Finding good Halloween music can be tricky. Fortunately, there are plenty of classical music pieces that fit the Halloween spirit! This Halloween music appreciation pack includes ten of the most fun and spooky classical pieces that offer a taste of Halloween. Learn about the music of great composers, such as Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms, with Halloween music that will be a hit with your class!

Learning Objectives

• increased biographical knowledge of the composer
• familiarity with the composer's works
• ability to recognize, and engage with, popular pieces of music
• identify different instrument sounds
• social-emotional exploration of feelings and moods within the music
• creative expression by drawing and choosing colors related to a musical theme

★ Mindful Listening Sheets - There are no wrong answers! Students listen to the selected music and choose meaningful keywords they associate with what they hear. The emotions and weather page allows students to color their experiences.

★ Listen and Color - Pair art with music! Students color the characters while listening to featured music from The Nutcracker. There are four categories of keywords to circle/highlight that describes their listening experience. Blank lines are for writing in their own words. 

★ Classical Fairy Tale - Storytime! These listening sheets combine music appreciation with a storybook theme! Students compose their wondrous tales by choosing the setting, characters, and familiar fairy tale objects inspired by the music. There is also a drawing box for students to capture a scene from their imaginations.

★ Classical Space Tale - Storytime! These listening sheets combine music appreciation with an intergalactic theme! Students compose their epic space tales by choosing the setting, characters, and familiar space objects inspired by the music. There is also a drawing box for students to capture a scene from their imaginations.

★ Listen and Draw - The Fairy Tale and Space Tale sets have a framed drawing page for listeners to create their own music-inspired pieces of art! Great for younger students or for hosting a classroom art display.

★ Emoji Checkbox Listening - Students can use the checkboxes to note how they feel and what they imagine while listening to a selected piece of music. Choose from musical instruments, nature scenes, colors, and more! Students can also color in the emojis that best describe their listening experience in the emoji grid.

★ Rating Guides - Print one or more copies of the star rating guide to help students choose their rating. Half and quarter stars may be encouraged. Some seasonal activities will have different rating shapes. Emoji rating guides are included in color and black & white.

Musical Selections (Eight listening activity pages per piece)

1. Sarabande, Haydn
2. Waltz No. 2, Shostakovich
3. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, Rachmaninoff
4. The Noon Witch, Dvořák
5. String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110, Shostakovich
6. The Magic Flute (Overture,) Mozart

Do you know how composers create the haunting sounds of Halloween? Check out our blog post The Hidden Secrets of Spooky Halloween Music to learn more!

► We know you'll love helping students create meaningful connections to classical music, so we are happy to share these free listening activities with you today!