The Arts >> Music > Composers/Musicians
The Arts
Composers/Musicians

Websites

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame star
This site features artist bios and discographies of inductees with audio clips, online forums, rock musician's birthdays, lesson plans, and online multimedia tours.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: High School Teacher Section: Yes Searchable: Yes

Dr. Estrella's Incredibly Abridged Dictionary of Composers star star star
This site has biographies of over 500 composers, from Michael Abels to Ellen Taafe Zwilich!
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes

Charlie "Yardbird" Parker star star
Widely recognized as one of jazz music's most important saxophonists, Charlie Parker's masterful improvisational style has influenced a generation of jazz musicians. This site profiles the artist and includes audio clips, photographs, quotes, and a music library.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Elvis Presley star star
You'll find biographical information, a discography, games, sceensavers, a live Graceland cam, an IPIX tour of Graceland, and even a kids' section at this official Elvis site.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Stevie Wonder star star
Get lyrics to Stevie Wonder songs, view live performances and photographs, and learn about his life and music.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Classical Music Archives star starstar star
You'll find illustrated composer biographies for 1,569 composers.and 24,468 audio files here. You can also go to an interactive timeline and find the historical context for a composer. There are additional features on the site that are restricted to members.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Varies Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes

Naxos star
Have you heard a piece of classical music in a movie recently and wondered what it was? Looking for an artist or composer biography? You'll find what your looking for at this classical music publisher's site! You will also find classical music and opera glossaries and overviews, online music, news, and reviews.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle/High School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes

Heart and Soul: A Celebration of African American Music star
Most of today's popular music has its roots in African American rhythms and culture. This site from World Book explores African American influence on spirituals, jazz, blues, rock and roll, and classical music and includes audio files as well as profiles of key African American musicians like Marian Anderson, Paul Robeson, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Scott Joplin, King Oliver, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Fats Domino.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: High School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Louis Armstrong House and Archives star star
You can learn about the life and times of Satchmo, one of the pioneers of jazz, at this site. Listen to home recordings and check a timeline of his life.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Chuck Berry star star
Explore the life and times of one of Rock and Roll's founding fathers. You can listen to audio clips, look at photos, and get lyrics to his songs.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

James Brown: The Godfather of Soul star star
Known as the hardest working man in show business, James Brown's career has spanned four decades. This site features a profile of the artist, audio samples of unreleased music, a discography, and an interactive photo album.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

John Coltrane star star star
Immerse yourself in the life and work of this revolutionary jazz musician and master of the tenor sax. You will find a discography, biography, photos, movies of three of his performances, and audio samples. Music selections include: A Love Supreme; Central Park West; Village Blues; Bessie's Blues; and Mile's Mode.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

The Aaron Copland Collection star star
This site from the library of Congress contains over 1,000 items selected from Copland's music sketches, correspondence, writings, and photographs.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes

Bob Dylan star star
If you don't quite know what Dylan was singing in one of his songs, check out this site with a searchable lyrics database! You will also find audio files of his music.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes

George and Ira Gershwin star star
Listen to some of the greatest hits of these extraordinary brothers performed by artists like Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Diana Krall, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Fred Astaire, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, and even Jon Bon Jovi! You can also learn about their lives and careers and some of the films and broadway shows they scored.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Woody Guthrie: Correspondence, 1940-1950 star star
This collection of letters at the Library of Congress contains Woody Guthrie's correspondence with the staff of the Archive of American Folk Song. In his letters he reflects on his past, his art, his life in New York City, and World War II. The site also includes a timeline of Guthrie's life and a biographical essay.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: High School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes

Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives star star
This site features a biography of Woody Guthrie as well as an extensive collection of curriculum materials and teaching ideas based on Guthrie's music.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: High School Teacher Section: Yes Searchable: No

Handel star star
This site has everything Handel, from information on new releases of his music and reviews to a discography and a chronology of his life.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: High School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Buddy Holly star star
In his brief career Buddy Holly quickly established himself as a major artist in the newly emerging world of rock music. This site profiles the artist and includes music clips, photographs, quotes, and links to other Buddy Holly sites.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

B. B. King star star star
Find out what Lucille is really like at this official B.B. King site that features biographical information, audio clips, a photo gallery, and news and tour information.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

The Mozart Project star
Explore the life and times of this extraordinary composer. You'll find essays, a complete listing of his works organized by date and category, and links to other Mozart resources.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes

Classical Composers Database star star
Want to know what composer was born or died a a particular day of the year? This site has a composers calendar that lets you select a day of the year and see who was born and died on that day. You will also find a composers timeline, brief biographies and links to other sources of information.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Classical Music Pages star star star
This site provides classical music history, biographical information about composers, explanations of the various musical forms and a dictionary of musical terminologies.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: High School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Classical Net star star star
Bone up on your classical music knowledge! This site features a classical CD buying guide for the beginner, biographical information on composers, reviews and articles, and an overview of musical periods.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: High School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Classical Composers Archives star
You'll find pictures and biographical information for composers organized by name, period, birth year or nationality.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle/High School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes

Young Composers star star star
Listen to music composed by kids, teens, and young adults in a variety of genres from classical and baroque to jazz, rock, and blues.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Elementary School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

International Alliance for Women in Music star star
You will find links to a wide-variety of resources about women composers and musicians at this site.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Women Composers star star
This site has links to information for a number of women composers.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

J.S. Bach star
Learn about the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes

Duke Ellington star
Learn about the life and times of one of the 20th century's most influential composers and musicians.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No

Mingus Web star
Legendary jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus is profiled at this site. You'll also find a discography and photos.
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No




Online Video



Lesson Plans

Grades K-4

Jazz Dance and Music
In this lesson, students will be introduced to jazz dance and jazz music. They will explore basic jazz dance movements, and will create a cinquain poem inspired by jazz music. Source: ArtsEdge

Ballet and Classical Music
Students are introduced to the conceptual and practical elements of classical ballet as they learn ballet history, vocabulary, and steps. Source: ArtsEdge

Grades 5-8

 

Grades 9-12