Compare and Contrast Listening Lesson through Visual Art

We love using art to explore music concepts! A colleague approached us this week about how to go about doing so with grade 2/3/4 students. Below is one idea that has been successful with students in the past!

Grades 2 and up:
The Hands of Clara Schumann (or Mozart, or any piano composer)
Lesson 1:

• Choose two contrasting pieces of piano music by the same composer.
• Have students listen to short clips of each piece and discuss how they are different.
• On the board, draw examples of how line/shape/texture/colour (etc.) can show how the music sounds.
• Discuss the difference between realistic and abstract drawing.
• Have a variety of coloured construction paper for the students to choose from. Thinking about how colour could represent each song, have them choose two pieces of paper.
• Using your choose of medium (markers, crayons, paint etc.), have students listen to the pieces again drawing abstract images to represent each song (no “pictures”!)

 
Lesson 2:

• Discuss the piano with students. Use this as an opportunity to demonstrate how a piano works.
• Demonstrate how to draw the black and white piano key pattern on the board.
• Pass out pencils and white strips of card stock (8 1/2” x 11” cut width-wise).
• Have students draw their own keyboards in pencil. Once they are finished, they can trace their pencil lines in black marker.

 
Lesson 3:

• Have students trace one hand on each of their two pieces of artwork from Lesson 1. It works best if they use the same hand to trace, having one paper face up when traced upon and the other paper face down. That way, the thumbs will face together once glued. Have students cut the hands out.
• Positioning a black piece of construction paper width-wise, have students glue their keyboards on the top half of the black paper.
• Students will then glue each contrasting hand onto their keyboard, having the thumbs in the middle.
• Listen to the musical pieces again while showing the finished artworks. Discuss the contrast between the pieces as well as the hands.

We hope this is useful to you! We would love to hear how you approach listening lessons. Comment below!