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The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Third graders listen to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Using the music, they identify the high and low parts in the orchestal composition. They compare the elements of a story to the piece of music and respond to the music and state how...
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Music As Survival: Alma Rose and the Auschwitz Women's Orchestra
Students explore a period of European history in which musicians have used theri musical talents and abilities to survive and rise above extremely difficult situations. The psychological uses of music by the Nazis is examined in this...
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Compare and Contrast Composers
Young scholars identify various pieces of music that are familiar to them and define how the music made them feel. Then they select their favorite piece of music heard and the activities in which they like to do. Students also attend a...
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THE TRAVELS OF BABAR: An Adventure in Scale : The Instruments of the Orchestra
Students classify the classes of instruments of the orchestra: strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion. They aurally and visually identify the instruments of the orchestra. Students become actively engaged in live performances by...
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Folk Songs, Instruments of the Orchestra
Second graders study Folk Songs and instruments of the orchestra in these lessons. They recognize the difference between folk songs and classical music.
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Learning through The Duke
Students examine the important contributions made by Duke Ellington to the field of jazz, as well as some of the factors that led to his involvement in the field. As they explore the language of the 1920's, connections will be drawn...
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Music: Instruments of the Orchestra
Pupils identify various musical instruments and explain their roles in an orchestra. Following a Powerpoint presentation, students discuss what they have discovered in small groups. Then, each groups devises four questions based on the...
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Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, Dance of the Floreadores, Waltz of the Flowers in the Meter of Duke
Students contrast the meter and style of two different versions of the musical piece, "Waltz of the Flowers." Duke Ellington's meter in the "Dance of the Floreadores" is compared to Tchaikovsky's version in the "Nutcracker."
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Reviewing Good Playing Habits
The string section of your school orchestra can get a proper form make-over by incorporating this instructional activity. They reestablish proper playing form, posture, and sound as they compose an essay on how to maintain good playing...
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Respecting the Differences of Others
Fifth graders discover the importance of respecting the differences of people around the world in different situations in order to avoid conflict and promote peace. Students compare the sounds of a symphony and the instruments creating...
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Duke Ellington: Great American Musician and Composer
Students delve into the life and music of Duke Ellington as a major American musician and composer. The elements that made the sound of his orchestra unique and the talents of his band members are explored in this lesson.
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Antonio Vivaldi-The Four Seasons
Second graders uncover the form, timbre, and the significance of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" in the five lessons of this unit. The use of instrumentation forms the basis of the lessons.
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String Instruments and Pitch
Students make predictions and explore how pitch is altered in string instruments. In this acoustic science lesson, students learn the types and parts of string instruments and create their own. They listen to classical music and identify...
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In Perfect Harmony: Teaching the World to Sing
First graders listen to music as the impetus to learn about the concept of Japanese harmony as it is understood in Japanese culture. They use the New Seeker's song, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing," to compare America and Japan...
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VH1 Goes Inside (Out) Trey and Dave Go to Africa
High schoolers discuss the Western method of teaching and learning music and compare that to the aural transmission method used around the world. They practice singing two songs using aural transmission and watch a video showing...
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Percussion Instruments and Pitch
Students play string instruments to discover how the pitch changes on various string instruments. In this pitch lesson, students listen to video clips and play an online music game. Students become familiar with music...
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Musical Instruments
Students invent a musical instrument to be played by them. They invent a nonstandard notation for music and compose a short piece to preform for the class using their instrument.
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Orchestra Tax Battle
Students read a newspaper article about the controversial taxation of an orchestra. They define vocabulary, complete comprehension worksheets, analyze the use of verb forms in the article and take a 'true or false' quiz.
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Learning through The Duke
Students study Duke Ellington's contributions to the field of jazz. They write poetry using language that was popular in the 1920's. They listen to a piece of Duke Ellington jazz and respond with at painting.
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The Classical Orchestra
Students study the classical orchestra in this technology-based general music lesson for the high school classroom. Emphasis is placed on the use of the "Microsoft Musical Instruments" software. This lesson can be accomplished in one...
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Meet the Instrument Families
Fourth graders listen to a recording of a string quartet and ask questions about what kinds of instrument they think they are listening to and describe what they think the instruments look like. Then they discuss musical ideas such as...
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Exploring the Brass Family
Third graders explore the four basic instruments of the Brass Family in the four lessons of this unit. The French horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba are inspected as students develope a familiarity with their sight and sounds.
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Music of the Estuary
Students explore the sounds of the estuary. In this wetlands instructional activity, students discuss how to simulate the sounds of nature. Students write and record a musical score featuring the sounds of the wetlands.
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Chinese Instruments
Students explore Chinese instruments. For this Chinese instrument music lesson, students listen to a performance by Liu Fang and describe the sounds they hear. Students classify western and Chinese instruments according to their...