Engaging Listening Strategies for Music Class

Exposing kids to a variety of music is so important, yet it can feel tricky to get started. How do you make listening fun and engaging for young learners? In this post, we'll dive into why listening is essential and explore creative ways to engage kids in your classroom.

Read about these strategies below, and then be sure to download the 8 song playlist at the bottom to start using some of these strategies today!

Why Listening Matters

Listening isn’t just a musical activity—it’s a skill-building opportunity. By learning to really use their ears, kids develop:

Non-Musical Skills

• Patience: Waiting for a change in the music teaches self-control

• Delayed gratification: Listening for patterns or changes hones focus

• Wonder: Music sparks curiosity and invites questions

• Curiosity: Exposure to new sounds encourages exploration

Musical Skills

• Identifying musical elements: Loud/soft, fast/slow, or thick/thin textures, to name a few

• Recognizing instruments: Hearing what different instruments sound like, and eventually being able to describe their timbres

• Exposure to diversity: Music from various cultures, genres, and eras expands their worldviews

• Working as a team: playing in an ensemble doesn't work unless you listen to those around you

Strategies to Help Kids Listen Successfully

The secret to meaningful listening? Give them something to focus on. Provide specific instructions on what to listen for and offer ways for them to express their observations.

It might seem freeing to say, "Just listen." And there is value in that. But chances are, the students you have are rarely actively listening to music in their own lives. What I mean is, music often plays a background role in kids' (even adults') lives. It accompanies car rides, exercising, social gatherings, and trips to restaurants or out shopping.

Kids should be able to listen to music, notice what is happening, and describe it. These are musical literacy skills on a par with being able to read a book, summarize the plot, and analyze what happened.

Of course, students' grade levels will dictate to what extent they are able to do these things. But even very young children can learn to listen and notic with the right listening strategies.

Remember, I've got a playlist linked below for you to add to your classroom repertoire! Read through these strategies and then grab the playlist 😊

Here are some strategies to make listening interactive and engaging:

Movement-Based Activities

Movement is a natural way for kids to connect with music. Try these in class:

1. Move to the other side of the room when the mood of the music changes

2. Change your scarf motion from side to side to up/down when you hear the music get soft

3. Stand up when the music gets faster

4. Walk around to the music, and freeze when the flute melody starts

5. Emotional Pathways (slide 3 of this post fro Lena at The_Crafter_Teacher) - designate different areas of your classroom at different emotional zones where kids go to if the music makes them feel that way

Written responses

Writing in response to music is a good exercise for kids in grades 5 and up. Make sure they know what they're going to be asked before they listen. Let kids listen without writing anything. Then, play the example again as they write.

1. What is the emotional map of the music?

   1. What emotion does the music start with? What does it end with? Does is change in the middle?

2. Which instrument or family seems like the most important and why?

3. If this music was in a movie or video game, what would it be about?

Using art

Drawing original scenes is wonderful, but here are a few other options that will help kids focus more on the music:

1. Draw with blue when you hear calm, switch to red when you hear anger

2. Doodle only one line the whole time (don't lift your pen off the paper)

3. Draw only circles. Make them big if you hear something loud, make them small if you hear something soft.

Questions for kids as they listen to you sing a song:

I like to sing it once without any instruction, then ask followup questions as I sing it more times.

1. How many times to you hear a word starting with B? (I love My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean for this!)

2. What word is on the highest note?

3. How many claps did you hear? (Ex. Who Stole My Chickens and My Hens?)

4. (with a beat chart) Sing the song in your head and tap the beat. When I say stop, share which word you ended on with your neighbor.

When your students think they have an answer to these questions, sing it again to have them check their answers. Then, when the correct answer is revealed, show why it is correct. For example, if you're asking for the word on the highest note, draw the shape with your finger and hold it on the highest note.

Here is an example of a beat chart I made for Apple Tree that I use with first grade.

As we learn the song, we tap each apple to the beat. When the kids know the song themselves, we audiate (sing in our heads) and I'll have them stop randomly on a row and a number then tell a neighbor what word it is.

You can do this activity the other way, too. Ask what word is on line 3, beat 4.

🎶 A few other listening tips:

• Keep the excerpts short but purposeful (grab some examples from the playlist below!)

• Don't be afraid to repeat examples multiple times

• Vet all your songs before playing them (especially songs with lyrics)

• The better you know a piece of music, the more you can do with it

Here's a playlist to get you started

Here are 8 great pieces of music I use with kids K-4!

I've also added a few descriptors so you can see which ones might be good fits for where you are with your kids.

1. Nocturne Op. 9 N.1 - Chopin (slow, triple meter, piano, sorrowful)

2. This is a New Song - Young Folk (upbeat, folky/pop, catchy lyrics)

3. Concertino for Flute and Orchestra - Chaminade (carefree, clear flute sound, pastoral feeling)

4. The Magic Mirror Suite: VII. The Witch's Death-Dance - Hurlstone (spooky, mysterious, soft to loud, full orchestra, <3 mins)

5. The Comedians, Op. 26: 11. Galop - Kabalevsky (circus-like, solo instrument moments, fast, <1.5 mins)

6. Sylvia: Pizzicato - Delibes (clear patterns, simple form, soft, bouncy feel)

7. Lux Aurumque - Whitacre (choir piece, dissonant, celestial, rich)

8. Estancia: Danza final, Malambo - Ginastera (exciting, full orchestra, compound meter)

You can find these on YouTube or most any streaming service, or you can get a link to the ready-to-go Spotify playlist here.

I hope these strategies can kick of some great routines in your classroom!

Happy music-making!