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Music Notebooking & Lesson - Band vs. Orchestra



A recent trip to a high school band concert sparked a discussion about the difference between a band and an orchestra.

I wanted to teach a little more about this to my children, so I developed a short lesson.  {Be sure not to miss any of the music lesson I will be adding by subscribing to Homegrown Learners.}  

Have your children listen to this BAND PERFORMANCE:  The Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa (The March King).  I like this video because they can SEE the band and watch the instruments being played. 

Maybe they could fill out a SQUILT listening sheets as a part of this lesson, too?  



After watching the band performance have your children then listen to this ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE:  Pomp and Circumstance by  Edward Elgar.   This recording (by The National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain) should be very interesting for children.  

Encourage your children to listen for the differences between a band and an orchestra, and then do some research, too.  The short story is this:




1.  Orchestras have been around much longer than bands. 


2. A band does not have a strings section.


3.  Most music written for orchestra is longer than pieces for band.


Here is your Band vs. Orchestra Notebooking Set.  


(I've included a seating chart for the orchestra so your children can easily see the presence of a lot of STRINGS in the orchestra.) 




We have also been using the Compare and Contrast Notebooking Pages from The Notebooking Fairy, which are PERFECT for this lesson!   

If you have any questions, just let me know.   I hope you can incorporate a little music into your homeschool this week!




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Medieval Music Notebooking Pages

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As we study the Middle Ages we are learning about the music of this time period.   My children keep notebooks of their Story of the World activity sheets and any supplemental map work, journaling, lapbook elements, coloring, or notes.

I've asked my oldest to research music of the Middle Ages and to find out specifically about the composer Hildegard von Bingen (listen to the music here), minstrels, and the instruments used in the Middle Ages.   

You can download the notebooking pages I've created.  The set includes:

1.  Music of the Middle Ages
2.  Minstrels
3.  Instruments of the Middle Ages
4. Composer - Hildegard von Bingen 


Please let me know if you use these notebooking pages and if you have any requests for music notebooking pages! 



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