Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Elements of Music—How do Composers Plan?
The introduction to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and the finale of his Symphony No. 4 provide young musicians with an opportunity to investigate the music elements composers employ to develop the themes they want to create. They compare the...
Curated OER
If Paintings Could Talk: Art and Language
Middle schoolers learn about the artist Canaletto, play a vocabulary game, and create a landscape using collage technique. Background information on the artist is provided along with instructions for the game and vocabulary words to...
Curated OER
Look in the Mythic Mirror: I've Got Rhythm!
Learners explore the relationships between music, poetry, and visual art. Using the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, pupils develop an awareness of the compositional elements of the Classical style, and the aesthetic effects of those...
Curated OER
Jazz in America Lesson Plan 5
Students survey Bebop and identify the basic terms associated with jazz.They experience the music of Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday and participate in a class discussion regarding jazz's contribution to and reflection of American...
Curated OER
Wynton's Tune
Students examine the serigraph, "Wynton's Tune," by artist Faith Ringgold. They discuss the painting, listen to jazz music, create a drawing that tells a story inspired by their favorite music, and write sentences describing their artwork.
Curated OER
Student Composers with Music Ace
Young scholars compose short compositions using Doodle Pad. In 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. Young scholars...
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
High School Lesson Plan
Students compose and arrange music within specific guidelines. They # identify and explain compositional devices and techniques used in a musical work. They compare and contrast the use of those techniques between different compositions.
Curated OER
Compositional Techniques: Are There Similarities Between
High schoolers recognize how chromatic scales create tension and pentatonic scales create relaxation as compositional techniques used to create tonality. Also, students aurally recognize the use of mixed or alternating meter as a means...
Curated OER
Bearden Art-Making Workshop
Students are able to create their own collages using some of the same kinds of images and materials Bearden used. They put to use some of the Bearden techniques they observed in the reproduction/slide lecture and explore to...
Curated OER
Twelve-Bar Blues
Young scholars examine blues music. In this music genres lesson, students discover details about the history of the musical genre and compositional techniques. Young scholars then compose melodies of their own with 12-bar blues chord...
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
Lesson Plan for Danse by Claude Debussy
Students study the life and music of Claude Debussy. They listen to and compare the orchestration and compositional technique of the Debussy composition, 'Danse.' They compare a piano arrangement to an orchestrated version.
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.
Curated OER
It's A Jungle Out Here-Landscape Painting
Students work together to create a landscape painting. Using the musical "The Lion King", they must relate the painting to it and use while an adaptation is being performed at the school. Using the internet, they also review images from...
Curated OER
Ostinato Patterns.
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the creation of music using ostinato patterns. They listen to music composed with these patterns and focus upon compositional techniques. Students examine the pattern with the help of...
Curated OER
Portraiture
Students analyze portraiture for their symbolic aspects. For this portraiture analysis lesson, students explore the conventions of portraiture such as costume, gesture, expression, pose, and background. Students analyze how symbols add...
Curated OER
Lighting The Way - Activity 1
Students discover the "rule of thirds" technique used in photography through the investigation of magazine and newspaper pictures and an in-class discussion. The work of photojournalist Jeff Bizzel is emphasized.
Curated OER
VH1 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons Lesson 2
Students discuss pop culture, pop culture icons, and female composers.