I taught MA for 5 years and was given free rein to do as I wished. It was really a music history class when I started and kept that approach when it became a MA class.

I started every class with a listening journal where we would listen to something and answer a few questions. Ranged from listening to the Gregorian Chant of Dies Irae and them discussing how it’s still relevant today to writing a review of a drum corps show. It was pretty wide open and all genres were on the table. It was a good way to expose them to genres that we probably wouldn’t cover in depth in class.

I had four big units I would cover: history of rock and roll, jazz history, hip hop, and Latin American artists. These genres were more relevant to the student populations of my school. I would start the school year with a “music history overview” that covered the big time periods and composers of each era, as well as the different instruments and some different musical terms; I did this to expose them to the “big wigs” of music history and give them some vocabulary for later discussions.

I created almost everything myself by using various online resources. I also used some books by Alfred Music, like Fresh Beats (hip hop history) and Jazz Legends. Both had some really great lessons and worksheets. I also occasionally used Teach Rock, which is a free online curriculum.