World & Art Music Listening

Go no further! Podcasts still exist and they have a wealth of knowledge that can help you.

Everything from World Music, Hildegard von Bingen, Mozart, John Adams, dissecting the meaning behind famous classical works, listening to pieces from China or going through traditional folk performances – these Podcasts are on the top list for Diploma Level Music students. Or, if you are a teacher looking for authentic material that can assist you in lesson planning – this is a great free resource that I personally, have greatly under-utilised.

I have recently begun writing some iTunesU courses for my Grade 5 through to Grade 11 students and I just keep finding detailed and authentic materials for my teaching. The two iTunesU courses below are ones I subscribed to when I moved to South Korea.

Korean Traditional Music

This course is from Smithsonian Sound and they have many other work samples on iTunesU.

Australia & the Pacific Islands

Smithsonian Global Sound (Folkways) is also an incredible resource where there are lesson plans, attached recordings with REAL performances of traditional tunes, dances and even transcriptions. I find it difficult to find ‘traditional’ music without modern influences. My students from Grade 1 and 2 greatly enjoyed our unit on Traditional Norwegian Music and Edvard Grieg thanks to Smithsonian Folkways!

So teachers and students alike, if you want to get a better understanding of music this school break, surprise your classroom by going through these! Or better yet, subscribe to some iTunesU courses, document your learning in a portfolio and try to compose in the style you investigated. It will be a valuable use of your creative time.

Photo Credit: fulltimecasual