Curated OER
Compositional Techniques: Are There Similarities Between
Students 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 of...
Curated OER
Scaling the Blues
Students identify musical characteristics of blues music and define the term 'scale.' They identify chromatic, major, pentatonic, and blues scales and label each key on a keyboard using letter names, sharps and flats.
Curated OER
Bells 'n' Scales
Learners work together to arrange bells in order from low to high and play songs. They discuss differences in pitch and musical notation.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Seeing Music, Hearing Waves
In this music activity, 11th graders incorporate fractions into their music scales and counting scales. They listen to the music being played and relate it to sine waves reviewing the trig function. There are 11 questions involving sine...
Curated OER
Music Education, Playing the Blues
This instructional activity enables students to gain a broader awareness of the basic blues scale and the harmonic structure of the standard blues progression. Students will be given introductory exercises on blues improvisation and will...
Curated OER
Math and Music: Fibonacci Sequence
Learners investigate the mathematical patterns of the Fibonacci Sequence. They determine how math is connected to music, specifically looking at music the uses the pattern sequence found in the Fibonacci Sequence.
Curated OER
Band On Line
In 1996, using the Internet to enhance learning was a new innovation. While the lesson here is a bit outdated, it could still provide a basic understanding of how technology can enhance music appreciation. Members of the school band...
Curated OER
Flowers Growing Through Music, Rhymes & Movement
First graders experience the growing process of a seed becoming a flower as it is exposed to the sun, rain, wind, day and night, and -tickling- bees as they move creatively to music.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Catherine Schmidt Jones: Scales That Aren't Major or Minor
As the title suggests, this site defines and gives examples of various other types of scales including chromatic, whole tone, blues scales and more.
Open Curriculum
Open Curriculum: Scales That Are Not Major or Minor
To explain the various musical scales that cannot be classified as major or minor such as chromatic, whole-tone, pentatonic, blues, and scales from non-Western music
Other
Music Theory First Aid for Struggling Students
This site provides music theory information on such topics as rhythm, intervals, scales, chords, etc. Also, there is a fine section which describes the basic concepts of form and structure.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Catherine Schmidt Jones: Half Steps and Whole Steps
Take a look at the two intervals of the half step and whole step and how they make up the chromatic and whole tone scales. This page includes a couple of self checking problems to test your knowledge.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Sti Lesson 44: Compositional Techniques
Young music students rarely see or, better still, hear a connection between the different types of scales, modes, intervals and other compositional techniques such as meter, tonality, and form used in both traditional 'Art' music and...
Arizona State University
Arizona State University: Keyed Horns and Slide Horns
This ASU piece of writing takes us on a journey through the development of the horn's ability to play a chromatic scale with some degree of ease. The "experimenters" are presented--their country, years of experimentation, and outcome of...
Music Theory
Music theory.net
An online beginning music theory and ear training site. This site is for students to use at home to reinforce what they learn in class.
