ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
What are the different time periods and what
genres of music would you expect in each?
Within those different genres of music, what are
the different forms that were associated with each?
Which composers were exemplars in each
genre/time period?
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS
Distinguish between different time periods, especially
classical, romantic, baroque, impressionist: orchestration is
a key component, tonality, and instrumentation are all
important in distinguishing between the time periods.
Knowing distinctive characteristics of different composers
makes it easier to distinguish their music.
On the same token, knowing the time period the piece is
coming from, the easier it is to decide who the composer is.
PRODUCTS
Music History Timeline: 1350-1900’s• On 3x5 index cards I researched and found composers, their time
period, and exemplar works
Practice Praxis II test• Took a 100-question practice test, graded it, and then on the answers I
got wrong I went through and wrote down the correct answer
Pandora Music Listening Quiz• Put Pandora, Inc. classical radio station on shuffle and listened for two
(2) one-hour periods, wrote down who I thought the composer was and why
Six haikus that involve the five time periods• Loved this activity, making a very concise definition about each time
period, actually kind of difficult
RESOURCES
Four resources helped me out the most:
www.wikipedia.org
www.pandora.com
Norton Anthology of the History of Western Music
Praxis II practice book and test
REFLECTIONS
I have been bad at history since fifth grade when I
received my first “C” . Things did not get better in
undergrad. Luckily, through this project, I was able to re-
learn, somewhat, what I was taught in the past.
Unfortunately, I have a lot of information that I must
continue to keep learning because even though I have
learned and reviewed, if I were to be asked what specific
terms were I would still struggle to find some answers.
QUESTIONS
How can I keep my mind fresh in terms of
remembering music history once I’m out of the
classroom again?
Is there something else I can do to remember
things or should I just keep on practicing and
reading in the hopes of it all clicking at some point?
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