Second graders listen to song "Listen to the Water," discuss nature sounds and importance of water to life, perform quarter and eighth notes from notation, play instruments in rhythm patterns of quarter and eighth notes, and write rhythm...

Students discuss how sound has been used throughout history and cultures, including present day in their own lives, through the study of Taiko Drums in this introductory instructional activity. Resource ideas are provided.

Pupils experience through role-play the art of shadow puppetry and appreciate the role of oral traditions in Chinese history. They research the origins and history of puppetry as a part of a unit on China. They discover what Chinese...

Students match the instruments to the characters they represent in Peter and the Wolf. They also identify the instruments by name from listening to their sound.

Fifth graders observe and demonstrate different rhythmic patterns including combinations of quarter and rest notes. They discuss how rhythm is created by using quarter and rest notes, clap to a rhythmic pattern, write a rhythm, and...

Students listen to a performance of the instrument, oud. After watching a video, they discover how many parts of the world it is used in and locate the countries on a map. They compare and contrast the oud with other instruments from the...

Students view a video about street musicians/singers and then perform in a small ensemble, recognizing that there is no real star of an ensemble.

Students listen for sounds as they complete another activity. Hearing a triangle, they raise their hand once they hear it. They discover that to be part of an ensemble they must listen to themselves and others around them. They discuss...

Pupils perform for the class a four-part arrangement of the holiday song Jingle Bells (provided) with each student performing one part of the arrangement. This lesson requires the use of a networked keyboard lab.

Second graders engage in a lesson plan that uses folk instruments in an accompaniment while listening to a song about a comet. They make a cross-curricular connection to Halley's Comet. Students discuss the qualities of a singer-songwriter.

Fourth graders explore braiding and weaving through dance. They create their own braiding and weaving dance.

Students participate in different types of dances in which they explore time, action and other elements of dancing. They dance with a group or a partner and explore how to work together.

Learn about the different groups of musical instruments. Book includes audio narration in 6 additional languages with text in English.

[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about percussion instruments. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

A very in-depth site concerning ancient music instruments. Organized into various groups such as organ, strings, percussion and others, this site details many of the instruments found in ancient music.

One of the elements of music is "Texture." This site gives the definition, which basically is the relationship between melodic and harmonic.

Learn about African musicians and their music, at this encyclopedia site.

Contains information on the harp. Students learn about the history and qualities of the instrument and can listen to audio excerpts of the harp being played.

Homepage for a hypertext about the different families of musical instruments. From this page, users can retrieve information on a the acoustics of a variety of specific instruments: stringed instruments, woodwind instruments, brass...

Have your students learning about calypso music with this engaging lesson plan. Learn about calypso rhythms and learn a calypso song.

Site includes music composition software: percussion marking, fret marking, notes, rests, and more.

Students will enjoy learning about pitch as they construct their own percussion instruments. They will predict and explore how pitches can change based on the materials used and how the instruments are made.

This resource classifies Renaissance instruments in the following categories: winds, plucked strings, bowed strings, keyboard, and percussion.

This site contains links to articles that explain how musical instruments work, describes vocal mechanics, and the three main vocal groups.