Carnegie Hall

Each Musical Explorers program contains three units, each devoted to one of our Musical Explorers genres. Every unit has its own resource page with two lessons that each focus on a song. The lessons guide you through the process of learning the songs, as well as teaching relevant musical concepts and exploring the cultural context. Each lesson includes transcriptions in Western notation to assist in learning the music, but please note that these are best approximations for diverse traditions that may use different tuning systems or emphasize improvisation. When learning the music, let your ears and the recordings be your guide, and be prepared for live variations in the digital concert experience. There are multiple activities within each lesson; you can choose among them to best suit the needs of your classroom. Additional features can be found within each lesson, including the following:

• Audio Tracks: Audio tracks for each song.
• Videos: Introductory videos for the artists and their music.
• Resources for Teachers: Each artist’s resource page provides background information about the musical genre and culture. Some of these resources are intended to be shared with students; others are for teachers who may want to explore further on their own.
• Creative Extensions: Creative extensions are designed to deepen the exploration of repertoire, culture, and musical concepts.
• Literacy Extensions: Each unit identifies picture books related to the artist’s music and culture that you can read with your students.
• Musical Word Wall: We encourage you to build a word wall and add vocabulary words as they are introduced in the lessons.

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• Students can participate in Musical Explorers in a variety of ways and may learn the songs by singing, moving, and clapping. You may also want to focus on smaller sections of the songs. Since you know your students best, allow them to participate in ways that will help them feel the most successful.
• Encourage students to engage with the music using tangible objects, such as handmade instruments (e.g., cups with beans for shakers), rhythm sticks, and drums.
• Allow time for students to experience the music and repeat as often as necessary. The lessons outlined in this curriculum may take additional time and span more than one class period. Use one-step directions and visuals as often as possible to help students understand the concepts.
• Some visual aids are provided within the curriculum and at the Musical Explorers concerts, but you may wish to provide additional resources to help your students engage with the material. If you have ideas for elements to include in future curricula, please send them to musicalexplorersdigital@carnegiehall.org.