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Humanities was one of my ALL time favorite classes in college. I loved learning about great works of music and art. I was actually a music major my first year of college. I ended up minoring in it. That being said, I love teaching these things to my kids, like really a lot. I get excited when they recognize a classical piece of music or a great work of art. Even though I love these subjects, when I teach something extra like art or music, I need easy or it does not get done. So, in this post, you are getting my simple composer study ideas. This is the simplest way I can find to do it and make sure it gets done!
Simple Composer Study Ideas
- Choose 3 or 4 composers to study for the whole year. Do not try to cram in too many different ones at once or in a year. Keep it simple! Have composer study once a week, but listen to their music frequently.
- Get an album of their greatest works. You can get these for so cheap on iTunes. I get albums of 100 greatest songs of that composer and they are around $5-$7. Listen to it lots! They will begin to recognize their style of music.
- Check out (or purchase) some books on the composer you are studying. This gives the kids a background story and helps them connect with them better. We love the Mike Venezia ones- Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers. We also really love the Opal Wheeler stories about the different composers. These are the books sold with the Zeezok Music curriculum. They are FABULOUS!
- Find YouTube videos of different renditions of their music. There are some really fun ones!
- For more background info visit Classics for Kids. This site has short radio programs that you can listen to about different composers. There are also games and coloring sheets that you can print.
- If you want it ALL done for you, check out the website Enrichment Studies. We have used this a ton in the past few years & really love it. They plan composer & artist studies (they have recently added other topics, too) for you & you pay a one-time fee to access different collections.
That’s it! Easy enough?! If your kids are young, you do not want to overload them. Keep is easy and enjoyable. This also makes it easier for you to want to continue doing it. If your kids are older, add in a little more research, maybe a written report or project.
You CAN do this!
Leah Courtney says
July 28, 2015 at 10:16 amThese are some great resources. We love Classics for Kids as well. Thank you for sharing.