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Misterioso: Thelonius Monk
Students examine the musical style of Thelonius Monk, particularly Misterioso. They write in their journals how the song sounds and fits with the way Monk dresses. They journal about how their own music might sound if they wrote jazz music.
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Meet Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov!
Learners listen to music and review instruments of the orchestra. They explore musical terms, solo, texture and theme of the music and discuss other features of the music. Students research and discuss the life of Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov.
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VH1 Driven: Kanye West
Students watch a video excerpt about the life of Kanye West. They draw connections between his life and their own and compose a rap song in the style of West, using his song, "Through the Wire" as an example.
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H1 Classic Presents: Paul McCartney: Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Lesson 2
Students are introduced to the various songwriting techniques of Paul McCartney. They explore and compare the basic melodic, harmonic, and lyrical tendencies of the different types of pop music.
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Nosferatu Expression and Diminished Chords
Students explore how to construct and play diminished triads and half and whole diminished chords on the keyboard. They create appropriate sounds to accompany sections of the movie "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horrors." Students discuss the...
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Blue Jazz Scale
Students engage in a study of music that includes the Blue Jazz scale. They listen to pieces of music in the targeted style while becoming familiar with the scale. Students then describe how the scale is built and demonstrate by playing...
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Storytellers: Coldplay
Students discover the importance of lyrics in the successful combination of music and words in the process of composing a song. They discuss how emotion-based lyrics influence the creative aspects in composing a song.
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The Life and Times of Gioacchino Rossini
Students discuss Gioacchino Rossini's life and musical culture. In this music lesson, students are introduced to "biofacts" about Rossini and listen to excerpts of his music. Students identify characteristics of Rossini's musical...
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VH1 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons Lesson 2
Students discuss pop culture, pop culture icons, and female composers.
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VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx
Students compare and contrast Jamie Foxx's early musical career with the careers of J.S. Back and F.J. Haydn. They watch and discuss a segment of "VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx," listen to a hymn, and complete a worksheet.
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Lesson Plan for Danse by Claude Debussy
High schoolers study the life and music of Claude Debussy. They listen to and compare the orchestration and compositional technique of the Debussy composition, 'Danse.' They compare a piano arrangement to an orchestrated version.
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A Song for Today - Lesson 3
Learners analyze musical and topical elements in popular songs and compose song as a classroom effort. They write a short paragraph evaluating the effectiveness of the song in conveying the message of the lyrics.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Students study the life and music of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. They practice listening for the downbeat of a musical selection. They participate in a physical exercise where they march around in a circle and clap to the...
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The Classical Period
Sixth graders are introduced to the classical period in music history. After listening to examples, they identify and describe the characteristics of music during this time period and research the main composers. Using the internet,...
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And You Don't Stop - 30 Years of Hip-Hop
Students discuss the role of the rapper in Hip Hop music and how the rapper promoted their group's DJ. They compose a short rap about a fellow student highlighting that student's accomplishments and good traits.
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Concerto for Recorder, Oboe and Bassoon by Antonio Vivaldi
Middle schoolers study the life and music of Antonio Vivaldi. They analyze and practice playing the various parts of Concerto a la Vivaldi on recorders. They record themselves and compare their performance to that of the same...
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Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished" by Franz Schubert
Students review vocabulary words and look at a piece of art work with one subject and play any or all of the familiar musical examples listed. They then identify the melody of each example and make a comparison between the art subject...
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Broccoli
Learners compose, notate, and evaluate their own rhythmic compositions using the song "Broccoli" for inspiration in this excellent elementary-level General Music instructional activity. Emphasis is placed upon four-measure patterns and...
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Wyclef Jean for VH1 Storytellers
Students use different folk songs to learn chords and other musical elements.
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Younger Generation
Students discuss the composer Aaron Copland and the lyricist Ira Gershwin and their significance in/contributions to American music of their time while singing the song "Younger Generation" in the choir setting. Emphasis is placed on...
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Rock Till You Drop!
Young scholars study rhythmic patterns and phrases on percussion instruments. They form a drum circle and take turns playing the beat. After listening to styles of rhythms, students compare styles of music. They compose a short piece...
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Creating a Song
Students work cooperatively to compose a twenty measure song using the computer program GarageBand. Guidelines for the student compositions are available and include instrumentation and specific length.
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Lesson Plan for Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 (1938)
Young scholars study the life and music of composer, Samuel Barber. In groups, representing trees, water, and stars they use interpretive dance to tell the story of the musical composition, 'Adagio for Strings, Op. 11' by Barber.
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Recorder Lesson
Third graders place the notes B, A, and G on the staff and compose his/her own music. Students share their piece of music with a partner and play on a recorder.