Teacher's Page
This music learning project is designed for students to gain an understanding of a particular piece of music in its broader musical context. After completing the music learning project, students will be able to identify characteristic features of Classical, Romantic, and Modernist (20th Century) music in an actual piece of music from the respective musical era.
This objective will be accomplished by having students learn about a particular composer from each of the respective eras (Mozart, Tchaikovsky or Copland) by reading a short biography of the composer of their choice. (Note: Students do not need to study all three composers and musical eras, they are instructed at the beginning of the Web Quest to select one of the three). This will be followed by another page where they will learn about key characteristics of each respective musical era. Each of these sections require students to answer a few short questions from the information they have just read.
Finally students are directed to look at a piece by each of these composers (Mov 1 Piano Concerto No. 9; Waltz of the Flowers; and Hoe Down, respectively). They read a quick synopsis of the piece and its origin and are supplied with a listening guide which gives details on the tempo, key, metre, rhythm, dynamics as well as an overview of the beginning and ending of the piece. Students are then linked to the piece on YouTube where they can listen to the piece as many times as they need to in order to answer the questions relating to features they notice in the music. To answer these questions, students will need to draw on the information they have just learned through the Web Quest.
An overall incentive to the Web Quest is for the students to collect all the instruments that comprise the actual orchestra needed to play the particular piece they are studying, by doing each page of the Web Quest and answering all the questions. This is also an interesting and fun way for them to learn the basics of orchestration.
The learning project ends with an excursion to a school concert by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra where each of the 3 pieces, plus 4 others will be performed. Students will have downloaded the group thinking questions prior to going to the concert, though it is not necessary for them to write notes during the concert. It is important that students are given the opportunity, however, to write down their thoughts to the questions while the experience of the concert and the learning done on the Web Quest is still fresh in their minds. After they have come up with their own answers, the teacher will put them into groups of 2 or 3 where they can then share their ideas with each other. (It will probably be most beneficial to pair students who have studied the same composer and piece). After this collaboration, during which students may add to or alter their thought questions, the teacher will collect these sheets, as well as the answers to all the questions on the website that the students were instructed to record.
MUSIC LEARNING PROJECT INFORMATION
Year Level: 7
Format: Web Quest & Excursion (Queensland Symphony Orchestra Musical Voyage School Series Concerts 2010)
URL: https://www.musiclearningproject.webnode.com
Learning Objective: Students will identify characteristic features of Classical, Romantic, or 20th Century/Modernist music. Students will learn the history of one composer and one corresponding piece from one of the above musical ears; students will learn distinctive characteristic features in relation to the piece; and will demonstrate awareness of these features and styles when hearing the piece performed live in concert.
Prior Knowledge: At this year level, it is expected that students have an intermediate understanding of musical rudiments in both theory and practice. Students should know basic terminology and styles etc. This learning project is designed for a music class that has received a good foundation in musical learning from the very onset of their education, and for students that are musically literate.