UNIT TITLE: Music Making: Connecting the Elements

LESSON TITLE: Musical Elements: Listening for Form

LENGTH: 1-2 class periods (approximately, towards the end of the 13-week unit)

GRADE LEVEL: 9-12, Introductory Music Unit

AIM/THEME: To understand and identify the three parts of sonata form and make connections to expository
writing in other disciplines.

BIG IDEAS:

Music is organized.
Music is interconnected with the world around us.
Music builds critical thinking.

GOALS/LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Students will be able to

Identify form and structure in selected repertoire.
Make connections to the components of a classical sonata and a written essay.

FOCUS QUESTIONS:

How is a symphony organized?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Recording of Beethoven, Symphony No. 5

Listening Map illustrating Sonata Form
A model written essay (ELA) or a business letter of complaint
Comparison chart of essay and sonata form components (see sample below)
Word Wall new vocabulary (see also Prior Knowledge below)
Coda
Development
Diminution
Elongation
Exposition
Fragmentation
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Recapitulation
Retrograde (Anagram in ELA)
Sequence
Sonata
Sonata Form
Theme
Transition
Variation

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

Word Wall and definition of musical elements (rhythm, melody, harmony, symphony, theme)

BLUEPRINT BENCHMARKS:

Students describe and analyze musical forms.

Students identify forms in musical literature.
Students identify corresponding elements and integrate multiple bodies of knowledge.

COMMON CORE CAPACITIES & STANDARDS:

Students value evidence. (ELA)

Students comprehend as well as critique. (ELA)
Students build strong content knowledge. (ELA)
Students make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. (Math)

PROCEDURE/LESSON FLOW:

WARM-UP:

N/A

MAIN ACTIVITY: (35 minutes)

Brainstorm and discuss: If you were teaching someone how to write a well-written essay, what would
you tell him/her? What are the components? Facilitate a discussion and hand out the sample essay.
Focus the discussion on the purpose of introduction, thesis statement, development and summary.
Distribute comparison sheet. (See samples below, in Appendix.)
Play the first theme, Beethovens Symphony No. 5. If this piece of music were an essay, what part
would you have just heard? Why? Students identify the introduction.
Share an explanation with the students: In a symphony, this introduction is also the first theme. It is
usually the most important statement in the work. Have the student identify the introduction and use
the comparison chart, while you explain the corollary sonata components: Exposition (Theme 1 & 2),
Development, Recapitulation, and (optional) Coda. Give attention to vocabulary in the word wall:
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Theme
Transition
Variation

Distribute a listening map of Symphony No. 5 and explain the procedure before playing the piece.1
Have the students follow the map as they listen to the entire piece. Play the music again and say:
Before we listen to the piece again, listen for:
How does Beethoven create tension in the exposition? (crescendo, sequence and rising repetition,
etc.)
The different ways the theme appears in the development (instrumentation, key changes,
elongation, diminution, fragmentation) Would you see this in an essay? (Students answer no.)

ASSESSMENT: (10 minutes)

Transfer by identifying the exposition development recapitulation of a sonata (e.g., the second
movement of Beethovens Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 (Sonata Pathtique).

MODIFICATIONS:

Appropriate modifications should be made for Special Learners, as necessary. Substitute the model of
conversation if the essay comparison is unclear. Simpler listening maps may be substituted and are
available online.

NEXT STEPS/HOMEWORK:

N/A

APPENDIX/RESOURCES:

Comparison Chart (for reference)

ELA Written Essay Music Sonata Form

Introduction (Greeting) Introduction (Opening Statement)

Purpose (Thesis) [Exposition]

Development [Development]

Summary [Recapitulation]

1Teacher may choose to distribute the Discovery Orchestras outline of Symphony No. 5 or create your own listening
map. http://discoveryorchestra.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/mech2-UPDATE-Listening-Guide-LP-with-TDO-logo.pdf
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Postscript [Coda]

Comparison Chart (Student version to be completed in class)

ELA Written Essay Music Sonata Form

Introduction (Greeting) Introduction (Opening Statement)

Purpose (Thesis)

Development

Summary

Postscript

Resources/Bibliography

Audio Recordings
Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert Von Karajan. Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 6, Pastorale. Deutsche
Grammophon, 1993. CD.
Barenboim, Daniel. 2. Adagio cantabile. Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos.8 "Moonlight", 14
"Appassionata" & 23 "Pathtique." Deutsche Grammophon, 1987. CD.

Curricular Resources
Discovery Orchestra. Symphony No. 5 in C minor Listening Guide. Web. 1 May 2016.
<http://discoveryorchestra.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/mech2-UPDATE-Listening-Guide-LP-with-
TDO-logo.pdf>