It’s my favorite time of the year! I love Fall & Halloween! There’s so much folk and classical music to draw from for your classroom. One of my favorite tunes to use during the month of October is In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg. It’s the fourth movement of the Peer Gynt Suite. What I love about In the Hall of the Mountain King is that it is such a simple piece of music with so many concepts to teach from it.
Melody
Does the melody move by step, skip, repeat or leap?
Rhythm
Look at the rhythmic structure of the song. Can your students identify the meter? The key signature? Read the rhythms with solfege? Could they write the rhythm of the theme?
Form
Can your students identify how composer uses repetition of a theme? How many times is the theme repeated? Does it ever get boring? Why? Why not?
Timbre
Can your students identify instruments within the piece? Can they identify the ensemble as an orchestra? Can they hear how the composer groups different instruments together during each repetition?
Dynamics
Can your students identify the dynamics in the piece? How does the composer use dynamics to create interest throughout the composition?
Tempo
Can your students identify the tempo of the piece? How does the composer use differing tempi to create interest throughout the composition?
Activities
There are some great activities to get your students engaged with this song. One of my favorites is doing a hand jive using a puppet. I’ve seen it done with a variety of puppets, but in my classroom, it’s all about “The Wizard!” The Hand jive is simple: 4 claps, 4, fist pounds (2 times left hand on top, 2 times right hand on top), 4 scissoring of the hands (2 times left hand on top, 2 times right hand on top), 4 thumbs back (2 times with left thumb, 2 times with right thumb). Do the hand jive 17 times, increasing the tempo each time and hilarity ensues!
Another favorite activity is reading the story In the Hall of the Mountain King by Allison Miller Flannery. We love this version in our room. It’s about an adventurous little boy who travels a bit too far from home and meets…The Mountain King! My boys (and girls) love it and you can almost hear the music as you read the story!
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this sounds interesting, but your link to you TPT page only takes us to Amazon and the book for sale. what’s your Tpt link????
Hi! Thanks so much for your message and letting me know about the link. I’ve corrected it and it should be fine now. Just in case, you can find the In the Hall of the Mountain King resource here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Music-Listening-In-the-Hall-of-the-Mountain-King-2168576
Thanks so much!