Drumline A drumline is a group of percussionists and performers that march and move their bodies while they’re playing music. Watch this video to see the Montbello Drumline in action. Now, create your own classroom drumline. Choose three (or more!) simple rhythms as a class. We suggest that one of the rhythms is just quarter […]
You’re an Arranger! We learned that an arranger is someone who takes music that already exists and creatively changes it to be different in some way. You students can become arrangers with this simple activity. Choose a simple song that your kids all know. For example, Happy Birthday, the ABC song, or Row, Row, Row,
You’re an Arranger! Read More »
Multisensory Music The best first step to performing music is to understand it and the way it feels. This multisensory activity is a fun way to help students gain additional vocabulary to describe music. Hearing Multi-Sensory Playlist Use this playlist throughout the other sensory activities, or keep it simple and just listen to it as
Multisensory Music Read More »
Musical Thunderstorm Lightning and rain storms are perfect to go along with with a thunderous piece of music. The thunderstorm section from Rossini’s William Tell Overture is a great example of how music can help us to imagine amazing stories and situations. This is a fun activity that can take as little or as much
Musical Thunderstorm Read More »
We’ve Got the Blues Use this activity to have students create their own blues story. Students can listen to “I’ve Got the Blues” by Sam Myers to get a sense of how lyrics and storytelling can happen over a basic blues line. Then, using this backing track video, have students create their own blues story.
We’ve Got the Blues Read More »
Peter and the Wolf We encourage you to first have your students watch or listen to a performance of Peter and the Wolf. We like this one quite a bit: Act It Out Next, bring the story to life! Here are different scenes from the story that students can act out. You can find these
Peter and the Wolf Read More »
Carnival of the Animals Carnival of the Animals is a short 14-movement suite by French composer Camille Saint-Saens. It was composed in 1886 and, when it was written, audiences would have found it to be pretty funny- it is full of musical jokes that listeners would have instantly recognized. Each movement is about a character,
Carnival of the Animals Activity Read More »
Music Mind Maps Write the name of the piece and the composer in the center of the worksheet. In the first branch out of circles (the purple circles) write down specific program elements that the music is trying to portray. To use Vivaldi’s Winter from The Four Seasons as an example, you might choose to
Program Music Deep Dive During this activity, you’ll dive deeper into Vivaldi’s Winter from The Four Seasons. Read the poem this piece is based on. I. Allegro non molto–Frozen and trembling in the icy snow,In the severe blast of the horrible wind,As we run, we constantly stamp our feet,And our teeth chatter in the cold.II.
Program Music Deep Dive Read More »
What is Program Music? Program Music is music that is intended to describe a scene or tell a story. Program music is often inspired by a piece of art, a poem, or a story that a composer has heard but can also be inspired by people and places a composer encounters in real life. Listen
What is program music? Read More »
Music and Moods Listen to the music in the playlist below. As students listen, have them draw a smiley face or write down an emotion that they think the music portrays. This works great if each student has a small white board to use. Have them hold up their white boards to share their words
Music Listening Worksheet Have students complete this worksheet as they listen to a piece of music. It will help them engage in both how the music makes them feel as well as with what is happening in the music, building the bridge between musical devices and the moods they can create.
Music Listening Worksheet Read More »
