Art and music have been vehicles for statements of civil unrest for hundreds of years. Upper graders critically analyze several pop songs or music movements from the 1980s that exemplify politically charged motives. They...

Fourth graders explore the music of Buenos Aires as they hear and then dance the Tango. They practice basic Tango rhythm, learn to sing the song, "Any Turkey can Tango," then practice a few Tango-riffic dance steps with a partner....

"Gimme an E minor!" Or any key for that matter. But how do you figure out the key of a piece of music? Here's a worksheet that shows young musicians three easy steps to help them identify the key of a piece of music.

Young scholars explore Stephen Sondheim's contributions to musical theatre in the context of the dramatic cultural shift that occurred in American life in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...

Young scholars focus on reading musical notations. They see, hear, practice and write notations in the lessons to become more independent readers of music. They complete a Rubric for Pitch Worksheet.

Chopin was a lovely composer who played the piano masterfully. Third graders are introduced to Chopin, his piano sounds, triple meter, music patterns, movement, and the waltz. They listen to his music while hearing the story Butterflies...

Independent harmonies, homophonic music, intervals, and melody are all part of music theory and practice. Prepare your budding musicians for the big time with these activities focused on playing with accompaniment. This lesson plan is...

To demonstrate their understanding of simple and compound time signatures, young musicians complete a chart by drawing quarter or dotted quarter notes equal in value to the note groups shown.

Rests. Eighth rests, quarter rests, and half rests are the focus of a one-page worksheet that asks music theory students to complete a series of measures with rests and bar lines.

Learners explore the present and juture of jazz. They identify terms associated with jazz and listen to contemporary recordings. They participate in a class discussion regarding jazz's contribution to and reflection of American culture...

A critical discussion regarding the nature of Shinique Smith's second-hand clothing art is the foundation for the lesson. Critical thinkers fully analyze the meaning behind her work, taking close consideration of where the clothing came...

Let the class show what they know about rhythm, triads, and intervals with this quiz. They complete the rhythm on staff one and two, identify the intervals on staff three, and identify the triads on staff four. This is a well-thought-out...

This three-part quiz tests learners knowledge of the treble clef by asking them to name the parts of the treble clef, to write the letter names under the notes represented, and to write the note names on the correct line or space.

Students take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes and...

Mozart was an amazing composer and "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" was one of his best-loved orchestral pieces. This handout provides a brief description of the instruments for which it was written, and how each section and part should be...

Your second graders can become composers with a little help from the Garage Band software. You pre-select several drum, piano, and guitar loops for the groups to choose from, then they put them together following an ABA looping pattern....

Harmony is the focus of this band lesson. Upper graders play the Star Spangled Banner, while focusing on harmony, chords, and musical voice. This lesson includes several suggested cross-curricular activities.

Score one for test prep. Young musicians are encouraged to create their own mnemonic devices to prepare themselves for a test on the treble clef staff. Using the provided worksheet, individuals record, in order, the names of the lines...

Students survey bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop. They explore how bebop, cool jazz, and hard bop reflected American culture and society in the 1940s and 1950s.

Students survey free jazz and fusion. They explore how free jazz and fusion reflected American culture and society in the 1960s and 1970s.

Here is a great example of the type of biographical presentation your class could create. They can view this informational biography of John Lennon to learn about a famous person or as inspiration for a research project. Each slide...

Discover lyric poetry through a reading of Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar and analyze its meaning with three short-answer questions covering symbolism, personification, alliteration, metaphors, and similes. 

Nicki Minaj is a pop and fashion icon to today's youth. Here, they will read an article about her and what she wore to the MTV Music Awards. They read the article, then attempt to fill in the missing words from several of the paragraphs....