Complete Full Year Music History Curriculum | Outlines, Resources & Assessments

This complete & comprehensive Music History curriculum is a perfect resource for anyone looking to start, refresh, or upgrade a high school level music history course!  Packed with curriculum maps, presentation slides, curated video links and accompanying assignments, this student approved resource will help you make music history come alive!

Through this course, you and your students will explore and discuss the historical developments of music across a variety of topics, cultures, and geographical regions.  The sequence of the course is focused on students uncovering the answers to the following:
-WHO...was composing/performing/listening?

-WHAT...music were they composing/performing/listening to?   

-WHERE...were they composing/performing/listening?

-WHEN...was this music taking place

-WHY...was music being composed/performed/listened to?

-HOW...was music being composed/performed/listened to?

The focus and goal of this course is for students to connect to their own personal music histories through these resources, assignments, and facilitated discussions while at the same time uncovering the historical developments that helped shape music.  

What You Get:

-A full curriculum instruction guide mapping out the year-long course.  This includes the topics along with the corresponding resources and assignments.
-23 Presentation Resources complete with engaging pictures, video links, and discussion questions (Over 400 total slides of information!)
-36 Student Assignments in a variety of formats to get students thinking, discussing, and responding to music history!
-3 Full Length Video resource edits (Made available through OneDrive file sharing links)
-Guides for Authentic & Benchmark Assessment opportunities.
-Opportunities for project based and collaborative learning.
-Exclusive resources not available outside of this curriculum package!
-Sample course Introduction (for students, parents, and administration).
-Recommendations for using the website Miro.com as a learning and assessment tool.

Unit Topics Include:
Course Introduction/Personal Music History Exploration
What Makes a Genre?
Exploring Musical Cultures
Music of Ancient Cultures & Civilizations
Music of the Middle Ages
The Music of the Renaissance
Baroque Music History/Baroque-Pop/Baroque Sampling
Classical Music Period/Understanding Sonata Form: Classical to 21st Century
Romanticism
Impressionism & Modernism
Themes in American Music History
Early American Music
Developments of Jazz
Rock ‘n’ Roll Origins / Innovations That Influenced Rock ‘n’ Roll
The 1960’s / The Beatles/ The History of Woodstock
Rock of the 1970’s
Hip-Hop Origins & Evolution
Disco & Punk Rock
The 1980’s
The 1990’s
Exploring The 2000’s
Creating Podcasts in Music History: Student Podcast Creation | General Music Unit Project

*Please note-the slides (as shown in the preview) are meant to be used as presentation guides and will require further teacher explanation beyond what is written on the slide.

The slides include embedded YouTube listening examples and web links. Any underlined words in a yellow font lead to the corresponding Youtube Listening examples.

*Please note that some YouTube examples are quite lengthy, so use your judgment as to what sections to use with your class.

These slides are 100% editable, so you can add, delete, or modify this resource in any way to fit the needs of your class!

This resource aligns with the NAfME Core Arts Standards for Listening, Responding, Creating and Connecting.

Other Supplemental Related Resources
Music For Social Justice-Music Analysis & Playlist Creation Unit Project Outline
What is Sampling? A Brief Overview of Sampling in Music History-Powerpoint
WhoSampled.com-Exploring the History of Music Sampling
Song Exploder: Music Analysis and Podcast Creation-General Music Unit Project
"The Humor of Haydn"-TED Talk Response Thinksheet
Music Theory For Beginners! | Intro Slides with Practice & Assessment Activities

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