Lesson Plan: Program Notes Podcast

With Holiday & Winter Concert season on the not-too-distant horizon, I thought it would be good to share a lesson plan that asks students to create program note podcasts for each of the pieces of your concert using Soundtrap and QR codes. This lesson plan and project idea is from my publication Podcasting Across the Curriculum - available exclusively from MusicFirst. Not only does this give your performance ensemble students a great way to demonstrate their understanding of the pieces that you are performing on your concert, it also gives the parents an opportunity to learn more about what they are hearing, what the students think about the pieces that they are performing, and provides an insight into the amount of work that the students put in to get the piece to rehearsed enough be to “concert ready.” I hope that you can use this idea with the students in your ensemble.

Concert Program Notes

Subject Area: Music

Suggested Grade Levels: Elementary/Middle School/High School

Suggested Length of Time: 1-2 class sessions (if done during class), 2-3 days if done outside of class time.

Suggested Resources:

• Free QR code generator: https://www.qr-code-generator.com/

• San Francisco Symphony Program Notes podcast: https://www.sfsymphony.org/Discover-the-Music/Listen-to-Podcasts/Program-Notes-Series

• New Haven Symphony Program Notes podcast: https://newhavensymphony.org/parents-kids/program-notes-for-kids-concert-reading-lists/

• The Program Notes Podcast by Constellations Chamber Concerts: https://open.spotify.com/show/6FUrE81GfQJaGXGoWW5whR

Project Description:

In this project, students involved in their school music program will work to create podcasts that focus on concert program notes for the Winter or Spring Concert.

Students will work in groups to research an assigned composition that is being performed at the school concert.

Each podcast will include some background information on the composer, any included program notes written by the composer, a musical description of the piece, and student thoughts on performing the piece.

The teacher will include a QR code next to each concert selection so that parents, teachers, students, and other members of the school community can learn a little more about each piece.

Student Handout

Concert Program Notes

Have you ever been to a concert and wondered about the person who wrote the music, why they titled the piece the way they did, what they were thinking when they wrote it, and why they made the musical decisions they did? Did you know that there are people whose job is to write what are called “Program Notes” for concerts? Program Notes are typically written for classical music concerts – rarely (if ever) for popular music. These program notes contain all sorts of information about the composer and the composition. In this podcast project, you will work in groups to create a podcast (2-3 minutes long) about one of the pieces that you are performing in the upcoming school concert. Your teacher will assign your group the piece, and then you will need to answer the questions below.

Project Requirements:

• You will use Soundtrap to record your podcast.

• Your podcast should be 2 to 3 minutes in length.

• You will announce the title of the piece and the composer or arranger of the piece.

  • If the piece is an original work, it will have a composer. If the piece has been arranged or adapted for your ensemble, it will have an arranger.

  • If your assigned piece has an arranger, you should focus on the original composer of the work. •

• Many pieces that are performed by school ensembles have program notes already included by the composer or arranger. If your piece does, your teacher will share them with you. You should include those notes in your podcast. o If the program notes are very long, you should summarize them into no more than a paragraph.

• Using as much musical vocabulary as possible, describe the piece.

  • What is the instrumentation? If it is an arrangement, what was the original instrumentation of the piece?

  • How is the piece structured? Are there multiple sections?

  • If there are lyrics, who wrote them? What do you think they mean? •

• How difficult was this piece for you and your ensemble to learn?

• Did you enjoy performing this piece? Why? Why not?

When you have completed your podcast, submit it to your teacher for assessment. Don’t worry about creating a QR code for your podcast – your teacher will do that!

If you would like to download a printable PDF version of the project requirements, just click HERE.

I have also created a GRADING RUBRIC for this project.

If you would like to access the podcasting curriculum that I wrote for MusicFirst, just sign up for a FREE 30-day trial.