A composer of the month is a simple plan: pick one composer, hang up a poster, and play that composer’s music a few times a week for four weeks. By the end of a year, a child knows 12 composers by name, by face, and by ear. This page gives a calendar for the year, a weekly routine, and ideas for the wall.
A calendar for the year
Each choice is tied to a birthday or a season.
| Month | Composer | Why this month | Start with |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Mozart | Born January 27 | Eine kleine Nachtmusik |
| February | Florence Price | Black History Month | Juba Dance, from Symphony No. 1 |
| March | Bach | Born in March 1685 | Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 |
| April | Prokofiev | Born April 23 | Peter and the Wolf |
| May | Tchaikovsky | Born May 7 | Swan Lake |
| June | Grieg | Born June 15 | “Morning Mood” |
| July | Sousa | Marches for summer parades | “The Stars and Stripes Forever” |
| August | Debussy | Born August 22 | “Clair de lune” |
| September | Dvořák | Born September 8 | Slavonic Dances |
| October | Saint-Saëns | Born October 9, and Danse macabre for Halloween | Danse macabre |
| November | Copland | Born November 14, and American music for Thanksgiving | “Hoe-Down,” from Rodeo |
| December | Beethoven | Baptized December 17 | “Ode to Joy” |
Feel free to swap. Clara Schumann suits March, which is Women’s History Month in the United States, and September, the month of her birth. Handel suits December for Messiah. Vivaldi suits any change of season.
For more dates, see composer birthdays by month.
A weekly routine
Ten minutes, three times a week, is enough.
Week 1: meet the composer. Put up the poster. Read a short life story. Find the composer’s country on a map. Play the first piece.
Week 2: listen with care. Play the first piece again, and add a second. Give one thing to listen for each time: the speed, the instruments, or the mood.
Week 3: do something with it. Draw to the music, move to it, or act it out. Add a third piece.
Week 4: look back. Play all three pieces, and vote for a favorite. Fill in a notebook page. Add the composer to a timeline.
What to put on the wall
- The poster. Print the composer of the month poster and fill in the name, the dates, the country, and three pieces.
- A picture. Add a portrait.
- A map pin. Mark where the composer was born.
- A timeline. Add each composer to a strip of paper along the wall as the year goes on.
- This week’s piece. Write the title on a card, and change it each week.
For each composer
Every composer in the calendar has a page on this site with a life story, pieces to play first, and things to do.
- Mozart, Florence Price, and Bach
- Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, and Grieg
- Sousa, Debussy, and Dvořák
- Saint-Saëns, Copland, and Beethoven
For the full list, see classical composers for kids.
Ideas for home
- Play the month’s music at breakfast or in the car.
- Let your child choose the piece on Fridays.
- Hold a birthday party for the composer, with a cake and a concert.
- Keep a notebook with one page for each composer. Print the composer study notebook page.
- Watch one concert video in the month.
Ideas for a classroom
- Play the month’s music as the children come in, or during quiet work.
- Make a child the “music keeper” each week, with the job of choosing which of the three pieces to play.
- Put a question on the board each Monday, such as “Which instrument plays the tune?”
- Tie the composer to other subjects: the country in geography, the dates in history, and a drawing in art.
- End the month with a quiz of five questions.
How to choose your own 12
A good year has a mix.
- Eras: at least one composer from each of the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern eras
- Countries: more than Germany and Austria
- People: women and men, and composers of more than one background
- A living composer: see living composers kids can hear today
The lists on this site can help: women composers for kids, Black composers for kids, and American composers for kids.
A tool to plan it
The composer study planner builds a schedule from the composers you pick. The composer timeline shows when each one lived.
One month or six weeks?
A month is long enough to know three pieces and short enough to stay fresh. Some homeschool plans study one composer for six or twelve weeks. Read composer study for homeschool: how to plan a year.
Print and play
Print the composer of the month poster, the composer study notebook page, and the composer cards.
More from this guide
This article is part of Composer study for homeschool: how to plan a year in ten minutes a week.
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A free 36-week music appreciation plan for homeschool: one piece a week in six units, with a listening guide and a free page to print for each.
Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.