Are
you looking for a way for your teen to fulfill a high school
unit of Music? This Music Appreciation unit study is can be
used to fulfill this requirement. If completed, award your
student with 1 unit of Music Appreciation.
1.
Create a Music Notebook by following the instructions below.
Recommended study time: Tuesday & Thursdays , 45 minutes.
2.
Read 3 or more biographies of famous musicians.
(Library books and/or Internet-Classical
Music Archives)
3.
Pick one composer. Research his life and write a biographical
sketch for your notebook (minimum of 750 words).
4.
Attend at least one concert or musical.
5.
Explore the relationship between math and music with
Pythagoras:
http://www.aboutscotland.com/harmony/prop.html
6.
Visit the following websites to learn about the orchestra,
the instruments, the composers, the musical periods, and more.
Baroque
Music Page: http://www.baroquemusic.org
The
Music Room: http://www.empire.k12.ca.us/capistrano/Mike/capmusic/music_room/themusic.htm
San
Francisco Symphony Kids’ Site. Compose a song
of your own! http://www.sfskids.org/templates/home.asp?pageid=1
Essentials of Music: Click on glossary to learn about music
terms. http://www.essentialsofmusic.com
I
Hear America Singing, history of american songwriters. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas
Learn
about the instruments. Select a country, see a photo &
hear the sound.
Learn
About the Instruments: http://DataDragon.com/education/instruments
Medieval
and Renaissance Instruments.
Early music from England, France, Spain, etc: http://www.jsayles.com/familypages/earlymusic.htm
Take
a music quiz: http://www.quia.com/dir/music
Classical
Composer Archive. http://voyager.physics.unlv.edu/webpages2/websyt/archive.html
The
Symphony, An Interactive Guide. http://library.thinkquest.org/22673
Classical
Music Archives. Listen to the music! http://www.classicalarchives.com
Playmusic.
Meet musicians. Listen to the orchestra. Play music. http://www.playmusic.org/
7.
Research the History of Music and Musical Periods. Make a
timeline identifying the various periods and illustrate for
notebook.
David
and Saul (Bible History)
Psalms
(Bible History)
Polyphonic
Period
Baroque Period
Classical
Period
Romantic Period
Modern
Period (1900 - present)
8.
Musical terms. Create a dictionary for notebook by identifying
the following terms:
Acappela, Accent, Arpeggio, Bar, Chord
, Coda, Downbeat, Dynamics, Expression, Fifth, Glissando, Harmony,
Improvise, Key, Measure, Melody, Pitch, Rhythm, Scale, Staff, Syncopation, Tempo, Third, Timbre, Time, Tone, Troubadours
Add
addition terms as you read about them.
9. Listen to
six (or more) of the following musical forms.
Use this website and recordings from the library. List
title and the form to which it belonged. Write an opinion
piece about your favorite form and add to your notebook.
Ballet, Canon, Cantata, Celtic, Chamber
Music, Chorale, Concerto, Etude, Folk
Music, Fugue, Gregorian
Chant, Madrigal, March, Opera, Orchestra, Overture, Rhapsody, Scherzo, Serenade, Sonata, Suite, Symphony
10.
Research at least three instruments for each category below.
For each instrument, make a page for your notebook. Explain
it’s history, how it makes music, what type
of music is performed on the instrument, and illustrate with
a drawing or photo.
Strings, Woodwind, Percussion, Brass, Piano,
Accordion, Organ
11.
Read the following books (* denotes out of print. Check interlibrary
loan or used book stores):
Lives
of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times, and What the
Neighbors Thought by Kathleen Krull. Doesn't
always paint a rosy picture but VERY interesting. 5th+
Spiritual Lives of Composers by
Patrick Kavanaugh. Excellent for students in grades 6-12.
Twelve composers are discussed: Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart,
Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Wagner, Dvorak,
Ives, and Stravinsky. The easy-to-read text provides a
brief biography of the composer along with information
about how his personal faith affected his music. Excellent.
A highly recommended addition for your personal library.
ISBN 0310208068.
Story
of the Orchestra
by
Robert Levine. This is a wonderful resource for teaching
about the instruments, the composers, and the music
of an orchestra. Includes a CD so you can listen too!
Devil
on the Deck* by Lois Dick (Out of print but
well worth locating to add to your library.)
Optional:
1. Take
Music Lessons
2.
Make your own musical instruments: http://www.prekinders.com/music.htm
3. Activities for all ages:
Penny
Whistle Party Planner: Plan a party with an orchestra
theme. (Home Economics)
4.
Additional Resources:
Music
Lesson Plans and Webquests.
.