Bass drum, snare drum, tom-toms, cymbals. Perched behind their drum sets, wielding their drum sticks and wire brushes, drummers lay the grove and are the heartbeat of a band's performance. A dynamic lesson introduces young musicians to...

Explore music through the decades with an engaging video brought to you by the 5-part harmony acapella group, Pentatonix. Genuine musical talents sing through a variety of popular music from the 11th century to the 2010's. Artists...

How did technology influence rock music? A thorough presentation outlines the history of rock, beginning with the technological advances that made it possible. It discusses Country, Blues, Hillbilly, and Early Rock music in terms of how...

Trey from Phish and Dave from the Dave Mathews Band took a trip to Africa to explore music, culture, and history. Your class watches this episode from VH1's Music Studio to understand how African culture and music have influenced modern...

Jazz, Blue Grass, Hip Hop, Swing. Gospel, R&B, Ragtime, Disco. So many music genres born in the USA. After reading an article about the fate of New Orlean's Jazz after Hurricane Katrina, class members investigate the life cycles of...

Scholars listen to several pieces of music in preparation for a discussion about how instruments and lyrics convey emotions. With Harriet Tubman as the focus, small groups create an original song or dance. A reflection piece concludes...

Bring jazz music and the Harlem Renaissance to light with a lesson plan that challenges scholars to research and create. Pupils delve deep into information materials to identify jazz terminology, compare types of jazz and jazz musicians,...

American music is the result of the influence of many cultures, including the traditions brought by the African slaves. Young scholars study the polyrhythms, the call-and-response format, and the vocal improvisations of the Gullah...

Young musicians experience song, dance, and play of the Jamaican culture. Scholars listen for and recreate beats, they play tunes, make up original dances, and play a game that challenges pupils to pass stones to a specific beat.

Two lessons focus on making a beat. Using popular African American music of its time, scholars listen and analyze the rhythm then recreate it with hands drums, and cups. 

Much of Latin American music owes its origins to the slave trade. Peoples from the Yoruban and Dahomean cultures brought with them the distinctive rhythms, time signatures, and eighth note patterns that now characterize Caribbean music....

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s marched to its own beat—literally. Using songs from the era, as well as other primary sources such as King's "I Have a Dream" speech, class members analyze lyrics to discover how music and protest...

Young musicians learn how to train their ears to hear the harmony of various types of musical compositions. They listen to monophonic music, chants, excerpts from symphonies, and concertos to develop an understanding of harmonic structure.

Long before the songs of the 1960's Peace Movement, long before the songs of the Civil Rights Movement, and even before the songs of the Abolition Movement, were the songs of the Suffrage Movement. To understand the power of protest...

Everybody sings the blues, including Langston Hughes. A toe-tapping lesson plan describes blues music and the poetry of Langston Hughes. Scholars listen to blues music, work in groups, and write blues poems to better understand the...

Considered an American art form, rap has its roots in places from Jamaica to the Bronx. Using a series of readings, comprehension questions, and videos, scholars explore the history of rap and its connections to the African diaspora....

Over the course of six lessons, scholars try their hand at composing and dancing after a thorough examination of the famous ballet, The Nutcracker, by Tchaikovsky. Participants watch and discuss the performance of two dances, create and...

Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans - John Lennon. Even if you cannot make plans to visit The Beatles Story at Albert Dock, scholars still take part in learning all about the Beatles. Youngsters gain facts...

What are the musical elements that characterize a school's fight song or its alma mater? Class members listen to examples of fight songs and alma maters from various schools, play a listening game, and then create a list of the...

Take a quick tour through the last 350 years of music composition with an interactive timeline tool. As learners scroll through the years, they see which composers were born and working during the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern...

Notes of pride and persecution, exclusion and isolation resonate in flamenco. Introduce this musical art form to your social studies or Spanish language classes with a resource that follows a young flamenco guitarist as he practices his...

Venice, the birthplace of classical music and amazing composers. Discover a bit about life in Venice and the contributions of the composer, Vivaldi. Information regarding his life, his musical contributions, and a break down of his piece...

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,...

How many of us have actually listened to Arabic folk or pop music? Learn about the many facets of folk music common to Lebanon, Spain, and Egypt with this well-organized presentation. Islamic cultural influences are traced throughout...