7 ‘Shockingly Simple’ Ways To Get Teens Into Music Appreciation With The Study Of Planets

If you’ve been following me for any period of time you will know that I am a big advocate for blending two subjects in one. 

This is because it saves time, makes the study of both subjects that much more interesting and most of the time, it also makes the abstract concepts more real. 

So in today’s post, I am going to explain how you can blend science and music together to teach your teens. 

For this example I’m going to use the study of the solar system. 

Now, I know that your kids learned about the solar system when they were five or six, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot revisit the subject at a more in-depth level at a latter stage does it?

So let’s get started. 

One thing before we go, don’t forget to download the printables I have made available with the post. 

Ready?

Let’s get started. 

Planets And Mythology

Ask your teens to read up on Greek mythology and how the planets have been portrayed (can you see how I cooly blended in another subject besides music and science?).

Next ask them to create a playlist of songs that were inspired by heavenly bodies like the sun, moon and planets. 

Vivaldi’s four seasons come to mind, as does Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and Gustav Holst’s orchestration, Planets. 

Predict

Before they actually listen to the playlist, ask them to predict what they think they will hear in each composition depicting a different heavenly body. 

For instance what do they think they will hear in Gustav Holst’s Mars in terms of mood of the music, volume, pitch and pace? They can use the knowledge gained from how Mars is portrayed in Greek Mythology (as the God of war) to make the predictions. 

Listen

Next, they should listen to the playlist and go back to their predictions and assess the composition in terms of what they heard. 

Was it an accurate prediction or not? What if any elements were different from what they thought it would be?

Draw Conclusions

Now, they can draw conclusions. 

Did they like how the composition sounded when compared to how they thought it would sound? 

Why or why not?

Compare And Contrast

They can take the above activity further by either comparing and contrasting two different movements by Gustav Holst, or comparing one of Gustav Holst’s movement the Earth for instance with that of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. 

Which one is better in their opinion and why? 

What did they like or dislike about it and why? 

Composer Study

They can also carry out a research study about the composer, his life, works, educations, other notable contributions and much more. 

How about learning about the era of music that the composer belonged too? 

Holst belonged to the Modern Era, while Beethoven belonged to the Classical Era and Vivaldi to the Baroque era in music. 

Research about other composers from a given era, the prevalent styles in music, how musical structure evolved through that era and so on. 

Online Study

Another great way to blend two subjects into one is to find blended online music courses. 

My Solar System Symphony Online unit study is one such course and can be of immense value to the entire family because it contains age appropriate learning activities for the kids ranging from 4 – 17. Take a look at this preview. 

Comment below and let me know what other activities you can think of to keep teens engaged and appreciating music.