Religious Music Teacher Resources

Do you have a little extra time to fill? This quick and creative activity can accent a music or medieval history lesson. Learners use the Latin phrases to create a tune fit for any medieval church. 

Students sing the Gregorian Chant which is church music that was chanted in the Middle Ages. In this chanting lesson plan, students participate in the chant and learn it's history.

Music around the globe may sound different, but it always tends to function partly as a mode of communicating religion, rights of passage, and oral tradition. Delve into the world of Russian music. Folk, peasant, Cossack, and...

In this music history worksheet, students read and analyze an article on Johann Sebastian Bach and then answer twelve comprehension questions about the composer.

Students examine gospel music including the lyrics and instrumentation. They explain the meaning of the lyrics and how they are related to the cultural values associated with the music. They differentiate between gospel and spiritual music.

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.

In this musical modes worksheet, students review the modes in melodic compositions. They review a chart of the authentic and plagal modes. They review a melody using the information that is given about the notes that are used. There are...

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...

Students discuss the physical and human impacts of community design. They identify traditional neighborhood design elements and evaluate them with features of conventional suburban development.

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...

Student reflect on the differences between the life of children in the early nineteenth century and their lives in the present. They demonstrate these differences by creating a drawing of "then and now." In addition, they create a...

This site contains much information on Catholic church music and its background. Lots of reading but great content and great resource material.

A biography of composer Jean-Baptiste Lully. Also provides a description of both his stage and church music.

Congregational singing, still the idea of the modern church?

In this article, by Scott W. Dorsey, provides a great deal of very practical, realistic information about careers in choral conducting. In addition to outlining what the career opportunities are, the author describes in a sidebar what...

Liturgical music that is used by Jews in their religious services are discussed and defined. Also historical backgrounds are given.

Song sheets, which containedonly lyrics, were a popular form of printed music. The Library of Congress holds over 4,000 of these from the 1800s that can be viewed online.

This is a short history of the major influences that have combined to create mountain music, one of which is minstrel music. Provides a good decription of minstrel music in general. Includes names and descriptions of specific songs,...

Read an interesting discussion about why instrumental music was forbidden as worship according to the Laws of Moses.

Audio discussion of Bach as a young man with musical excerpts from some of his most passionate music.

This ArtsEdge lesson, part of a larger unit about Harriet Tubman, not only teaches students about spirituals but effectively illustrates the struggle for freedom from slavery.

This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book Sacred Songs for Little Singers by Frances Ridley Havergal [1870], a collection of children's Christian songs with both words and music.

An interview with Nicholas Kenyon, author of "The Faber Pocket Guide to Mozart," that takes us through his favorite recording of Mozart's C minor mass.

Is it true that this piece is the "greatest piece never heard". Learn about this piece of Beethoven's genius that has been left behind.