sing and improvise using the Solfege syllables do, me, so, and la, and recognize beat vs. no beat in this lesson for the Kindergarten General Music class. Emphasis is on a song called "All...

Students recognize beat vs. no beat, sing and improvise on do, me, so, and la, and perform creative movement to music in this Kindergarten Music lesson. Emphasis is placed upon the Wiggy Wiggy Wiggles CD and creative movement exercises.

Learners explore the music concepts of ryhthm, melody, form, and harmony in a three-lesson unit. They listen to the Viennese Music Clock and demonstrate moving to the beat, create improvised melodies, and play percussion accompaniment.

High schoolers explore where a melody and melody fragments enter different voice parts, and adjusts dynamically to enable the listener to perceive these events. Each student uses a rubric to make critical evaluations of the performances.

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.

Do a grapevine to the left, lift your hands in the air, and sing out, "Hey!" These are the steps second graders will do when they sing and dance the Israeli folk song, "Achshav.”  They will explore the concept of multicultural music...

Over the history of the world, music has been at the heart of some of the greatest social and political movements. Scholars discover their musical roots as they dive into the sounds and emotions of renowned jazz players. They see how...