Music Composition Teacher Resources

Upper graders having skills in music performance will extend their abilities through creative musical composition. They'll use Finale 2000 to explore facets of music composition, they'll then compose a piece for their instrument in C, F,...

Are your learners ready to compose their own music? If so, this learning exercise will help them do it. The sheet is broken into several staffs where they write the tune, riff, and chords. They can put them together to create a unique...

Pupils 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. Pupils...

Fourth graders work in small groups using SMART Board Technology to write a 4 measure music composition. studying the basic structure and vocabulary of written music is the goal of this experience.

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...

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.

VH1 Music Studio has put out another great instructional activity that incorporates analysis, compare/contrast, and musical terminology. Kids will listen to the song "Habanera" considering the use of specific instruments in evoking a...

Here's an activity sure to be music to your ears. Pupils create a music composition using block-based computer coding. They add different sound rings, and then adjust the number and speed of sounds to create their composition pieces.

Your second graders can become composers with a little help from the Garage Band software. You pre-select several drum, piano, and guitar loops for the groups to choose from, then they put them together following an ABA looping pattern....

Kids explore Gullah music from Africa and then create original compositions based on what they've learned. They practice traditional melodies and rhythms then make some of their own, which they then perform for the class. 

Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A lesson plan like this ties into American history and African-American musical contributions...

Fun awaits both you and your class as you embark on a musical activity. After discussing different rhythmic meters they choose a poem to set to music. The poem must rhyme and be set to a melody in the key of C Major. Because the activity...

Young musicians explore the rhythms and sounds of Balinese gamelan music, then create their own. They listen to several examples of gamelan music, then use their instruments to mimic the rhythms they hear. After a warm up and practice,...

This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...

Let the class show what they know about rhythm, triads, and intervals with this quiz. They complete the rhythm on staff one and two, identify the intervals on staff three, and identify the triads on staff four. This is a well-thought-out...

In this music learning exercise, students study the elements of a musical composition: silence, pitch, texture, dynamics, tempo, attack and decay and duration. Students complete 7 questions about these elements. Prior knowledge is assumed.

Young scholars 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...

You can write some music scores using images rather than musical notation. Kids learn how they can become musical composers by using graphics or images in place of musical notation. An interesting slide-show, but a more interesting...

Students compose music with musical instruments, and write the proper notation for the songs they have created.

Students compose short compositions using Doodle Pad.  For this Musical composition lesson, students a clef and note lines to prior knowledge of the treble clef and note lines to write short songs on the computer.  Students use...

Traditional Irish music can bring even the most stoic audience to tears. This St. Patrick's Day, explore the lilting flutes and mournful ballads of the Emerald Isle with a interactive and inspiring music instructional activity.

Get the songwriters in your class started early with an engaging music composition activity. After experimenting with an existing melody, class members improvise in a given range of notes and create their own melodies.

Students complete a worksheet and discuss components of musical composition. Students familiarize themselves with the program, Finale. Students then work cooperatively to compose a musical suite.

Combining art, music, dance, and reading comprehension, this lesson is geared to reach all ability levels. After reading a variety of fables and discussing story elements and character traits, class members select a moral to use as the...