Discovering Music: Suggestions for Using the Curriculum

How long is each DVD-lecture?

Lectures range from c. 25 minutes to 1 hour.

Is it necessary to watch all the lectures in order?

  Yes and no.  Understanding any given lecture does not depend upon having viewed the previous lecture.  However, a student’s overall sense of the progression of history and cultural change will be stronger if the lectures are viewed in order.

How would you suggest I use this material?

  The parent/tutor should first read “How to Use This Resource Book,” which begins on p. xii of the text.  Having said that, use Discovering Music in any way you see fit!  The ages and interests of your children will suggest many possibilities.


I would like the course to form a significant (though not daily) part of our overall curriculum.  How might that work?

  Instructor Prep: View the DVD-lecture to be studied.  Review figures, terms, and dates.

  Student Prep: With instructor and/or classmates, students orally review (or consider for the first time) the relevant period of history.

  First Period: Instructor and students now view the lecture.  Students fill in the Viewing Guide individually, either during or after the class period.  Instructor and students discuss student answers.  Missing information could be filled in from the Suggested Answers (in the back of the text) or could be left blank until the second class-period.  One or more pieces of music belonging to the unit can be played.

  Second Period: Students view the lecture a second time, listening especially for the correct responses to the Viewing Guide and/or stopping to discuss ideas.  Figures and terms can be discussed.  Play at least one selection from music belonging to the unit.  The remaining music can be assigned to the student outside of class.  Repeated listening is urged.

  Third Period: Students take the quiz.  Instructor checks the quizzes using the back of the text.  Instructor/students choose a project(s) from the “Putting It All Together” section.  Students may wish to work in groups or individually.  If time permits, encourage students to discuss or describe one or more of the pieces of music for the unit.

I don’t have that much time to put into this. What is another other options?

  Instructor Prep: None.

  Student Prep: Review key figures and dates, either individually or with instructor.

  First Period: Students view the lecture.  Students complete the Viewing Guide as homework.

  Second Period: Students discuss their Viewing Guide answers amongst themselves and check their own answers in the back of the text.  Instructor looks over the corrected Viewing Guide to assess comprehension.  Students watch the lecture again on their own time.  The listening for each unit is emphasized but is done outside of class.

  Third Period: Students take the quiz.  Instructor corrects the quizzes using the answers in the back of the text and assigns a project from the “Putting It All Together” section.

We don’t have much time at all to devote to this curriculum. Can my students still benefit from it?

  Absolutely! Try the following:

  Instructor Prep: None.

  Student Prep: None.

  First Period: View the lecture and fill in the Viewing Guide individually or as a group after watching the unit.  Check the back of text for any missing information.  Choose one or two of the musical works for each unit from the CD set.  Play for the class.  Finished!  Your students have heard how various aspects of cultural history fit together.

How can I adapt Discovering Music as an Enrichment Course for a co-op or other group setting?

  We have various lessons plans to suggest for co-ops.  Assuming that each class meeting is about 75 minutes long, and that you can allow two class periods to cover each unit, here is one suggestion:

  Instructor Prep: View the DVD-lecture to be studied for the unit.  Review figures, terms, and dates.  If time permits, listen to the appropriate musical selections on the CD set.

  Student Prep: Students review a selection of the key figures and dates, perhaps having each been assigned a figure or date for a brief presentation to the group.

  First Period: Begin the class period with these brief presentations and general discussion of the time period in question.  View the DVD lecture.  Encourage the students to take notes.  Students can review key terms, figures, and concepts at home to prepare for the quiz.  Play one or more of the musical works in class.  Assign remaining listening for the unit to be done outside of class. Students can explore the websites outside of class as well.

  Second Period: Students view the lecture a second time, stopping occasionally to fill-in the Viewing Guide.  Older students may wish to discuss selected answers from the Viewing Guide.  Students can self-correct the Viewing Guide using the Suggested Answers in the back of the Text.  Students then take the quiz.  Emphasize the importance of continuing the listening at home.  Students choose, or are assigned, a project from the “Putting It all Together” section.  If desired, students can design their own projects.  Projects may be done as group projects.

  [If a Third Period is possible, students are encouraged to present their projects to each other.]

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Homeschool Music History

Our music history curriculum Discovering Music will add depth and enjoyment to any middle- or high-school level homeschool curriculum.

But what if your child doesn’t your child doesn’t play an instrument and, instead, excels at math, hoping to become an engineer.  What possible reason is there to study music history as an academic subject?

The answer is simple.  Music history and the history of the arts in general make the rest of history come alive.  Connecting the arts to the study of rulers and conflicts makes it easier to learn those names and dates.  And the arts frequently define the characteristics of an era more vividly than anything else.   You’ll observe the same affect in other academic disciplines: literature, geography, even the sciences and math.

How does this work?  First, music and the arts are a part of everyone’s life.  Children are born artists.  As toddlers they sing and draw and immediately begin to master language.  They grasp poetry before prose, and understand the imagery and form of stories before they learn to digest facts.  Numerous studies tell us that these early artistic endeavors train the mind and foster intelligence.

So why would you want your child to leave all that behind upon attaining a certain age?  Is there some reason that these creative activities should be shelved for more didactic ones as our children grow up?  No, everything indicates that the creative forms of learning that were essential in the early years continue to serve us well as adults.  They actually aid and complement the analytical learning that comes later.  That analytical learning doesn’t supersede the creative learning of our childhood.  Quite the opposite; it is built on the foundation of that creativity.

In fact, you may be familiar with Daniel Pink’s writings on this subject.  Creative thinking is the key to success.  The MFA (Master’s Degree in Fine Arts) is the new MBA.

It’s not about being a right-brain person versus a left-brain person.  (Take a close look at your child and you’ll see that he has both.) The answer lies in using the Whole Brain.

Now, we encourage everyone to engage in actual music-making.  Play an instrument or sing in a choir and your life will be enriched.  But whether your child does that or not, your homeschool curriculum should include the study of how music was made, how a culture is expressed and preserved in art, how the arts convey political power, how ideas of every kind – religious, patriotic, and revolutionary – find adherents in the arts.

As Professor Carol likes to say, the arts are connected to everything.  An understanding of the arts opens doors to all fields of study.  It makes history more memorable, science more discoverable, math more richly layered, language more engaging, our brains more nimble, and life more enjoyable.

That’s the goal of Discovering Music and its emphasis on the interaction of music, history, arts, and culture.

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