Strategies for Making Music Happen
Page 1 of 2
Once students have acquired basic musical knowledge and skills,
how do they move from playing the part to playing in an ensemble?
How do they shift from singing or playing notes to being able to perform
with musical expressiveness and understanding? How do they
develop the skills and confidence necessary to improvise and compose?
In-depth musical skills, understandings, and expressiveness
come from personal ownership of the tools necessary to think musically.
Ownership of these tools comes when students practice and wrestle
with musical ideas, concepts, skills, and problems. Saying "Because
I'm the conductor (teacher) and I said to do it this way" doesn't lead to the development of
independent musicians or independent musical thinking.
There are many thinking skills necessary for musical independence.
The following represent only a few of the possible categories. More
than one thinking skill may be used in a given illustration. These examples
are meant to prompt you to think of more ways to encourage independent
thinking during music instruction.
Compare and Contrast
- Play two recordings of the same selection. (One recording may be of a performance by your own students.) Ask the students to find similarities and differences in style, rhythms, expressive interpretation, and so on.
- Watch short selections of videos of two bands, orchestras, or choruses. Invite the class to list ways the groups were alike and ways they were different.
- Listen to recordings of Pavarotti and Domingo singing the same aria. How are they alike and how are they different?
- Ask two groups of students to create pentatonic accompaniments for a song the class knows. Ask the entire class to discuss how the two accompaniments were alike and how they were different.
- Ask students to describe how the chromatic scale is different from the diatonic scale.
- Ask the inside-stand players of the orchestra to perform a section of the music being rehearsed. Ask the outside-stand students to play the same section. Ask the remainder of the orchestra to describe how they were alike and how they were different.
- Have the students listen to Whitney Houston and Robert Merrill sing "The Star-Spangled Banner." Discuss the similarities and differences.
- Ask students, "How is a trumpet like a cornet? How is it different?"
| Provided in partnership with NAfME |
Asian-Pacific-American Heritage Month
May is Asian-Pacific-American Heritage Month! Don't overlook this opportunity to study and enjoy activities about the history and culture of Asian-Pacific American communities.
The recent rash of tornadoes in Oklahoma, which killed at least two dozen people, may have your students wondering why such natural disasters occur, how they may be affected by them, and what they can do to help. Use these resources to teach the geography of Oklahoma and the Southwestern United States, to explain tornadoes, and to discuss the resulting crises with your class.
Top 10 Galleries
Explore our most popular Top 10 galleries, from Top 10 Behavior Management Tips for the Classroom and Top 10 Classroom Organization Tips from Veteran Teachers to Top 10 Free (& Cheap) Rewards for Students and Top 10 Things Every Teacher Needs in the Classroom. We'll help you get organized and prepared for every classroom situation, holiday, and more! Check out all of our galleries today.
May Calendar of Events
May is full of holidays and events that you can incorporate into your standard curriculum. Our Educators' Calendar outlines activities for each event, including: Backyard Games Week (5/23-29) and Memorial Day (5/27). Plus, celebrate Asian-Pacific-American Heritage Month, Clean Air Month, and Physical Fitness & Sports Month all May long!
Common Core Lessons & Resources
Is your school district adopting the Common Core? Work these new standards into your curriculum with our reading, writing, speaking, social studies, and math lessons and activities. Each piece of content incorporates the Common Core State Standards into the activity or lesson.


