Do you know that you don’t need a degree in music to teach your kids music appreciation? 

Well, you don’t, and in this post I’m going to explain to you how you can easily DIY a history of music unit for your children in the comfort of your homeschool. 

Don’t worry, I have even provided you with a preview of an online unit from my History of Music (Medieval to Modern) course, along with the printable as well. 

Shall we get started?

Ok, here goes. 

Decide On The Age Group

If you have only one child, this should be easy. 

If you have kids ranging from 4 to 18 on the other hand you will have to group them. You can group them by grade or something like pre-school, primary school, middle school, high school. 

Decide On Type Of Activities 

Once you’ve grouped them by age, the next step is to decide on the type of activities you think will engage them the most. 

Will it be hands on activities, research activities, or field trips or a combination of all three?

Want more ideas? Read this post 11 Innovative History Of Music Activities For Kids Of All Ages. 

Pick An Era

There are several eras in music history to choose from such as the medieval era, the baroque era, the classical era, the romantic era and the modern era. 

It is imperative, that rather than trying to focus on all the eras, you choose one era to explore. 

Find Printables

Now that you know what era your kids will be focusing on, you can look for some printables online.

If you don’t have the time to do this, no worries, I have got you covered. 

Simply download the printables I have made available. 

Create A Playlist

Now that you’ve selected the era, simply find and create a playlist of music from the era, or of instruments from the era or of composers from the era or a combination of all. 

Make sure to listen to the playlist in the background in your homeschool. 

Blend, Blend, Blend

Why stop here? Take it a step further and blend it with other subjects. 

For science you learn about the inventions or great discoveries that were made during the 16th and 17th centuries for instance. 

If you blend history with language for instance, why not learn about literature from the same era? 

You get the idea don’t you? 

Now, what are you waiting for? 

Get started right now. 

Introducing kids to the orchestra, its instruments and other facts, is a good starting point to get them into music appreciation. 

In this post, I’m going to explain several different facets of the orchestra in point form, so you in turn can use these easy to remember facts to introduce your children to the orchestra. 

As always I have also made a variety of printables available with this post to help you take their learning to the next level. 

Ready to get started? 

Ok. Let’s go. 

Did you know there are two main types of orchestras?

The Chamber Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra. 

The Chamber Orchestra

It often consists of less than 50 musicians. Chamber orchestras were very popular in the 17th and 18th centuries and composers like Mozart, Haydn and Vivaldi were some of the famous musicians who composed pieces performed by Chamber Orchestras.

The Symphony Orchestra

This type of orchestra boasts over 100 musicians and the instruments can be classed into four different sections

– Strings (cellos, double bass, violas, first and second violins)

– Brass (trumpets, horns)

– Woodwinds (bassoons, clarinets, oboes, flutes)

– Percussion (timpani)

Beethoven, Wagner, and Brahms composed pieces for symphony orchestras.

During the 19th century, even more, instruments such as the trombone and the tuba were added to the symphony orchestra.

However, by the 20th century, composers started writing pieces that required lesser instruments and were similar to chamber orchestras.

The Conductor

The role of the conductor consists of more than simply ‘waving a baton with a flourish’. 

Rather, a conductor’s job starts with studying, exploring and analysing the music long before meeting the orchestra or rehearsing. 

It is through study, analysis and exploration that the conductor is able to understand the vision of the composer and inspire the musicians in the orchestra to bring it to life.

Adding music to your existing homeschool schedule and curriculum should not be a difficult thing. 

Most homeschool moms often think that it is very complicated and that they don’t have the knowledge nor the time to do what is necessary. 

However, there is nothing further from the truth than that. 

In today’s post, I am going to show you exactly how you can add music to your homeschool with ten easy to implement ideas. 

Once you are done reading through the post, don’t forget to download the checklist I have made available. 

Sing

What can be easier than this?

Sing at every turn. Encourage your kids to sing when they are outside walking in nature. 

Sing when you are doing household chores. 

Sing when tidying up. Hey, even sing in the shower. 

Theme Parties

Pick a musical theme for the month. For example it can be a theme like Jazz. 

Create a playlist of jazz music, listen to it in the background. 

Ask older kids to research famous jazz musicians and musical instruments commonly used in jazz orchestras and so on. 

Just Sing Don’t Speak

This is a really fun activity to try with young kids. 

They do have sing song voices anyway and will be able to sing out sentences with ease. 

What is more? They will find it really fun. 

Find Beats

Another great activity to do with the little ones is to find different beats from the natural and artificial environments. 

Our heart beats are natural beats. How about the beat from the pecking sound of a wood pecker? The drip of water or the flow of a stream? 

What other beats can your kids identify? The washing machine or dryer in your house may have a hum or beat to it. That would be an excellent artificial beat. 

Ask them to listen to those beats and imitate them as best they can. 

Create A Dance Routine

What about creating a dance routine?

Let’s say your kids are in charge of setting the table for dinner, or sweeping, or vacuuming. 

Why not ask them to create a dance routine for one of those chores or all of them?

Wouldn’t that be fun?

Single Syllable Singing

Yes, it’s as easy as that. Try it out, it is really easy and fun. 

Compose

Take two different tunes and try to meld them into one. 

The first line can be from the first tune and the second line from the second tune. 

Of course not all tunes will go together, but it will be fun activity nevertheless and your kids will learn what works and what doesn’t. 

Pitch Exercises

Teach younger kids to identify high pitched and low pitched sounds in the environment. 

Say for instance a birds chirping can be considered high pitched when compared to the low rumble of thunder. 

Similarly have them find more sounds like that in the environment and classify them as high or low pitch sounds. 

Music And Emotions

Listen to music and discuss, why you like or don’t like a specific sound and how the tune makes your child feel emotionally. 

Is it a happy tune, or a sad tune? 

Eras In Music

Pick a specific period in time like the 1920s or the 1950s or the 1800s and find and listen to music from that era. 

Older kids can research about musicians and musical genres from that time and delve into greater depths if they like. 

What do you think? 

Aren’t these ideas, easy to implement? 

Which ones will you be implementing first?

Have you even heard about the Glass Harmonica or Armonica?

I’m sure some of you have, while others haven’t. 

Either way, today I’m going to introduce the Glass Harmonica to you and help you introduce it to your kids in turn. 

I have even included a printable to go with this post, so don’t forget to download it once you are done reading. 

– The Glass Harmonica was created in 1761 by Benjamin Franklin.

– Franklin was inspired to create the Glass Harmonica when he saw someone playing water tuned wine glasses. 

– Franklin’s creation did away with the water tuning and enabled the musician to use his or her fingers instead. 

– The difference between the water tuned wine glasses and the Glass Harmonica is that in the Harmonica, the glass bowls are nested inside one another and mounted on an iron spindle. 

– Another significant difference is, water tuned wine glasses have to be played one at a time. However, since the Glass Harmonica’s spindle can be turned with a foot peddle, several bowls can be played simultaneously. 

– Also in Franklin’s version of the Glass Harmonica, the rim of each bowl was painted in a different colour according to pitch. 

Ask your kids to watch these videos before they move on to using the printables. 

Watch this video to see what glass tuned wine glasses or the Glass Harp looks like.

What other interesting facts have you learned about the Glass Harmonica?

Do you know that you don’t need a degree in music to teach your kids music analysis? 

Well, you don’t, and in this post I’m going to explain to you how you can easily DIY a music analysis unit for your children in the comfort of your homeschool. 

Don’t worry, I have even provided you with a printable to go with this post. 

So there really isn’t much that you need to do, other than making some crucial decisions. 

Decide On The Age Group

If you have only one child, this should be easy. 

If you have kids ranging from 4 to 18 on the other hand you will have to group them. 

You can group them by grade or something like pre-school, primary school, middle school, high school. 

Pick An Analysis Activity 

Music analysis can range from something as simple as reflecting on the music, comparing one song with another, listening for melodic patterns, critically analyzing parts and use of instruments/vocals etc. 

Read my post 6 ‘Unbelievably Simple’ Ways To Teach Your Kids Music Analysis, to get an in-depth understanding of the types of activities you can choose from. 

Find Printables

Now that you’ve decided on the activities, it is time to find some printables your kids can use. 

Don’t have the time, to do that? 

Not a problem, simply use the printables I have made available. 

Don’t worry, you can use it irrespective of the activity you choose, and it is suitable for all age groups. 

Create A Playlist

It is now time to create a playlist of songs. 

Make sure to listen to the playlist in the background in your homeschool. 

Use the playlist to complete the printables. 

Is that hard?

So what are you waiting for? 

Get started right now.