Curated OER
Pictures at an Exhibition
Students discuss how the musical composition was created. They listen to "Pictures at an Exhibition." Students discuss how the Promenade in the beginning of the opus is based on Mussorgsky walking through the exhibit of paintings....
Curated OER
High School Lesson Plan
Students compose and arrange music within specific guidelines. They # identify and explain compositional devices and techniques used in a musical work. They compare and contrast the use of those techniques between different compositions.
Curated OER
Connections
Fifth graders create a musical composition, a drawing, or a 3D structure to show how math connects to other subjects. In this math and other subjects lesson plan, 5th graders present their presentations to the class and explain the...
Curated OER
Create a Composition
Students select an instrument and create a musical composition. In this musical composition lesson, students invent an original piece of music that is 16 measures long. Students hum and record their pieces.
Curated OER
Tradition through storytelling and music
Students discover how storytelling can shape a person's tradition.Students examine different methods of storytelling such as music, biographies, and African folktales. They then demonstrate their knowledge of storytelling by writing...
Curated OER
Compose Your Memory
Students notate a short musical composition using the notation software Sibelius. This composition is based on a the student's favorite childhood memory. Based on their emotions felt at this time, they incorporate tempo, range, and...
Curated OER
Musical Form and Sibelius Groovy Music Shapes
Students create a song using the form ABACADAEA. Students listen to a musical piece created by Vivaldi that is an example of this musical form. Then
students use software to create their own musical forms representing this pattern.
Other
Creating Music
This online, interactive environment for music creation and exploration includes games and puzzles and interesting activities that teach about music in a visual way.
Other
Chord Studio
Have fun composing your own music with this easy to use online tool. Select the chords you want your song to have and choose the various instrument styles. You can sign up for a free account so you can save your songs and edit them later.
Other
Virtual Composer
Compose music with this interesting online tool. To compose, you click small boxes on a grid. The grid is continuously scanned with a line that passes over your clicked boxes which in turn plays their sounds. You can listen to other...
Other
The Golden Rules of Songwriting
Do you have the desire to begin writing music but don't know how to get started? This well written article provides some very good advice to help you on your way.
Other
Rock Instrumental Songwriting
Aimed primarily at the young guitarist, this column addresses how to begin writing your own songs. There is some good advice on how to begin to think of the structure of your song as opposed to just thinking of a few riffs.
Other
Structural Chord Progressions
When composing music, it is good to be sure you have the right set of chords surrounding your melody. This column provides a brief overview on how to begin to think of chord structures for your songs.
Other
Using Theme and Variation in Composing
A good article on how to take a musical idea and develop it further using theme and variations. Included are a few music samples in written form and mp3 form that help to explain the concept.
Other
Compositional Inspiration
Without going into specifics, this article provides general ideas on how to begin writing your own music. A few of the ideas discussed are recording yourself playing around, learn a new scale or pattern, and apply some new music theory...
Other
Guitar Nine: So You Want to Be a Songwriter?
As the title suggests, this column deals with songwriting. It does not tell you specifically how to write a song, but it does cover a lot of good information and advice and how to get started.
Other
Writing Guitar Licks
You have just written a cool guitar lick and you want to play it in your favorite song, however, it just doesn't sound good in the song. This article explains how you can break down your lick into the key components and refine it to suit...
University of California
Ucla: Popular American Music
See images and find out about the original sheet music from the early 1900's. Famous songs such as "Dapper Dan", "Down the River", and more. You can search for music by title or author.
Other
Alan Belkin Music: On Learning Musical Craft
Alan Belkin provides four of his pedagogical booklets about composing music. They discuss fundamental principles of musical composition, counterpoint, orchestration, and harmony. and provide guidance to student composers.