How to Enrich Classroom Music Activities

You can enrich music classroom activities by involving your students in the music.

Enrich your music classes with interactive techniques to help your students appreciate music. Simply learning notes and scales and famous pieces of classical music can get boring to students, so if you include games or allow students to play music themselves, they will become more interested in the subject of music. Incorporate popular music into your teaching activities to help students appreciate music class.

Things You'll Need

• Hand-held musical instruments, like cymbals, triangles and wood blocks

Instructions

1. Have students write rap songs to teach them rhyming and rhythm. They will write to a beat, and this will improve their understanding of rhythm. Have them perform their rap songs for the class.

2. Have students vote on a popular song to play in the classroom. Hand out hand instruments such as triangles, wood blocks and cymbals. Play the song and have them play their rhythm instruments along with the song. This will also teach them rhythm and accenting songs.

3. Play the "Phone Number" game. Play the scale of C major on a piano or xylophone. Have the students play it. Show them that there are eight notes in the scale. Have them write their phone numbers down and correspond the numbers to the notes in the C major scale. For example, "1" is "C," and "2" is "D." The number "9" can be both notes "1" and "8," or the low "C" and the high "C." Zero is the "B" just below the low "C." Kids can then play their phone number and learn about scales at the same time.

References

• Write a Rap Song
• Phone Number Melodies