About This Curriculum

This website is a collection of presentations and assignments that I have created to teach my middle school students to compose music. It is not a "learn to compose in X number of weeks" kind of path, though. Each topic and assignment builds on the skills gained in the last one, so it is important to repeat the exercises as many times as you need to for your own students to reach mastery before moving on to the next topic. Where you start on the path will depend on what they already know, and how far you get will depend on how quickly they master each step. Start with the Differentiation tab, and move to the right through each tab to follow the path.

This sequence assumes that students are experiencing music through performance too, and can read rhythmic patterns.

Middle School? You're kidding, right?

No! Middle School students are very capable if the information is presented and scaffolded appropriately. That said, this path also allows teachers to differentiate the content to fit the needs of each student and could easily be used in high school too. I use a series of three pre-tests to determine where my students are, and then I put them in groups to match those abilities. All students are on the same path, but students start in different places depending on their prior knowledge. Is this harder for teachers? Sure. Is it best for students? Absolutely. I hope that these assignment templates will make it easier.

Want to see some examples of actual middle school work? Check out the STUDENT EXAMPLES page!

Want to create your own assignments? Download the graphic resources I've created or compiled and use them to create your own versions!

How much class time does this take?

My students spend approximately 40 minutes per week doing music theory assignments during half of one block period. We work on performance repertoire for the first 40 minutes, and then switch to "Music Theory Time!" for the last 40 minutes of that class period.

Most of the assignments are designed to be completed in thirty minutes or less, but the more advanced assignments (like writing ABCA form in three parts or writing quartets) will take longer. In those cases, I allow two block days (over two weeks) for students to complete the assignments.

This has been time well-spent for me. The musical literacy my students have gained through these exercises has made everything else we do easier.

What resources will students need?

I consider myself fortunate to work at a school where students have one-to-one technology access. All of my students have their own Chromebook, and we use the Google Classroom platform for posting assignments. The slides-based assignments will download as Powerpoint files and can be converted to Google Slides. (They were created with Slides and I assign them through Google Classroom) The notation software assignments are in the Music XML format and can be completed with any music notation software. My school also provides students access to the Noteflight Learn platform, which is surprisingly affordable.

What will students learn?

The presentations and assignments are organized into the following topics:

Google Slides Assignments

1. Note Reading in Treble AND Bass Clef (Students will need to be fluent in both, so this helps close the gap for kids who only read one.)

2. Creating and Identifying Written Intervals

3. Creating Chords using Intervals

4. Labeling Chords with Roman Numerals (Chord Analysis)

5. Writing Chord Progressions

6. Voice Leading and Labeling Inversions (Teaching inversions through the concept of voice-leading helps kids understand why inversions exist.)

Noteflight Assignments (Or other notation software)

7. Writing Chord-Tone Melodies on top of Chord Progressions

8. Non-Chord Tones: Using and Labeling Passing and Neighbor Tones

9. Form: Writing music in AABA Form

10. Outlining Chords (For more interesting accompaniments)

11. Writing in Three Parts: 56 Measure ABACADA Form, Solo with Piano Accompaniment

Grading is about Feedback, not just a score

The Google Slides assignments are quick and easy to grade. I just create a red circle that can be copied and pasted to show mistakes. The important thing is to send students written feedback when they are making more than a few mistakes. My experience has been that students usually make their mistakes in patterns. Catching those early makes everything else easier later.

The online music-notation assignments can be harder to grade, and that process does take some time. We use Noteflight, which allows individual notes to be colored. I color mistakes pink, take a screen-snip, and send students individual emails to describe what they can do better. That level of individual feedback really propels student growth. It also lets students know that you care about them as individuals.

Note: This works for me, but I understand that some of you will have far larger classes to grade work for. Be creative in how you provide feedback, but understand that the "why" of feedback is far more important than the score. Handing back work with a grade without an explanation will probably just frustrate your students, and handing back work at all is definitely more challenging in a technology-based world.

Here's an example of the type of feedback I provide via email for a Chord Tone Melody assignment:

Where did this come from?

I first began teaching chord theory and composition as a way to help my jazz band students better understand the chord symbols they saw in solo sections. This led to writing solos, and eventually to writing two-part music in AABA form. My classes became asynchronous during the 2020-21 school year because of COVID, and I used that opportunity to bring the curriculum to all of my students. The pandemic schedule forced me to really codify these lessons into a format that all of my students could find accessible. I've used it successfully, once per week, now that we have returned to in-person learning too.