3.1 A musical textures activity

For an explanation of musical texture terms, please see The Textures of Music . Below are a classroom activity that will familiarize your students with any of the texture terms you want them to know, and a list of suggested musical examples of each texture.

Goals and assessment

• Goals - The student will learn to recognize different musical textures when presented aurally, and to use appropriate terminology in discussing texture in music.
• Grade Level - K-12
• Student Prerequisites - none
• Teacher Expertise - Teacher expertise in music education is not necessary to present this activity. The teacher should be familiar and comfortable with the terms and concepts regarding musical texture , and, when listening to music, should be able to identify the texture.
• Time Requirements - All four textures may be presented in one (approximately 45-minute) class period. You may prefer to break the activity up and present it in several 10-15-minute sessions, with each session reviewing previously-learned textures and introducing one new texture. The final session can then be a short reminder-review and listening test.
• Music Standards Addressed - National Standards for Music Education standard 6 (listening to, analyzing, and describing music). If several of your musical examples are from other cultures or time periods, this activity also addresses standard 9 (understanding music in relation to history and culture).
• Objectives - For each musical texture studied, the student will listen to several clear examples of the texture and learn the appropriate terms to describe it. Listening to several new "mystery" excerpts, the student will determine whether it is or is not an example of the texture being studied. Finally, the student will listen to several more "mystery" excerpts and correctly name the texture heard.
• Evaluation - Assess student learning by grading the completed worksheet or noting accuracy of verbal answers.
• Follow-up - To help these concepts enter long-term memory, continue to talk about the "texture" of musical pieces throughout the rest of the year. Ask students to identify the texture of a new piece they are learning to sing or play, or discuss the tendency of music from particular cultures or time periods to be one texture or another.

Materials and preparation

• You will need a CD or tape player.
• Gather music recordings that illustrate each texture you would like to cover. Use the suggestion list below , or make your own choices based on your music library and students' preferences.
• Know the track number for each of your examples, or have the tape ready to play at the right spot.
• If you wish, make copies of this hand-out for your students. The handout is available as a PDF file . It is also included here as a figure, but the PDF file will make a nicer-looking handout. You can cover up or black out any terms you will not be covering. Or, instead of using the handout, write the terms on the board for them.