2.4 Theme and motif in music

There are lesson plans here for four activities that promote aural recognition of, and understanding of the uses of, themes and motifs in music. Motifs and Melodic Themes and Movies are appropriate for students of any age who can accurately recognize (by ear) a specific, short melody. (Students who are not quite ready for these activities may benefit from A Melody Activity and The Shape of a Melody .) Opera Motifs will work best with older, more musically experienced students who have a longer attention span for serious music. Composing and Improvising Using Motifs is appropriate for students who are capable of playing an instrument and writing common notation fairly accurately.

Goals and standards

• Goals - The student will learn to recognize when a repeated motif is being used in a piece of music (presented aurally), and will become familiar with some of the specific uses of musical motifs.
• Music Standards Addressed - These activities encourage the use of appropriate terminology in analyzing and describing music ( National Standards for Music Education , music standard 6). If music from a variety of cultures or historical periods is used, and the discussion includes an exploration of the use of motifs in the music of different cultures or historical periods, music standard 9 is also addressed. The students may also be given a chance to compose (music standard 4) or improvise (music standard 3) using motifs.
• Other Subjects Addressed - The Melodic Themes and Movies and Opera Motifs activities can easily be adapted to also address English Language Arts or a foreign language (if the opera is sung in another language), by including discussion of language use, plot, character, and the interaction of these elements with the music, and by including formal essays.
• Follow-up - Help this lesson get into long-term memories by continuing to ask the students, throughout the rest of the year, to identify motifs in music they are hearing or learning.

Motifs

Objectives and assessment

• Grade Level - K-12 (adapt by using age-and-experience-appropriate musical examples)
• Student Prerequisites - Students must be capable of remembering and aurally recognizing a specific melody, even when some aspects of it have changed.
• Teacher Expertise - Teacher training in music is not necessary to present this activity. The teacher should be familiar and comfortable with the terms and concepts regarding motif , and should be able to hear and point out the motifs in the music presented.
• Time Requirements - For one (approximately 45-minute) class period, have ready about 20 minutes of musical examples.
• Objectives - The student will recognize when and how a motif is used, when presented with an aural example.
• Evaluation - Assess student learning by evaluating class participation.