During the first week of class, the teacher and students engage in brainstorming sessions. During these sessions, everyone involved in the classroom environment introduces themselves, their musical background and their musical interests. Icebreaker activities such as the name game and “guess-that-song” might be ways to start some of these conversations. Given the collaborative nature of this classroom, ensuring that all students feel safe, comfortable, and valued in both the physical and academic space is critical.

In this learning experience, students explore various softwares used for creating and editing music. Students begin by researching and learning from various producers like Finneas, Stargate, Just Blaze, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, who talk about their music-making processes and how they use sampling in their work. Through these explorations, students experiment with audio editing software like SoundTrap and Audacity to understand the possibilities and limitations of each tool. Students experiment with this software to create their own music. They will need to use their imagination and creativity to figure out how they want to manipulate sounds and will need to be aware of the different musical concepts (such as looping and sequencing) and techniques they can use to create their vision. Through this project, students gain skills they can apply to their future music-making efforts. By completing a project with endless possibilities and limitations such as this one, students become familiar with the software used throughout the course while also building confidence in using different tools and techniques to create music.

In this learning experience, students dive deeper into the world of music production by arranging or reorchestrating a song of their choice using the software they used in the previous experience. Students choose a song that speaks to them personally and consider how they might infuse their own creativity and personality into their arrangement. Throughout the project, students think critically about their work, take risks, try new things and think flexibly. Once their arrangements are complete, students should share their work with others through platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Soundcloud. In doing so, they have the opportunity to get feedback and reactions from a wider audience which help them continue to grow and develop their skills as musicians. Enabling students to make their own connections to their projects allows them to take ownership of their own learning, providing experiences that hold relevance and meaning to their lives aids in the development of students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Prompted by the teacher, students will engage in a discussion about how music conveys meaning. Prompts might include “how does this song make you feel?” and “what part of the music makes you feel that way? - the lyrics, the instrumentation?” After the discussion, students will choose their own short story or children’s book from the school library to create a musical narrative. Students will first read the story and begin planning their musical narrative (decide what software to use and the general feel of the song). Students should use the software and tools they have been using throughout this course (SoundTrap, YouTube, Soundcloud, etc.). A musical narrative might involve the words of the actual story or the moral of the story. The musical narrative might also develop as just an instrumental background while the story is read aloud. Once students have completed their musical narratives, they will present them to the class for a discussion on conveying musical meaning and explain the choices they made for their projects. This discussion will help students develop their critical thinking and communication skills. This project requires that students implement habits of mind like creating, listening with understanding, applying past knowledge to new situations, thinking flexibly, choice, awareness, and interpretation. The storytelling nature of this learning experience is important because it encourages students to think creatively and critically about how music can convey meaning. By working on a project that requires them to interpret a story and effectively convey its meaning through music, students will develop a deeper understanding of the power of music to tell stories and convey emotions.

In this learning experience, students will explore the rich cultural and artistic traditions of R&B, hip-hop and rap music, and use innovative music technology tools like Soundtrap to create their own unique compositions. By exploring the historical and cultural context of these musical genres, students will gain a deeper understanding of how they emerged as important cultural expressions and learn about the key musical features that define these genres, such as rhythm, harmony and melody. Throughout the experience, students will analyze and deconstruct the elements of popular songs, focusing on their lyrics, production techniques and overall structure. By doing so, students will develop critical listening skills and begin to understand how to make musical meaning using various elements of sound and composition. With the help of music technology like Soundtrap, students experiment with these musical elements themselves, using their own unique voices and creative visions to compose original songs that draw upon the rich traditions of R&B, hip-hop and rap. Whether working individually or collaboratively, students will gain confidence in their ability to create meaningful musical compositions and engage with contemporary musical genres in a fresh and exciting way.

In this experience, students build on the previous experience to analyze a video scene to determine the clip’s success at conveying emotion. Students are challenged to apply their skills and software knowledge to solve a problem. Students will interact with local composers and watch videos of composers speaking about their composition processes - such as Hans Zimmer, John Williams and John Barry - to gain a better understanding of the creative processes they might utilize in their own projects. Students must find a movie scene that has seemingly “incongruous” music, either provided by the teacher or chosen by the student. Students solve this problem by creating a new arrangement or soundtrack that conveys the appropriate emotions and enhances the overall impact of the music on the scene. To successfully complete this project, they will need to analyze the movie scene and understand the emotions and feelings it evokes, interpret the meaning of the scene, and decide how to convey this meaning through their own compositions. They will apply their understanding of musical concepts and software to create a score that enhances the emotional impact of the scene. To succeed in this challenge, students will need to utilize a variety of habits of mind including awareness, imagination, creativity and meaning making. Awareness because students must acknowledge how music conveys emotions and understand how a soundtrack might evoke different emotions or intensify the emotions already present in a movie. Imagination and creativity because students must think of alternative possibilities for these problems and find ways to make these alternative possibilities come to fruition. Meaning-making and relevance to lived experiences because students should attach their own meaning to their solutions and adaptations.

In this learning experience, students will explore the role of music in community engagement. Students will begin with a discussion of their experiences with community service/engagement projects and will talk about the impact of the experiences on the community and how music affects these experiences. Students will explore how different types of music can invoke different moods and emotions. In this exploration, students will listen to examples of music that raise awareness about issues like climate change and racism. Examples may include Heman Beeftink’s “Rising Oceans,” which uses instrumental music to convey a sense of urgency and concern or The Black Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love?”, which encourages listeners to make positive change in the world. Students will analyze the effectiveness of these examples in accomplishing their goals and discuss how music can replicate moods and emotions of various life experiences. In a composition project, students will choose a community engagement project they feel enthusiastic about (working at a food bank, cleaning up a beach, etc.) and create a musical composition that reflects the emotions and moods of the experience. Students will use the softwares they have gained familiarity with and will share their work with the class and wider community through online platforms such as SoundCloud or YouTube. This learning experience encourages students to explore the role of music in community engagement and social justice projects. By creating their compositions, students will develop their creative skills and learn how to use music to communicate complex emotions and ideas. This experience also reinforces the principles of choice, interpretation and imagination by encouraging students to apply their knowledge and understanding of music to real-world situations.

In this learning experience, students will explore social justice issues through music of their own choice. Working in small groups or as individuals, students will research and analyze lyrics and themes from a song of their choice, focusing on how they relate to social justice issues. To do so, students will engage their senses by listening to the music, reading and discussing the lyrics and considering the historical and cultural context of the music. Students will share their findings with the class to expose each other to different perspectives and interpretations of similar and different issues. To address a social justice issue of their choice, students will create their own music using things like humor (where appropriate), hyperbole and metaphor to address their challenging topic. This learning experience is important because students will endure challenging conversations with one another, think flexibly and take responsible risks to create, imagine and innovate. This learning experience concludes with a presentation of students’ creations with the class and a discussion of the connections they’ve made to social justice issues, demonstrating their abilities to communicate effectively and work collaboratively.

In this project, students create an original music video that captures important issues in society or their community such as climate change or community diversity. This project will require students to use their skills in beat production, lyrics, graphics and movement and should consider using softwares they have been exposed to in this course such as iMove and Soundtrap. In doing this project, students analyze what makes a quality music video, including lyrics, visual aspects, and choreography. To create this learning experience students might collaborate across multiple departments in their school community - the general music classes create the beat, the band to provide the accompanying harmonic structures, the dance department to create the choreography, and the visual arts department to create the advertisement (posters and social media). Throughout the project, students will need to work effectively in teams, trust each others’ design decisions, communicate their ideas clearly and effectively and remain open to feedback, and find solutions to challenges that may come up during the process. In completing each piece of the puzzle, students should provide a rationale for the decisions they made so that they may come to an agreement on the overall vision of this project. This process will help them develop their critical thinking and decision making skills. The collaborative nature of this learning experience encourages students to work together and learn from each others’ strengths and weaknesses. By working on a project that requires the input of multiple departments and skill sets, students will develop a deeper understanding of the value of collaboration and the importance of working together toward a common goal.