A look at the life of French composer, Francis Poulenc and the influences on his music. Contains a list of his compositions.

Do you have the desire to begin writing music but don't know how to get started? This well written article provides some very good advice to help you on your way.

When composing music, it is good to be sure you have the right set of chords surrounding your melody. This column provides a brief overview on how to begin to think of chord structures for your songs.

A good article on how to take a musical idea and develop it further using theme and variations. Included are a few music samples in written form and mp3 form that help to explain the concept.

Without going into specifics, this article provides general ideas on how to begin writing your own music. A few of the ideas discussed are recording yourself playing around, learn a new scale or pattern, and apply some new music theory...

You have just written a cool guitar lick and you want to play it in your favorite song, however, it just doesn't sound good in the song. This article explains how you can break down your lick into the key components and refine it to suit...

Make an interesting musical composition by choosing from a menu of traditional and nontraditonal instruments.

This site gives details to what a composer, an arranger, and a conductor really do. Includes other related careers as well.

This site from the North Park University provides a brief biographical sketch of pianist Frederick Chopin describes briefly the Polish nationalist themes in his compositions.

Part of a program, these notes on Crumb and his composition have some good information, and some good quotes.

The official site, with sections devoted to his life, compositions, recordings, writings, and news. The news section has internet links, and the site has a search function!

Read a short essay about Franklin's invention of a musical instrument--the glass armonica. Includes a sound file of a composition by Mozart played on Franklin's instrument.

A fun card game that you can create for your music class. Students should first be given instruction on the various instruments and their ranges. Then students will be given the card game to help them remember and reinforce the concept...

Presented is an illustrated narrative slideshow that talks about the Bible's influence on one of Bach's compositions "Mass in B Minor." [ 3:48]

This is a biography on Franz Joseph Haydn. It also includes an audio lecture on Haydn with his music as a background to the lecture.

This site has indepth information on Handel. It goes from birth to death and beyond. Contains chronological listing of when compositions were composed and where performed. Also has a good reference page for more info.

Students will become familiar with transparent, translucent, and opaque objects. Students predict whether items are transparent, translucent, or opaque. Finally, students will show what they have learned by producing a song, poem, cheer,...

Describe the life of Duke Ellington and his contributions to the field of jazz, write an original poem using a variety of popular vocabulary from the 1920's and respond to Ellington's composition "Mood Indigo" by creating a painting.

This site is provided for by the Library of Congress. Below the long list of Rodgers' works you'll find an extensive timeline of his life and composition history.

In this instructional activity, students write the words and compose a melody for a school alma mater.

Discover what the relationship is between poetry and the blues. This site features lesson plans and online resources.

Quick, simple and short; this biography covers all the territory. Extremely basic.

This site allows young children to explore composition using elements supplied by the program, to create short, original musical pieces. The instructions are read aloud.

Interested in popular and serious music, Gershwin (1898-1937) played a big part in bringing jazz to a more important place in American music. He helped mix it with classical music in his compositions. Read more about his work, including...