Sarah Maier

Music Education
Composition: A Language

Acknowledgements:
I would like to express my gratitude for those that helped me to write this paper. I would like to
thank my husband who has been there for moral support as I wrote this paper. I would like to
thank my professor for motivating me as well as teaching me this semester. Lastly I am grateful
to Victor Wooten, the composer and performer of the Ted Ex talk that has inspired this paper.
This assignment has expanded my knowledge as a student and I hope to help inspire others
with that which I have learned from this paper.
Ted-Ed Lesson: Composition: A Language

Introduction:
I chose this topic because I’ve noticed a trend that students don’t love practicing the piano. My
goal in being a piano teacher has always been to cultivate a love of piano for my students. They get
sick of the monotony of playing the same songs and perfecting them. In the past, my students have
participated in the Scholastic Composer Competition. This moved our focus to composition for an
entire month. Students love the change in focus and perform the songs they compose at the spring
recital. My goal for this year is to continue being composition minded throughout the year.
The Ted-Ed lesson aligns with the idea of a flipped classroom because the students will be doing
a majority of the learning that is traditionally done in a classroom at home. Students will have the
opportunity to listen to composers and learn about chords at home and apply what they have
learned in their piano lessons.

Ted-Ed lesson Description:

Topic: Structured freedom in piano practice.

Learning objectives:

I used first and second grade standards as I felt like these best suited the needs of my K-6 group.
Obviously some of the students will need the older or younger standards to better fit their needs.

MU:Cr1.1.Kb With guidance, generate musical ideas (such as movements or motives).

MU:Cr1.1.2a Improvise rhythmic and melodic patterns and musical ideas for a specific purpose.
MU:Cr2.1.2a Demonstrate and explain personal reasons for selecting patterns and ideas for music
that represent expressive intent.
MU:Cr3.1.1a With limited guidance, discuss and apply personal, peer, and teacher feedback to
refine personal musical ideas.
MU:Cr3.2.1a With limited guidance, convey expressive intent for a specific purpose by presenting a
final version of personal musical ideas to peers or informal audience.

Target Audience:

The target audience is grades K-6. All students have been playing piano for at least one year and
have a background in reading music and composition.

Lesson Structure:

The Ted-Ed lesson is structured with four questions, three of which are multiple choice and three
are open ended. The topic presentation is to watch the Ted-Ed video and then use the dig deeper
section to listen to famous pianists. After they listen to professionals, students will write their own
compositions using the guidelines in the In-Class activity section below.

Recommendations:

I recommend that this lesson be used for students who have been in piano lessons for at least one
year. This lesson requires basic background knowledge of music theory and piano skills. This lesson
is perfect for elementary pianists as they are still learning how to play the piano and are typically
interested in composition.

Reflection:

I focus on student composition in my music studio as. It allows the students to be more creative in
their practice time and get to know the piano better. Students and teachers often have a hard time
shifting to this style of practice time so this lesson is intended to show them why we compose at
such a young age.

This lesson has the power to guide students and parents to a less structured practice time. This will
allow students to learn piano in a more natural setting. This will especially help students who
struggle with traditional piano lessons. I believe that this lesson has the power to transform
students’ musical ability.

In-class activity:

Students will work on a composition assignment after completing the Ted-Ed assignment to ensure
that students have an idea of what kind of practice is expected of them.

Students will need a pencil, staff paper, a computer and a piano. They may also use a recording
device for use at home. They will play around on the piano listening for sounds that they like. When
they find a sound they like they will write it down on the staff paper or noteflight.com (or record it if
they are at home and need assistance). Each student is to pay attention to the rhythms they are
playing as well as the tempo, dynamics and articulations.

Students should use the chords they learned from www.musictheory.net and transcribe the music
onto noteflight.com. They may transcribe the music on staff paper first if that is more convenient.

This guided free-style composition will assist students in better understanding how the piano works
in a way that is fun and easy for the kids to grasp. When students have time to freely learn the
language of music they are more likely to sit down at the piano and practice for fun on their own
thus learning the language of music more efficiently and effectively.
 References and Lesson Materials
All of Me (Jon Schmidt original tune) - The Piano Guys. (2011, October 03). Retrieved February 18,

2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fAZIQ-

vpdw&list=PLeFROTqbClWNbwTvdxcnz47eKiJ-u_3mm

Andrew von Oeyen - "Clair de lune " by Debussy. (2013, May 19). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEwh1JsJwRk

Billy Joel Greatest Hits Album || Best songs of Billy Joel [New]. (2016, July 07). Retrieved February

18, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF6AErw8HoM

Chord Construction. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from

https://www.musictheory.net/exercises/chord-construction

Debussy - Beau Soir - Cecilie Cathrine Ødegården. (2012, April 17). Retrieved February 18, 2018,

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2_YkaH-GiU

Introduction to Chords. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from

https://www.musictheory.net/lessons/40
Online Music Notation Software. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from

https://www.noteflight.com/home

The Best of Chopin. (2012, October 04). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wygy721nzRc

The Top 5 Billy Joel Songs, Ranked By Billy Joel. (2017, January 10). Retrieved February 18, 2018,

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEXQaxUjesE