Compose and record a "found percussion" piece using materials at hand in the classroom, your body and rhythms identified in the environment.
Determine how composer François Rabbath developed innovative ways to play the double bass because he lacked formal training. List traditional steps used when learning a certain skill, then think of unique alternatives to achieving the same goal.
Learn about the marimba, a percussion instrument with a fascinating history, and develop ideas and plans for constructing your own. Consider how the choice of construction materials and techniques would affect the sound.
This site allows students to learn more about the symphony and its instruments though online games and information pages.
The InfoZone provides a dictionary, audio clips of an orchestra, teacher guides on Vivaldi and Beethoven, as well as information about other composers including Gershwin, Haydn, and Stavinsky. The Instrument Lab lets you “pick up” and turn an instrument around to see all sides and listen to a clip of the instrument being played. The Orchestra Pit lets you view an interview with a musician. Activities & Games has matching, guessing the composer or instrument, and other games.
This site serves as a supplement to the series Essentials of Music, published by W.W. Norton, but you don't need to own the book and record set to gain a basic education in classical music. There is a glossary of musical terms, biographies of composers, audio clips of numerous pieces, and descriptions of the six major eras of musical history: Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth Century.
How does an electric guitar work? How did this instrument come to exist? This multi-level lesson plan series for elementary, middle school and high school examine the technology and cultural history behind the electric guitar. New learning is applied to writing a compare-contrast paragraph (elementary), problem-solution essay (middle school) or persuasive essay (high school). These lesson plans incorporate language arts, science, and music.
What are the Blues? What can they teach us about African-American history? This curriculum, co-developed with PBS, is designed for middle school and high school and can be used in language arts, social studies and music classrooms.
Listen to a number of Beethoven's compositions, learn about the composer's life and works and use the Internet to learn about music terminology and how music enhances other forms of media. Discuss Barenboim's views about classical music and Beethoven's music in particular, and work in small groups to create original stories and illustrations to accompany Beethoven's sonatas.
Conduct background research and create an imaginary television segment based on the tenor trio Cook, Dixon and Young. Research different musical genres, construct a musical program and explore various aspects of diversity in the arts.
Listen to a song the Freedom Riders sang as they entered Jackson, Mississippi. Consider the impact of freedom singing.
