11/18

Today in History of Music students received the directions for the project for the History of Christmas event on December 13. The project is due on December 9.

11/16

Today we talked about Impressionism in music. We also began to talk about the projects for the History of Christmas event on December 13.

For Wednesday students should read pg 112-116.

11/11

Today in History of Music students took an open book test on the Classical and Romantic era (pgs. 90-108 in the book).

For Monday students need to find as much background information as possible on the following Christmas songs:

Away in A Manger

Angels We Have Heard on High

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

Oh Come All Ye Faithful

Joy to the World

We will be working with others in addition, but we will start with these.

11/9

Today in History of Music we finished going over the music and composers of the Romantic Era including the focus on Nationalism in composition.

We also listened to several pieces by various Romantic Era composers.

On Wednesday we will have an open book test over the material from the Classical Period (pg. 90) through the Romantic Nationalistic period (pg. 108).

11/4

Today in History of Music we discussed some of the composers of the Romantic Era and listened to several pieces. We listened to Edward Greig's Peer Gynt Suite (#1) and the students had to write down their impressions as they listened to each of the four segments.

We will continue with the Romantic Era on Monday.

11/2

Today in History of Music we learned about Beethoven and listened to several of his more famous pieces.

For Wednesday, students need to read from 103-108.

10/28

Today in History of Music we played a review game on Haydn and Mozart. We also started looking at the Romantic period of music.

For Monday, students need to read the textbook from pg. 99-103.

10/26

Today in History of Music we learned about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and some of the music he is known for composing. For Wednesday, students need to review Haydn and Mozart for an activity on that day.

10/21

Today in History of Music we went over the lists of Christmas songs that students brought in. We also talked about one of the two most significant Classical era composers, Franz Joseph Haydn. We also heard several examples of his music.

For Monday, students should read the section on the other significant Classical era composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (pgs. 92-94).

10/19

"Today in History of Music we began to learn about the "Classical" period in music. We heard some examples by Leopold Mozart and Antonion Salieri. On Wednesday we will learn about Franz Joseph Haydn, one of the major composers of the Classical era.

For Wednesday, students need to read pg. 92-94 in their book. They also need to bring in a list of their 10 favorite Christmas songs/carols/hymns.

10/14

Today in History of Music students took an open book test on the historial perspective of music up through the Baroque era. For Monday students should read to the bottom of page 91.

10/12

Today in History of Music we continued going over the Baroque era and looking at the music and lives of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederich Handel.

On Wednesday we will have a test on the historical portion we have studied so far in this book. It will be an open book test.

10/7

Today in History of Music we went over the reading assignment from Monday about the Baroque era. We put some terms to remember on the board and also put on the board the various composers that students named. Some of the composers were marked as important to remember.

For Monday, students need to read pgs. 82-90.

10/5

Today in History of Music we finished up with the Reformation period in music. We began looking at the Baroque era. For Wednesday students should read about the Baroque era from pg. 78-82 in the book. For Wednesday they also need to bring in the names of at least 5 Baroque era composers.

9/28

Today in the History of Music we reviewed some concepts of medieval music (terms were written on the board which the students should know) and heard examples of secular medieval music (troubadour songs) and learned how songs and dances during the middle ages were influenced by the Arabic styles the Crusaders heard in the middle ages.

Students turned in their crossword puzzles on the "Basic Sound Producers." For Wednesday, students should read the section on "The Renaissance" (pg. 73-75).

9/23

Today we were able to pass out our textbooks. Each book has a set of CDs in the back and it is important that the CDs are turned in at the end of the semester with the books.

We learned about early medieval music today. We will not be covering everything in the book we are using. The students have received a crossword puzzle activity which goes along with the first section on "Basic Sound Producers." The answers can be found in the first section of the book (pgs. 2-21). The crossword puzzle activity is due on Monday; that is all we will do for the first portion of the book.

9/21

Today we talked about ancient instruments and some ancient music history. We also watched examples of music from Ancient Greece and Rome and music on the didgeridoo. There is no homework for Wednesday.

9/16

Today we watched more of Fantasia. Afternoon classes were shortened because of Chapel. For Monday students should find an instrument from Ancient History (Greece, Rome, etc.) and the name, what kind of instrument it is/was (percussion, wind, string, etc.), how it was played and which civilzation(s) used it.

9/14

Today we finished up our activity of finding how many pieces of music students were familiar with. We also watched part of "Fantasia" which has Disney animation set to various pieces of music. There is no homework for Wednesday.

9/9

Today we began our look at the History of Music. Students received their course syllabus which is also available for viewing on the "History of Music Homework" page. We are conducting a little exercise to see how many pieces of music students might have heard before.

Students can receive some extra credit for doing the following things next week (Sep 14-18)

Find the artist and song(s) from the 1970's who used themes from Rachmaninoff pieces for his songs.

Name the composer whose picture appears as the link photo for the "History of Music Homework" page.

More significant extra credit will be given to students who can perform Pachelbel's Canon in D Major on an instrument if they play one.