Lesson Plan- How has Romantic music influenced current music, such as pop and alternative styles?

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Class: Music History-Romantic Era

Grade: 9th-10th

Curric: A History of Western Music, Grout & Palisca

Assignment: Influences of Romantic Music on current music

Materials: none, only your creativity

Objective: Show how Romantic era music relates to current music

Intro: Fnally, music that students listen to needs to be connected to the music from their past in the Romantic era.

To do this, students need to recognize elements of Romantic music in elements of their music.

This is accomplished in many ways.

One could be a discussion of styles or genres:

"Ska" music uses brass instruments to play pop alternative music. Brass instruments have been in use since before the Romantic era of music history.

Instruments such as violins have been used in lots of recent popular music, a discussion of differences in how they are used, such as the "lead" instrument, or as "backup" could be done.

These should be student centered discussions where students take an active role in formulating how their music is similar to that of the past. Now that they have done other research and heard Romantic music, they may have some insights as to instruments, similar ideas, and rhythms that are heard in both eras.

Discussion can be facilitated by asking particular questions of the students:

What instruments do you hear in Romantic Music? Is it similar to those in music you listen to now?

How are electric guitars related to violins?

What does the music's rhythm sound like in comparison to other music?

There is no student work sample for this. It is meant to be a class discussion.

Evaluation: This work is only evaluated in the sense that the students have a greater understanding of music history and demonstrate what they have learned through these lessons and what has sparked their interest.