Class Notes supports teachers through free music education resources. Discover new ways to bring the joy of music to your students. This collection includes Music & Mindfulness, Meet the Composer, Instrument Exploration, Music Fundamentals, Cross-Curricular Connections, Listening Lessons, Themed Lessons, Lecciones en español, Hands-on Activities, and Virtual Concerts.
The piano has 88 keys! Explore how sound is made on this keyboard instrument.
Bari, Tenor, Alto, Soprano - learn about these four saxophones in this instrument exploration lesson.
The brass family is one of four main instrument families in the orchestra. Learn how to make a sound on a brass instrument and hear recordings of various brass instruments.
The trombone is a member of the brass family! Learn a little about the instrument, and hear its sound in several different settings.
The viola looks like the violin, but it’s just a little bigger! Learn about the viola and listen to several Class Notes artists demonstrate their instrument.
The violin is the smallest instrument in the string family! Learn to identify the violin by sight and sound! Listen to several Class Notes artists demonstrate their instrument.
Cat videos, cat memes, and composers and cats! Notice how melodic contour can represent the path of a cat’s feet, moving up and down a keyboard in Domenico Scarlatti's ‘Cat Fugue.’
Identify six musical concepts in this piece of music performed by St. Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians. Viet Cuong’s Circling Back conveys the sense of being driven off course and returned to our path. Students will develop active listening skills through identification of musical elements. Students will respond to a piece of music by articulating a personal connection.
Explore the timbres of the violin, cello, and piano in this listening lesson. Students will listen to Einaudi’s Golden Butterflies and connect music with nature.
Music and art can help process feelings surrounding difficult issues. In 2020, Sphinx Virtuosi recorded Herbert’s piece, In Memoriam in remembrance of George Floyd, Stephen Lawrence and many other victims.
Composer Jessie Montgomery was influenced by listening to a lot of records as a child. Look back historically on various devices used to capture music from the record player to the smart phone, and learn about some of the composer’s influences.
Composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was inspired by the sounds of little trains that travel through the Brazilian countryside. Use literacy and art skills to engage with the music. Make your own sandpaper blocks to create your own train sounds.
Composer Gustav Holst wrote a collection of musical pieces called The Planets. Explore the movement about Mars.
Listen and respond to one story from this collection. Students will listen to one movement from Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite.
Listen and respond to string instruments and soloists how improvise, in this lesson featuring Mason Bates’ “Mothership.”
Dan Nass composed "One-Dog Canoe" based on the book by Mary Casanova. Utilize the included coloring activity while listening to the narrated story.
Follow along with a listening map and use movement to respond to part of Aaron Copland’s ballet, "Rodeo." Great for all ages.
Practice finding the STEADY BEAT in this listening lesson for Elementary ages. Students will practice steady beat while listening to John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine.
Music and stories are often connected. The timbre of different instruments can represent different characters. Use a listening map to notice and describe the timbre of various instruments in a musical story called The Swineherd’s Suite.
A musical phrase describes a series of notes that communicate a musical idea. Learn about musical questions and answers, and listen to “The Unanswered Question” by Charles Ives.