Fun online composing tool for the younger kids!  Check it out at https://www.classicsforkids.com/games/compose_your_own_music.php

Fun composing on the online Song Maker! Try it out!
Song Maker https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Song-Maker/

Our top seller this past school year has been "Music Composition for Teens - a Graded First Course"  Available on amazon.   Get yours now for the new school year.  Enjoy!

What is a Leitmotif?
For example: explore, look and listen to the following contemporary style leitmotifs:

• The theme for the shark in the movie “Jaws” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvCI-gNK_y4
  
• The theme for Darth Vader in the movie “Star Wars” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bzWSJG93P8
  
• The theme for Harry Potter in the Harry Potter movies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htaj3o3JD8I 
  

For example: Listen to the leitmotif associated with Jaws

1. Class Discussion
   Compare an image (projected), the nature of the character (protagonist/antagonist) and the theme music and identify:
   
   • What mood must be created? Happy/sad/scary/threatening/haunting, etc.
     
   • What are the features of the character? Strong/mystical/magical/threatening, etc.
     
   • What are the qualities in the music that represents the character?
     Pitch/register/chords/rhythms/tempo, etc.
     
   1. What do you notice about the leitmotif associated with Jaws?
      
   2. How does it inform the viewer?
      
   3. How long is the leitmotif?
      
   4. How many notes are used to create this effect?
      
   5. Is it a successful leitmotif? Why?
      
   6. What is the timbre (tone color) of the leitmotif? What instrument is used to make this
      leitmotif? How is the selection of tone color (instrument) important? 
      

Compose
Short 2-8 note motifs similar to the "Jaws" leitmotif.  
- Choose a character from a book, text, play or movie.
- Identify his/her/its characteristics
- Compose a rhythm only or melodic leitmotif.

Perform
_ Project the image of your character
- Perform the matching leitmotif

I spent a lovely week in Spartanburg, South Carolina earlier this month working with teachers at an elementary school: two full days of professional development with the focus on integrating music and literacy followed by classroom demonstrations.  Amazing team, well-organized, very receptive faculty - thank you for the invite!  I trust I left you all with some ideas, a broader scope for integrating creative activities into the curriculum and a renewed enthusiasm for arts integration.  

Music Composition for Teens and Pre-Teens

Now available on amazon.com, $24.99

• This book is written to provide lesson plans or exploratory activities for the music teacher who wishes to incorporate meaningful, creative compositional exercises in the general music classroom, the music appreciation classroom, or the piano studio. 
• The purpose of the book is to provide inspiration, additional ideas, creative activities, and contemporary techniques for the innovative teacher. 
• Photocopiable pages are provided.
• All lesson plans include Exploratory, Composition and Performance sets. 
• The lesson plans are written as general guides for the teacher and are not grade specific. 
  All lessons can be adapted to suit multiple age and ability levels. 
• Teachers are encouraged to adapt lessons: include own materials, connect to concepts 
  studied in the curricula, and utilize additional resources. 
• Lesson features include
  • Standard notation: pitch, staff notation, letter names, rests, note values and basic theory such as measures, bar lines, time signatures, etc., are covered. 
  • Graphic notation: Twentieth-Century techniques, graphic notation, alternative music symbols, found sound, body percussion, electronic sounds, and digital techniques are included. 
  • Compositional techniques: repetition, sequence, motif, phrase, 4-measure phrase, form, augmentation, diminution, inversion, etc., are explored. 
  • Technology: ringtones on phones, composition apps, computer software, online tone- generators, voice memo apps, video, and slide show presentations are included. 
  • Multi-media: Compositions include speaking parts, drama, images, slide shows, story, technology, live or recorded performance, spatial components, etc. 
  • Harmony: several lessons include chordal work (mainly the primary chords I, IV and V) to start establishing the idea of harmonic progression. 
  • Graphic Organizers: Most lessons include graphic organizers either to serve as work charts for the student groups, to clarify listening analysis or the format of the composition, or simply to plot out initial ideas for a composition. Teachers are encouraged to pursue multiple forms of organizing initial, pre-composition ideas, e.g., Venn-diagrams, flow charts, bullet points, etc. 
  • Novelty: Student engagement is at its peak when novelty and variety are present. To this end many lessons have included fun, surprise and novelty elements.