Musical Form

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What is Musical Form?

The Musical Deli

Types of Musical Forms and Examples:

All Types

Strophic–“Frosty the Snowman”

Binary–The Happy Farmer by Schumann

Ternary–Minuet and Trio in G by Mozart

Rondo–Rondo in B-flat by Arnold Cooke

Theme and Variations–Carnival of Venice Variations, performed by Steven Mead

Bonus Activity: What is the form of this piece?

 

 

Halloween

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Singing

Spooky Scary Skeletons | (remix)

Listening

Uranus the Magician

Hut on Fowl’s Legs

Penderecki Symphony no. 7 “Hajetà alai jad adonài’”

Instruments

Using BoomWhackers and Mallets, teach the students about diminished and augmented chords, the truly scary ones. Then Have the class come up with their own Halloween song! Part of the class will play the melody on mallets, harmony on BoomWhackers, and auxiliary percussion for extra effects (bonus if you can get ahold of a vibraslap or ratchet). Pick a key (A, E, or D minor would probably be the best) then decide as a class what it will be about specifically, and then students will call on each other to come up with 8-12 lines of lyrics.

Create

Have students color their own haunted house, small enough to be able to be attached to a head band, then play Hut on Fowl’s legs and dance and move around to the music (similar to the “In the Hall of the Mountain King” activity from the Emementary Music).

Rhythm

Using auxiliary percussion instruments, play Uranus the Magician and cue the students to play on big hits at the beginning and on the beat, emphasizing dynamics, and both big and little beats. Encourage students to come up with their own rhythms in time with the music.

Movement

SPOOKY SCARY HALLOWEEN DANCE PARTY!

With dances that the class learned like the Electric Slide, or their own appropriate dance moves, let the students dance to songs like the Spooky Scary Skeletons remix (seen above), Thriller, The Ghostbuster’s Theme, The Monster Mash, and more! (Bonus Points for if the students know the actual dances for these songs).

Art

Chernabog The_Scream Catacombs Baba

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This is the house that was tidy and neat

Singing                                                                                                                                                                                       The Clean-Up Song                                                                                                                                                                    Clean up, clean up,                                                                                                                                                                     Everybody, everywhere                                                                                                                                                               Clean up, clean up,                                                                                                                                                                     Everybody do your share!

This is the House

Listening

Mercury, the Winged Messenger

Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Instruments

Start with playing simple melodies (May Had a Little Lamb, Ode to Joy, etc.) on mallets and auxiliary percussion. Play the original tempo or slower, and then gradually build up the speed until it sounds wild and chaotic (not enough to damage instruments though). Then, gradually bring the tempo back down to normal.

Creating

Students can make up their own story about how their house, classroom, school, etc. was tidy and neat until their parents/teacher left.

Movement

Students play a variant of Ships and Sailors, with modified calls to match the story. Once they have a grasp on how to play, the students can create their own calls.

Drama

While the story is read, students will stand up and act out characters through choreographed noises and actions when cued by the teacher.

Art

DSC_3927photo-collage-example-0006_2560

Language Arts

Relate the story to other books about messes and cleaning up frantically, like Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat. See also “Creating” for Writing assignments for older students.

Math and Science

Talk about chain reactions: how they work, what starts them, and examples like Rube Goldberg Machines and Dominoes.