Book Soundtrack

For one of my listening lessons I had to compose this quarter, I taught the concept of tone. Tone is the emotional feeling or attitude the composer or author has towards the subject of a song or a book. Throughout the song or book, the tone can change. A great way to introduce this concept to students is to have them listen to different songs from current movie soundtracks. By calling attention to the tempo, volume, and overall sound of a song, the teacher can model for students how to identify tone in music. After having students break into groups and identify the tone of different movie soundtrack songs, the teacher can assess what they have learned. To tie this back to the classroom novel they are reading, the teacher can have the class come up with a book soundtrack. After selecting key scenes from the novel, the teacher can have students listen and pick appropriate songs that convey the tone of that scene. To go even further with the book soundtrack idea, students can design an appropriate CD cover for the soundtrack as well.