Meet the Orchestra Lesson

Let me just say that there is nothing better to keep yourself on track than knowing that you need to create a blog post by a certain day! We have been a bit behind but Liam decided he wanted to do this orchestra lesson one evening…while Dad was home.

Here’s what happens while you are being a composer and Dad is home:

Yes, that is whipped cream being shot into his mouth…at 7:30 at night! And while Liam was conducting his orchestra we got a show of Matt dancing and conducting as well. It might not have been the most focused lesson but there was a lot of fun and Liam learned what he was supposed to have been learned.

LESSON

Like I said before, this lesson was a bit unconventional. I did not read the Discussion Read Aloud this time. I simply used it as a way to guide a conversation between the two of us…which honestly is the best way to use it.

For this lesson, I really wanted Liam to get the feel for what a conductor of an orchestra does. Not just their job but also how they do it. While I remember a bit about the basics of conducting from seventh grade band class I found some good videos on YouTube to help with this.

Then he had a blast taking what he knew and conducting the orchestra he had set up. Right before this, we had played a game online that showed how the orchestra is separated into instrument families so he separated his a animals into their correct instrument families. HA!

We played a variety of classical music (but especially Mozart of course!) and it was so fun to watch him taking his conducting job so seriously.

What We Learned

By the end of the lesson, he was able to:

• define conductor
• conduct an imaginary audience

He also now has a good understanding of many new vocabulary words such as:

• orchestra
• harmony
• conductor
• audience
• baton

My entire lesson plan and the lesson Discussion Read Aloud can be purchased here.

Here’s a little secret, though. Any Glue Sticks and Games blog subscriber receives these materials FREE in their inbox each week! So, snag your copy of this lesson and then sign up to get the rest of the year for free!

Other Great Resources

Here are some great resources that are not included in my Lesson Plan but that I felt were still worth mentioning. And I’m sure I’ll come back to these when we have space time throughout our week.

Videos

See You Soon!

Next week we’ll be taking a break from out typical music lessons and focusing on Thanksgiving. But the following week we’ll be back learning more about operas and orchestras!

The Whole Year

Check out all about the ENTIRE YEAR of music lessons here.

And don’t forget about art! Find out all about those year long plans here!

Here are some previous music lessons you might enjoy:
Lesson 1- Melody, Harmony, Rhythm
Lesson 2 – Musical Instrument Families
Lesson 3 – Percussion Instrument Family
Lesson 4 – String Instrument Family
Lesson 5 – Woodwind Instruments
Lesson 6 – Brass Instruments
Lesson 7 – Mozart’s Life
Lesson 8 – Mozart the Composer

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