Oh, no!!  Melvin, the Musical Menace, in his efforts to become the most famous composer in the world, has traveled back in time on a mischievous mission!  While visiting the Baroque era, he intentionally (AND ON PURPOSE!) played a CD of Tchaikovskyís 1812 Overture while walking through a town square in Germany.  Johann Sebastian Bach overheard the glorious sounds and immediately started to compose in a style 150 years before its time!  Music history as we know it has unraveled into a mass of stylistic confusion. 
     Your job, as a master musicologist, is to pick up the melodious (and harmonious) pieces and reconstruct the musical timeline, so we can forever and always continue to enjoy the great musical works of the past.

     You are going to reconstruct the music history timeline focusing on a few of the major composers from each of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras.  In order to   accomplish this task, you will need to:
 

• Research information about the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern time periods.

• Explore the internet for information about three major composers from each of the time periods.

• Visit the school and/or city libraries for resources or books about the time periods and composers.

• Interview the school music teachers or local musicians for their input on which composers they might consider to be the most significant.

1. As a preliminary activity, the teacher will play for your class CD excerpts from music selected from each of the historical time periods. 
2. After listening, your class will discuss similarities and differences they heard in the excerpts.
3. Your class will discuss the design of the finished timeline including size and scale and prepare a place in the room where it will be displayed.
4. Your class will then be divided into four small groups and each group will be assigned  one of the major music history time periods.
5. From various sources, your group will gather information about your time period, including dates, outstanding composers, styles of the time, famous works composed and non-musical significant events which may have influenced a composerís work. 
6. Your group will publish your gathered information on a segment of the timeline which follows the established guidelines for scale and design of the finished product.
7. After research is complete, and you have had the opportunity to assemble your portion of the timeline, your group will introduce the segment to the class in a brief oral presentation.
8. After all presentations are complete, the final timeline will be assembled and displayed.

    Nice work!!  The Music History Timeline has been restored and you have learned about some of the world's greatest composers whose musical masterpieces have withstood the test of time.  Donít stop here!!  The more you learn about music history, the harder it will be for someone like Melvin, the Musical Menace to create musical mayhem!