5 ‘Stunningly Easy’ Ways To Introduce Different Genres Of Music To Tweens

5 ‘Stunningly Easy’ Ways To Introduce Different Genres Of Music To Tweens

5 ‘Stunningly Easy’ Ways To Introduce Different Genres Of Music To Tweens

See below for a Free Printable Pack to go with the post.

One of the easiest ways to get tweens into music is through the study of different genres of music. But how are you going to do this in the homeschool?

Isn’t it complicated? 

Actually no, it doesn’t have to be complicated and in this post, I’m going to show you how you can get your tweens into music appreciation, through the introduction of genres of music. 

Ready to get started?

Ok, let’s go, but don’t forget to download the printable I have made available, after you’ve read this post. 

 

Research

Ask your tweens to research and find a few genres of music that they would like to focus on. 

The easiest place to start is by asking them to get going with the genres they are already familiar with such as slow rock, pop, rap etc. 

 

Select

Now, select two of the genres for further analysis and study. 

In this step ask your children to research the top musicians in the genres choses, the instruments that are used, the style of music and the history and evolution of the music. 

Use the printables I have made available so they can actually write down what they are learning. 

 

Listen And Compare

Next, ask them to create a playlist of songs for each of the two genres they selected for in-depth study and listen to the music until they are very familiar with the two genres and their nuances. 

Once they have gained some familiarity it is time to start comparing the two genres and contrasting it with one another in terms of, instruments used, dynamics, emotions elicited and much more. 

 

Experience

There is nothing more exhilarating than taking in a live performance or attending a music festival, if possible. 

If you are able to find a local performance or concert where, one of the genres of music studied will be featured, then do you best to take your kids to it, if it is age appropriate of course. 

 

Opinions And Conclusions

Once your kids have sufficiently researched and compared the two genres of music, ask them to write an opinion piece on their favourite genre and draw conclusions on it. 

 

Let me know in the comments below, what you think of the above ideas and if you think they are doable. 

Karen Cadera

Karen Cadera

Founder/Creator

Mom, Teacher, Minimalist, Zero Waste Enthusiast, Multi Pod.

My daughter loved the games, but there were also worksheets and videos. The weekly lesson plans were complete, and I never questioned what I should be doing next.

Lisa Tanner

Homeschool Mom

Play Piano Today!

Teach your child to play piano, today.

Yes, in as little as 30 minutes I can show you how to teach your child to play the piano, for FREE.

What are you waiting for?

Download the FREE Music Genres Worksheets

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3 ‘Incredibly Easy’ Ways To Teach Your Kids About Different Genres Of Music

3 ‘Incredibly Easy’ Ways To Teach Your Kids About Different Genres Of Music

3 ‘Incredibly Easy’ Ways To Teach Your Kids About Different Genres Of Music

See below for a Free Printable Pack to go with the post.

Teaching kids about the different genres of music, the different nuances that are prevalent in these genres and more, can be both very interesting and also very engaging. 

It is also one of the best and easiest ways for homeschool moms with absolutely no knowledge of music, to get their kids into music. 

So, in today’s post I will be explaining how you can use three incredibly easy techniques to do just that. 

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

 

Learn

Irrespective of the age of your child, select a few genres like Jazz, Blues, Rock and help him identify the different genres. 

 

Listen

Next create playlists for each genres and have your child listen to the music

 

Delve

Depending on the age of your child you can vary the activities. 

With really young kids, learning about one musician, or the name of one famous musician who excelled in a specific genre and learning his name etc, would be sufficient. Eg. Pop music – Elvis Presley, learn where he was born and a few of his songs. 

With older kids you can take these activities even further. 

Learn about the history of the genre, what inspired it, who were the most popular artists, create and listen to playlists for each artist, learn about the musical instruments mostly used for the genre, compare and contrast the music of different artists, reflect on the genres of music, the emotions they elicit and much more. 

You can even take these a further step by organizing field trips to local music festivals and performances, where your children can experience the music they are learning about, in person. 

 

What do you think of these activities?

Aren’t they easy to implement? 

Which one will you be implementing first in your homeschool?

Karen Cadera

Karen Cadera

Founder/Creator

Mom, Teacher, Minimalist, Zero Waste Enthusiast, Multi Pod.

Play Piano Today!

Teach your child to play piano, today.

Yes, in as little as 30 minutes I can show you how to teach your child to play the piano, for FREE.

What are you waiting for?

Download the FREE Music Genres Worksheets

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4 ‘Ingenius’ Ways To Teach Tweens Music With Movie Musicals

4 ‘Ingenius’ Ways To Teach Tweens Music With Movie Musicals

4 ‘Ingenius’ Ways To Teach Tweens Music With Movie Musicals

See below for a Free Printable Pack to go with the post.

Watching movie musicals is one of the best ways in which, you can get middle school aged kids to appreciate music in the homeschool. 

Unfortunately however, most homeschool moms, have no idea how to take their 10 -13 year old’s learning to the next level. 

Therefore, in today’s post, I thought I should focus on that specific aspect. 

Once you’ve read through this post, don’t forget to download the worksheets I have made available, for your tween. 

Ready to get started?

Let’s go.

 

Songs, Composers And Instruments

As a first step ask your tweens to list out all the songs in the movie 

If possible they can download or create a playlist with the movies’ songs and listen to the songs in the background in the homeschool, until they internalize the songs. 

List out the composers and instruments in each song. 

They can take it a step further and compare and contrast two songs on style and how it sounds etc. 

 

Different Versions Of The Song

Ask your kids to use the list that was created above and search and listen to different versions of each of the songs. 

For instance, some songs may have cover versions, remakes and much more. 

 

Compare and Contrast

Again, use the list provided above and pick two or more songs. 

Now tell your tweens to compare and contrast the songs in terms of emotions and moods that it elicits, and discuss why the song is melancholy, happy or cheerful etc. 

Remember, to discuss aspects such as dynamics and instruments used. 

 

Favourite Song

Lastly, tell your tweens to select a favourite song from the list and carry out an in-depth analysis of the song in terms of dynamics, emotions, lyrics, melody, beat, etc. 

 

Do you think your tweens will enjoy these activities?

Don’t forget to download the worksheets I have made available for them. 

If you want to know, how to add movie musicals to your homeschool library, you can read my post 7 ‘Genius’ Ways To Add Musicals To Your Home Library. 

My post, How To Have A Musical Movie Night, will help you make watching movie musicals a fun and enjoyable experience in your homeschool. 

Karen Cadera

Karen Cadera

Founder/Creator

Mom, Teacher, Minimalist, Zero Waste Enthusiast, Multi Pod.

My daughter loved the games, but there were also worksheets and videos. The weekly lesson plans were complete, and I never questioned what I should be doing next.

Lisa Tanner

Homeschool Mom

Play Piano Today!

Teach your child to play piano, today.

Yes, in as little as 30 minutes I can show you how to teach your child to play the piano, for FREE.

What are you waiting for?

Download the FREE Movie Musical Watching Guides 

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5 ‘Must Know’ Ways To Blend History And Music Studies For Tweens

5 ‘Must Know’ Ways To Blend History And Music Studies For Tweens

5 ‘Must Know’ Ways To Blend History And Music Studies For Tweens

See below for a Free Printable Pack to go with the post.

Do your tweens learn history in the homeschool? What history do you teach?

American, British, world history?

Either way, did you know that you can blend history studies with music appreciation?

I see the surprise in your face. 

Yes, you can. 

You can blend history and music studies and make it one really fun project. 

I can see some of those doubtful faces right now, but let me stop you there. 

In this post I am going to explain to you how you can convert any history lesson in to a blended history and music lesson.

I have even created a printable and made it available to help your tweens and my printables can be used irrespective of the type of event, revolution, political era that your children are learning in the homeschool. 

So don’t forget to download it. 

Now let’s get started

For this post I’m going to assume that your kids are learning about the middle ages, which is considered as medieval times in music. 

 

Medieval Instruments

This would be a fantastic place to start. 

Why not learn about some of the common medieval musical instruments such as the Sackbut. 

Your tweens can carry out an in-depth research study of the instrument, learn about its origin and what it has evolved into in the centuries following. 

You can even ask your tweens to create a playlist of songs played with a sackbut and listen to the playlist in the background when homeschooling. 

 

Medieval Composers

There were many composers from the medieval era like Hildegard Of Bingen and Guillaume DuFey and others. 

Why not ask your tween to select one or maybe two composers to research? 

Compare and contrast their life and work. 

Discuss how they contributed to the early formation and musical structure. 

Again you can encourage your tween to find and create a playlist of music composed by one or more of the individuals and play it in the background, during homeschooling hours. 

 

Genres Of Music

Depending on the time in history your kids are learning about, there could be some really interesting genres of music that originated in that era. 

In the case of the medieval era, while there were a few different genres, almost all music was related to worship and religious tradition (in Europe). 

Therefore, exploration in to music during the medieval era in other cultures like Chinese, African and Arabian music will no doubt be very interesting. 

Either way, ask your tween to select a genre or two, create playlists, listen to the music and then compare and contrast the two genres in terms of instruments used, the origin, evolution and so forth. 

 

Political Influence On Music

Politics played a huge role in music across the world in bygone centuries

If your tween is learning about a specific political event, then ask him to research how it influenced music. Were any of the monarchs or rulers patrons of the arts and if so, how did that influence music and develop it during the era?

 

Take An Online Course

Why not take an online course that is complete with music starting in the medieval era and goes all the way into the modern era.

That way no matter what country or event your kids are learning about in the homeschool, you will always be able to blend history and music studies together. 

Your tween can learn about all the different instruments and composers of the eras and also the political, economic and social events that further contributed to the development of music. 

Try out a preview unit in my History Of Music Online Unit Study and use the coupon to get a 50% discount on the price. 

 

I’m eager to know which one of the above ideas you will be implementing first. 

So please comment below. 

Karen Cadera

Karen Cadera

Founder/Creator

Mom, Teacher, Minimalist, Zero Waste Enthusiast, Multi Pod.

My daughter loved the games, but there were also worksheets and videos. The weekly lesson plans were complete, and I never questioned what I should be doing next.

Lisa Tanner

Homeschool Mom

Play Piano Today!

Teach your child to play piano, today.

Yes, in as little as 30 minutes I can show you how to teach your child to play the piano, for FREE.

What are you waiting for?

This program reminded me (and allowed me to teach my son) how to read music. To me, that was the most important thing that we learned together. Of course, it was very rewarding for me to watch my son play the piano with both hands at the same time, while reading sheet music. His favorite parts of the course were actually playing the songs and doing the worksheets provided.

Carrie M.

Stay At Home Mom

Download the FREE History & Music Worksheets

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6 ‘Extraordinarily Engaging’ Ways To Teach Tweens The History Of Music

6 ‘Extraordinarily Engaging’ Ways To Teach Tweens The History Of Music

6 ‘Extraordinarily Engaging’ Ways To Teach Tweens The History Of Music

See below for a Free Printable Pack to go with the post.

The history of music is a really engaging way in which to bring music lessons to the middle school aged kids in your homeschool. 

Read through this post and download the worksheets I have made available so you can introduce your kids to music appreciation in a very fun and engaging way. 

 

Create A Playlist

Yes, this is one of the easiest things to do and one that your tweens will likely love. 

Select a specific era in music to focus on, then tell your tweens to create a playlist of music from that particular era in music. 

Next, listen to the playlist everyday for the next week or two during your usual homeschooling day. 

 

Composer And Instrument Studies

Your tweens can use the playlist that they created and research about the different composers whose music they were listening to and the instruments that were used in the compositions. 

Learn about the life and works of the composers, the origins and evolution of the instruments and much more. 

 

Create A Presentation

Research and create a presentation depicting life during the selected era. 

Your tweens can cover aspects such as food, transportation, political events, clothing, social structures, political structure, architecture and much more. 

Can you see, how you can start with music but expand it further?

 

Field Trips

Why not include some field trips and similar activities like going to the museum to learn more about the era, going to live performances of plays that were set in the era and more? 

Can you think of other field trip ideas?

Please comment below. 

 

History, And The Evolution Of Music As We Know It

You can take the presentation your tweens created about the selected era to a different level and ask them to research how major historic events in the given era influenced the music of the era and who the prominent musicians were and what inspired them.

 

Compose

How about asking your tweens to pretend to be composers and compose simple melodies that are in keeping with the style of music of the era? 

There is no right or wrong way to do this, just have them listen to music from the era and ask them to try to improvise similar melodies and rhythms. 

 

Do you think your tweens will like these ideas?

Comment below and let me know. 

Karen Cadera

Karen Cadera

Founder/Creator

Mom, Teacher, Minimalist, Zero Waste Enthusiast, Multi Pod.

My daughter loved the games, but there were also worksheets and videos. The weekly lesson plans were complete, and I never questioned what I should be doing next.

Lisa Tanner

Homeschool Mom

Play Piano Today!

Teach your child to play piano, today.

Yes, in as little as 30 minutes I can show you how to teach your child to play the piano, for FREE.

What are you waiting for?

Download the FREE History of Music Worksheets

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My Completely Honest Review Of Christmas Carols Made Easy

My Completely Honest Review Of Christmas Carols Made Easy

My Completely Honest Review Of Christmas Carols Made Easy

This post contains affiliate links.

If you click a link and purchase something, I may earn a small fee from the said company/manufacturer/seller or individual, from who you make the purchase.

Today I’m going to do something very different, something that I have never done in the past. Today, I’m going to review a music course created by a good friend of mine, Gena Mayo. 

Since it is the festive season and I want to add seasonal music to your home, I thought I should check out Gena’s Christmas Carols Made Easy course, and write a completely honest review about it, right here. 

 

So What Is This Course? 

Let me start off by telling you that unlike my courses, which are either courses on how to play the piano or how to appreciate music, this particular course by Gena is actually a singing course. Yes, that’s right. 

 

Singing. 

 

Fun don’t you think?

 

Wait but do I hear you saying why a singing course? 

 

We know how to sing carols, why do we need a singing course? 

 

I’m sure you do know how to sing. I do too. But this singing course is like no other. So please read through and you will understand why I think it is very unique. 

 

What Is Unique About This Course? 

For one, it introduces you and your entire family to singing carols from around the world. Yes, carols that are in different languages. While you may be very good at singing carols in English, do you know how to correctly pronounce and sing carols in different languages? 

 

In this course, not only does Gena teach you how to sing carols in French, German and other languages, but she also systematically walks you through the pronunciation as well. 

 

Furthermore, she has also provided MP3 accompaniments for each of the carols, and walks you through the difficult parts of each carol. There are even hand outs with further explanations and notes on what to look out for. 

 

Besides having over a dozen carols, Gena has also added bonus songs. She has even included breathing and voice training exercises, and all in all, provided a ton of value that is way over and above the $25 launch price for this course. 

 

The actual retail price of the course is $37, BUT for the duration of the launch sale (which ends on Saturday the 23rd of October), it is $25, and I can assure you that she has provided a ton of quality material. 

 

If all of the above isn’t enough, Gena has also provided the most adorable printables so the youngest members of your household will also be able to join in the fun in their own little creative way. 

 

Cons – Yes There Are Cons To This Course….

All you skeptics out there didn’t expect this did you? 

 

No worries, I am a skeptic myself and totally understand if you think that my review so far has been a tad biased to the positive side. 

 

But wait…..there is in fact a downside, and I want to point out that in my opinion this course does have a BIG downside.

 

So here goes…….

 

My pet peeve with this course is that it does not cover some of our most favourite Christmas carols like Once in Royal David’s City for instance. 

 

But then again, I’m sure you will agree with me when I say that popular carols such as those are not very difficult to learn and sing, and even if they were challenging to the musically challenged parent, the foundation that Gena has laid in this course will no doubt help your entire family to master all the festive favourites that have not been included. 

So What Is My Final Verdict?

Get the course, while you can and get it at the sale price of $25. 

 

But wait, there is more…….

 

As you may have already guessed, when you purchase the course through the link I have provided on this page, I will receive an affiliate commission from Gena, and as a thank you to you for purchasing the course through MY link I want to give you access to my premium 4 unit mini course The Nutcracker Ballet, with which you can introduce your kids (aged 4 – 14) to this amazing festive ballet by Tchaikovsky. 

 

So what are you waiting for? Grab Gena’s amazing Christmas Carols Made Easy at the discounted price of just $25 and when you purchase it by clicking my link, you can also get my 4 unit mini Nutcracker Ballet course

 

Here’s How You Get My Bonus Course

Once you’ve used the link on this page, to purchase Gena’s course, please email me at karen@teachyourchildpiano.com and , I will send you the access details to the Nutcracker Mini Course, once I verify the purchase with Gena. 

 

Want to see what the 4 Unit Nutcracker Ballet mini course entails? Take a look here. 

 

Don’t forget, it can be yours at no additiona cost to you. All you have to do is purchase the Christmas Carols Made Easy course with my link. 

Karen Cadera

Karen Cadera

Founder/Creator

Mom, Teacher, Minimalist, Zero Waste Enthusiast, Multi Pod.

My daughter loved the games, but there were also worksheets and videos. The weekly lesson plans were complete, and I never questioned what I should be doing next.

Lisa Tanner

Homeschool Mom

Play Piano Today!

Teach your child to play piano, today.

Yes, in as little as 30 minutes I can show you how to teach your child to play the piano, for FREE.

What are you waiting for?

This program reminded me (and allowed me to teach my son) how to read music. To me, that was the most important thing that we learned together. Of course, it was very rewarding for me to watch my son play the piano with both hands at the same time, while reading sheet music. His favorite parts of the course were actually playing the songs and doing the worksheets provided.

Carrie M.

Stay At Home Mom

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9 Thing Your One On One Music Teacher Will Not Tell You

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facebooktwitterpinterestinstagramyoutubeEven today in the era of online learning I still find parents who insist that nothing can take the place of one on one piano lessons. While this is true, it is not absolutely true.  This I would have to say is the GREAT one on...