Intermediate 1 Curriculum Coming in June!

Read on to learn more about our new middle school course.

In this newsletter:

• Coming Soon: Intermediate 1: Jazz and the Rise of Recorded Music

• Other News and Updates

---

Coming Soon: Intermediate 1: Jazz and the Rise of Recorded Music

We are so excited to announce the upcoming release of our first middle school curriculum, designed for grades 6-8. Intermediate 1: Jazz and the Rise of Recorded Music covers twentieth and twenty-first century American popular music, with an emphasis on the history of jazz and the history of recording technologies. This course also includes an introduction to music theory.

Like all of our music appreciation curriculum offerings, our Intermediate 1 curriculum is literature-based. Weeks 1-33 each feature a history reading, a listening assignment, and a theory lesson.

A Child's Introduction to Jazz and The Science of Song provide the basis for the history lessons, and Help Your Kids with Music is the music theory spine. Bonus internet content and bonus listening tracks give your student opportunities to go deeper. During Weeks 34-36 your student will read the story Clayton Byrd Goes Underground, which integrates themes from the rest of the course, including the blues, hip hop, and instruments such as the electric guitar and the harmonica. As is the case with the history lessons in Weeks 1-33, listening assignments accompany each reading assignment.

Intermediate 1 is designed to be completed independently by the student, with opportunities for parent/teacher engagement as desired. In this course, the Student Workbook contains the instructional text for each lesson. History and listening assignments include questions which can be used for discussion or for written answers, and engaging music theory worksheets help your student put into practice their new music theory knowledge. This course does not require previous musical knowledge, but you will find "Expert Challenges" included on many of the music theory worksheets for students who have some prior experience. The Curriculum Guide for this course contains the scope & sequence, schedule, and answer keys.

Intermediate 1 will be released in June, so stay tuned for the release date!

---

Other News and Updates

• Primary B: Jumpin' Jazz to Hip Hop (Grades K-2) and Elementary B: Ragtime to Rap (Grades 3-5) are in the works! Make sure you are subscribed so you don't miss any new releases!

• Our existing curriculum prices are increasing at the end of June. Snag your curriculum before June 30 to make sure you get the best price!

• Looking to use Music Comes Alive curricula in a group? We offer group licensing options for co-ops, private schools, and other group settings. See our Groups page.

• We are delighted to offer Alfred Music products, especially the Alfred Premier Piano books. If you are looking for great piano resources, including lesson, theory, performance, and technique books, check out our Piano page.

---

Looking for an easy homeschool music curriculum?

Look no further! Consider our beautiful curriculum offerings. With engaging books, a curated listening list, fully written-out lesson plans, and bonus internet links for more learning, Music Comes Alive makes it easy to add music to your homeschool!

Check out all of our homeschool music curriculum products!

Primary A: Curriculum Guide (Print)

Buy Now

Primary A: Activity Pack (Print)

Buy Now

Primary A: Bundle (Digital)

Buy Now

Elementary A: Curriculum Guide (Print)

Buy Now

Elementary A: Activity Pack (Print)

Buy Now

Elementary A: Bundle (Digital)

Buy Now

Primary A: Book Bundle

Buy Now

Elementary A: Book Bundle

Buy Now

Shop the Curriculum

---

New to Music Comes Alive?

Don't miss out on future updates and sales! Subscribe to our newsletter today!

Subscribe

Bring the joy of music to your homeschool!

Meet Emma, Founder of Music Comes Alive Homeschool Curriculum

Welcome to Music Comes Alive, the new literature-based, open-and-go music appreciation curriculum! In this post, meet the founder of Music Comes Alive, Dr. Emma James.

Music has been a source of joy and inspiration for me since I was a child. I remember listening to many styles of music--jazz, bluegrass, classical, and Christian contemporary music (CCM), to name a few--in my house growing up. I also have great memories of going to classical concerts with my dad. My mom loves music and taught herself to play the guitar and, more recently, the piano. My dad played the violin through high school, and during my childhood he would occasionally pull it out and play a flashy fiddle tune while I danced in my Laura Ingalls Wilder costume. When I was about eight years old, my parents decided I should take piano lessons after they found me picking out tunes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on a toy keyboard. Those lessons opened up the world of music to me, sparking a love for music that has been part of my life ever since. In middle school, I joined the school band on French horn and the jazz band on keyboard. As early as ninth grade, I knew that I wanted to pursue music as a career. My family, all of whom were athletic, joked that piano was my "sport."

As much as I love music, I also have a wide range of other interests. So I decided to pursue a liberal arts degree with a focus in performance, hoping to become a collaborative pianist (i.e. an accompanist). I went to Houghton University (then Houghton College) for a Bachelor of Music in Applied Piano with Elective Studies in Mathematics and Philosophy. (If that mouthful of a degree doesn't reflect my interest in a wide range of subjects, I don't know what does!)

After Houghton, I went to the Eastman School of Music (part of the University of Rochester and a top-ranked music school) for a MA and PhD in Music Theory. This degree program brought together my love for music and my love for math and philosophy, as well as a new-found love of teaching. I had never wanted to go into music education, but teaching at the college level changed my mind about that. Helping students understand music has become one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Now, I am a wife and a homeschooling mother of two girls. I no longer teach at the college level, but I do teach piano and music theory lessons, and I help lead a homeschool co-op and teach music classes for elementary ages there. As a homeschool parent, bringing music into my children's lives has been an essential part of our homeschool. My children take instrument lessons, of course. But music appreciation is more than playing an instrument. Reading books and listening to great music has been an effective and exciting way for me to bring music history and musical concepts to life for my own children.

I founded Music Comes Alive because I am passionate about bringing music to life for children and adults alike. While teaching at our co-op for the last few years, I have found that parents feel inadequate to teach music appreciation to their children. But just as we can teach English, Language Arts, History, Math, and Science with a good guide, we can also teach music appreciation with a good guide! This belief led me to create Music Comes Alive. Each course is designed to be an opportunity to learn alongside your child. Each curriculum guide is open-and-go, with a schedule and fully written-out lesson plans, and requiring no prior expertise. We use great books, curated listening lists, and engaging activity sheets alongside these lessons to bring music to life for you and your child.

Learn More

I am so grateful for the gift of music in my life, a gift that points to the goodness, beauty, and truth of our Creator. Let us help you give the gift of music to your family with Music Comes Alive!

Shop the Curriculum

Bring the joy of music to your homeschool!