Students will love being exposed to a variety of composers, and there is none more important than J.S. Bach for learning about the Baroque Era. This is just an excerpt of the materials found in our Great composers series of printable music lesson plans.

Create a pretend profile for JS Bach on your favorite social networking site such as Facebook. Include “Basic Information” (Network, Birthday, Relationship Status, Religious Views), “Personal Information” (Contact details, Education and Work), “Friends” (any significant people who lived at the same time as Bach) and finally you’ll want to add some “groups” that Bach may have belonged in. Find a photo on the internet to finish off the project Students not familiar with Facebook could design a passport.

Imagine that you could invite J.S. Bach over for coffee. Make a list of three questions you would like to ask him about his life or the time in history that he lived. You could even choose a student to be J.S. Bach and answer questions from the rest of the class. For an extra special addition to this activity, have the class bring in some gingerbread or other traditional German snack to share.

Have the class do some research to find a art work on the internet that was painted in J.S. Bach’s era. You could discuss as a class the ways that the painting shows the Baroque styling of Bach’s music.