Planning music lessons? here are a couple of ideas to help you create some fun music resources for your lessons.

Encourage the students to pretend that they are Prince Esterhazy, and that they are looking for a new Kapellmeister. Ask them to write a job advertisement outlining the duties of the position and the type of person you are looking for. Encourage them to write down details of the Esterhaza palace where the applicant will live and work.

Stretch the classes imagination and pretend that T.V. talk shows existed in the 18th century. Have the students pretend they are an interviewer and they are interviewing Haydn after one of his successful tours of London. Talk about a concert, the people Haydn met, Haydn’s opinion of the current fashion trends and anything else of interest. Don’t forget that Haydn was known for his great wit! This could be done as a class discussion, or you could break off into small groups to do the activity.

Another activity is to have the students research the 18th Century ‘Symphony’. Include information on the standard instrumentation (instruments used), the number of movements and any other interesting facts. Have them find out which other composers wrote symphonies.