Education: How To Use the Site

Critical Listening and Creative Writing

Fromthetop.org is one of the most novel and flexible music-education tools available. By familiarizing yourself with the ways to use the material on this site, you will be able to weave selected content into an interlocking educational narrative, offering your students a unique, engaging learning opportunity. Fromthetop.org provides multiple ways for students to learn about music and young musicians:

1. LISTEN
Listen to all archived From the Top radio shows or specific repertoire.
2. EXPLORE
Search for specific performers, instruments and pieces of music.
3. DISCUSS
Ask questions and interact with others on community discussion boards.
4. DOWNLOAD
Find ready-made From the Top activity pages and lesson plans.
5. EXTEND
Read supplemental articles, fun factoids and special features.

1. LISTEN

You can listen to any episode of From the Top's radio show by clicking on Show Archive. On each individual show page, you have the option of listening to the show in its entirety or any piece of individual repertoire.

The following is a sequence of questions that can be used to engage students in active listening. The sequence is found in the new Spotlight on Music textbooks from Macmillan/McGraw-Hill and address national music standards 6b (Describe Aural Examples) and 7b (Explain personal preferences for musical works).

1. Listen to a piece of music.
Ask students to describe what they hear in the music.
2. Read the written profile of the musician. Ask students what new things they have learned about the performer. What do students have in common with the performer? How are they different?
3. Listen to the performer's interview. What new things have students learned from listening to the performer speak in their own voice? Why might the performer enjoy playing music for people? What new things have students learned about the music?
4. Listen to the music again. What new things do students hear in the music this time? Discuss whether knowing more about the performer changed the way students listened to the music.

To add a writing component to the listening process, have students contribute to the Show Discussion Forum in Fromthetop.org's "Community" section.

Want a great way to involve parents in their child's music education? Assign students to listen to the show at home on the radio or on this site. Parents can ask their children questions as they listen together, or students can use the discussion questions they have learned at school to interview their parents. Listen to the show on the web at home or listen in real time on the radio. Click here to find when From the Top airs on your local radio station.

2. EXPLORE

There are multiple ways to search for specific musicians and/or performances on the site. You can search by:

Keywords: The search box in the upper right hand corner of the site allows you to search for keywords.

Music: Go to our Music Library to listen to listen to any piece of repertoire ever featured on From the Top's radio show.

Peer role models: The young performers who have appeared on From the Top's radio show possess discipline, passion and focus. Want to inspire your students with performances given on a specific instrument or performed by young musicians the same age or from the same state as your students? Go to the Young Performers section to learn about any young musician who has performed on the show.

Professional role models: Learn from professional artists who have appeared as guests on From the Top'a radio show. Go to the Hall of Fame section to access the audio performances and written material about such artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Bobby McFerrin and others. Suggestions:

Have students use the Keyword search to search for topics being studied in class, such as "practicing," "band," "choir," "orchestra," "opera," etc. Want to know how young people balance their musical lives with other interests? Have students conduct a Keyword search to find which From the Top performers share common interests with them, such as "sports" (see how many young musicians balance music with athletics) or favorite hobbies, such as "chess," "hockey," "cooking," etc.

Pick a composer, such as Bach. Listen to three pieces written by Bach that are found in the From the Top Music Library. How do the different pieces of music compare with each other?

Enhance lessons on specific subjects by utilizing listening examples, performer profiles, and listening guides. For example, a lesson on Saint-Saens can be enhanced by having students listen to 17-year-old bassoonist Jason Souliere play a movement of Saint-Saens' Bassoon Sonata on From the Top's radio show, read his accompanying web profile, and read his listening guide, where he describes challenges unique to the music. You will find numerous other performances of Saint-Saens on our site by doing a key word search or going directly to our Music Library.

Do you want to inspire your students with performances given on a specific instrument or performed by young musicians who are the same age or from the same state? Here is an example of how you can use the Young Performers section to do so:

1. Ask your clarinet students to find three young clarinet players. What did students like about each performance?
2. Ask your students to find a performer that is their same age. (From the Top performers range in age from 9-18). How are the lives of the performers the same or different from students? What did students learn about practicing?
3. Ask students to find a performer who is older than they are. How can students use these examples to set goals for their own musical journey?

3. DISCUSS

Fromthetop.org offers Community Forums for students to interact and learn from one another. Encourage students to post questions or comments about practicing, buying instruments, or other topics surrounding musical study.

4. DOWLOAD

From the Top has numerous lesson plans and activities already mapped out for you and your students and ready to download at anytime.

5. EXTEND

Fromthetop.org offers supplemental materials that can be used to enhance subjects you are teaching and allow students to have fun learning about quirky musical trivia. The Special Reports section includes articles about the music world and special reports on subjects like Instrument Repair Shops and the little known "violiola." Fun Factoids offer little known pieces of trivia about renowned composers like Mahler, Haydn, Tchaikovsky, and Bach. Photo Galleries allow you to see what happens behind the scenes of your favorite From the Top radio show episodes.

Starting from any of the destinations described above, we encourage you to explore Fromthetop.organd create your own unique learning opportunities.