Students select an instrument and create a musical composition. For this musical composition lesson, students invent an original piece of music that is 16 measures long. Students hum and record their pieces.

Students evaluate the messages in music. In this communication through music lesson, students listen to various musical selections and determine the message being conveyed in the song. Then, students create their own message as they...

Students watch a segment of the PBS Ken Burns JAZZ documentary about Buddy Bolden creating the "Big Four." They compare and contrast the rhythms of marches and jazz based on the examples in the film, and explore notation, subdivision of...

In this music notes worksheet, students decode a message with the letter names of notes. Students analyze the 8 labeled names of notes on the treble clef. Students write the letter names of each of 60 notes underneath the notes. A secret...

Learners relate musical styles with US historical context through research and presentation.

Students participate in a game of musical chairs. In this music game, students listen to music for twenty seconds and when the music stops, the students must find a chair. The student without a chair is eliminated.

Students examine different types of music and discuss the issue of whether downloading music from the Internet should be allowed. They create a music alphabet, develop a list of words connected to music, participate in a "Music Find...

In this music worksheet, students identify and define migration. They circle the different types of music created by the African-Americans who were brought to the New World. Students also explain why slavery is a bad thing.

Students investigate musical instruments and sounds by defining musical terms.  In this music appreciation activity, students define many vocabulary words and utilize a study sheet for memorization.  Students are quizzed on the...

Students learn the musical alphabet. In this music lesson, students complete a worksheet which reinforces stepping up on the musical alphabet. Students are graded based on the correctness of the worksheet provided.

Students survey Bebop and identify the basic terms associated with jazz.They experience the music of Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday and participate in a class discussion regarding jazz's contribution to and reflection of American...

Students complete a worksheet where they learn about the musical alphabet and stepping down. For this music lesson, students learn the definitions of down and step. Students will demonstrate their knowledge by writing a step down from...

Young scholars identify musical instruments.  In this musical instrument instructional activity, students groups instruments into brass, percussion, string or woodwinds. Young scholars complete a worksheet. 

Students examine the serigraph, "Wynton's Tune," by artist Faith Ringgold. They discuss the painting, listen to jazz music, create a drawing that tells a story inspired by their favorite music, and write sentences describing their artwork.

Students explore poetry through jazz, rap, and hip hop music. They discover the common threads that run through the poetry and music. Students design their own lyrics to a jazz, rap, or hip hop selection and share their songs with the...

High schoolers explore traditional music of different societies around the world by listening to number of different musical recordings, discuss how music makes them feel, examine how music is central to cultural traditions, and compose...

Students experience musical imagery. They link this musical concept to literary imagery to gain an understanding of the use of imagery in both genres. After listening to a varriety of sounds, students will compose and perform a melody.

In this creative music activity from Scientific American, students learn about musical notation and then design their own notations. Great web resource links are alsp provided

Students explore mariachi music and create their own rhythm instruments. They study the music of Mexico. They listen to a variety of music, then vote for the song they liked the best.

Sixth graders demonstrate the musical and historical context of a given folk song by notating the melody, creating an accompaniment, and displaying it on the web for assessment.

What ultimately influences a musician's creations? Is it the time in which he/she lives, his/her personal experiences, the music of the time and previous times, or the image the artist hopes to convey? This lesson explores these...

Students explore how people lived during the Great Depression by exploring music of that time. This is a three-part lesson.

Students study concepts of energy and energy transfer. They look at how these concepts apply to musical instruments. They study the law of conservation of energy. They use the concepts studied in the lesson to design a musical instrument.

Students compose music using Islamic patterns. In this cultural arts lesson plan, students examine Islamic art and analyze the patterns. Students incorporate various Islamic patterns into a musical composition.