# Homeschool Music History Ideas Needed



## ilysse (Jul 10, 2016)

I'm a homeschooling mom and looking for some ideas. I hope I posted in the right section. 

My daughter is just starting high school level courses and I have been working on an art history or appreciation type 'course' for her. I'll break it up so she'll be working on it through all 4 years of high school. I plan to have her do art projects that correlate to each period or artist we study. As I'm breaking it up into periods of art history I thought I'd integrate with music history. I find the art history easier as I went to art school and had to study it myself but the music history is a fairly new area for me. There are composers and styles I don't necessarily care for or have no experience with but I don't want to be biased and ignore them or their significance. 

If anyone had any recommended resources; books, websites, or just a list of composers etc., that you think might be helpful, I would really appreciate your input. 

Thank you!


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

If you click on "Music Books--A Quick Reference" in this very Forum, you will find lots of references, books, composer biographies, histories of music, etc. Harold C. Schonberg's _The Lives of the Great Composers_ is a good place to start. I also enjoyed Brockway and Weinstock's acerbic _Men of Music._


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## ViatorDei (May 19, 2016)

I was homeschooled and as a high school student (graduated '03), I listened to Robert Greenberg's "How to Listen to and Understand Great Music" course on cassette from The Teaching Company. I think he did a great job going through the history of Classical Music and giving a taste of the different composers and eras. He can be a little exaggerated, simplistic, and theatrical at times, but for a High Schooler it may be just what they need to keep their interest up. Perhaps there are better materials out there now that I am unaware of (especially with the advent of the Internet and the explosion of audiovisual materials), but it's the only one I know of and can recommend.

Good luck!


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

One resource that comes to mind is Leonard Bernstein's _The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard_. Available in book form, or on DVD. They were written with the everyday person in mind. They're informative and entertaining as well.

You might search Google or wiki for an article that matches up musical eras with painters (i.e. Debussy and Ravel with French Impressionist painters, etc.)

Good luck to you!


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

First of all, kudos to you for homeschooling. We homeschooled our daughter. We were part of a co-op back when it wasn't as widespread, and we raised a few eyebrows back then, but the graduates from that group have gone on to obtain advanced degrees and are moving up in their companies and making some serious money. The one who won my daughter's heart now has an MBA. Plus, they are all independent thinkers. They are fun to engage in conversation.

One book which might help you is The Timetables of History. It goes year by year from 5000 BCE to the present and has columns for what happened each year in history/politics, literature/theater, religion/philosophy, visual arts, music, science, and daily life.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

The Enjoyment of Music (by Machlis). I have this book and it seems pretty comprehensive for a detailed overview of music. Just look at the table of contents pages in the Amazon look inside feature:
https://www.amazon.com/Enjoyment-Music-Introduction-Perceptive-Listening/dp/0393934152/

The book can be had for less than a dollar, and has about a dozen or so editions over the years.

Quietguy's Bernstein recommendation above sounds good too. Bernstein gives very interesting talks.

BTW: My kids are both homeschooled and now are doing college online.


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## ilysse (Jul 10, 2016)

Manxfeeder said:


> First of all, kudos to you for homeschooling. We homeschooled our daughter. We were part of a co-op back when it wasn't as widespread, and we raised a few eyebrows back then, but the graduates from that group have gone on to obtain advanced degrees and are moving up in their companies and making some serious money. The one who won my daughter's heart now has an MBA. Plus, they are all independent thinkers. They are fun to engage in conversation.
> 
> One book which might help you is The Timetables of History. It goes year by year from 5000 BCE to the present and has columns for what happened each year in history/politics, literature/theater, religion/philosophy, visual arts, music, science, and daily life.


When my oldest was around 10 (she's 18 now) we became the victims of an adoption scam. Because of all the publicity around the case we were interviewed by the Today Show. A two man crew came to our home and basically spent the day. We were chit chatting at one point and a word popped up which my daughter was not familiar with. She thought it through out loud using what she knew of Latin and managed to get the definition. The guys were floored. All one could say was "homeschooling!" Haha

Thanks for the suggestion. Sounds like it would be great for every subject.


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## ilysse (Jul 10, 2016)

Thank you all for your replies. I was so excited to see them. I'm taking notes and will look into every suggestion. Thank you, again.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Regarding 20th century music, Simon Rattle did a TV series in the 1990's called _Leaving Home: Orchestral music in the 20th Century_ which is available on DVD and also on YouTube. There are 7 episodes covering the major points in the development of classical music since 1900 and it is partly keyed in to historical content.

P.S. If you are unfamiliar with his name, at the time he was the conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony in the UK and has been the music director of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002. He is an excellent communicator.


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