I typically find it difficult to cover music history during lessons, so I’ve been working on a project that will help students easily learn more about composers and the different eras of music history. This week I finished two music history packets: the Baroque Packet and the Classical Packet. Each packet is a digital download and includes:
- Summaries and worksheets about the era and prominent composers during that era
- An answer key for all worksheets
- Posters that you could hang on a bulletin board in your studio
The summaries are relatively short and simple for students to read. I made sure not to overload the summaries with too much information.
Here are a few ideas for using the packets in your studio:
- Read over one summary with a student at the end of a private lesson. Then have the student complete the worksheet for that topic as homework.
- Send both the summary and worksheet home with students. (What a great extra assignment for students over the summer!)
- Have a one-time group class to cover an era of music history. Students could take turns reading the summaries outloud prior to discussing the time period. Then let students hear music of the time period on YouTube.
- Have your students study one era of music history during a month. During the first week, students could learn general information about the Baroque Era. During the second week they could learn about J.S. Bach, and during the third week, they could learn about Handel. Then use the last week of the month to review.
- Celebrate composers by learning about their life during the month of their birthday. Hang one of the composer posters included in the packet on a bulletin board in your studio or give the poster to a student to keep in his music journal.
- Have a music history summer camp and cover one era each day of the camp.
Each packet includes unlimited downloads. Once you purchase the packet, all of the files are yours! Enjoy!
Lauren teaches piano to students of all ages in New Orleans, LA. Teaching is her passion. She enjoys creating resources for her students and is the author of Ready for Theory®.
