Music can be a powerful tool, especially if you’re a writer. It has the power to shape and inspire, and has inspired some of the greatest written works of our time––including Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rap musical “Hamilton.” Despite Lin-Manuel Miranda’s success, he’s not the only famed writer to create brilliant pieces inspired by music. Walt Whitman wrote “Leaves of Grass” while listening to opera. Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange, and Langston Hughes, were all inspired by spirituals, jazz, and blues.
These writers understood that music opens up pathways to creative thinking, that can help us weave together thoughts and ideas. We already know that music inspires creativity––especially creative writing. But how can we use music to inspire other types of writing?
Write a Poem Inspired by Music
One way you can help your students get inspired by music is to include an activity where you have them describe what they hear. Invite your students to read an excerpt from an artist’s perspective such as poetry, or even have them view art while listening to music. How do the content, colors, textures, and shapes in the paintings resemble the sounds they hear? How do the words, emotions, and phrases reflect the mood of the music?
Let your students write what comes to mind when they hear the music. Have them:
Describe the images that come to mind.
Name feelings and thoughts triggered by the imagery and sounds.
Use words or phrases that resonate most with the music.
Build a theme or message around the music.
You can do this exercise with any type of music you want. Or, you could create your own playlist to pair with the poetry or artwork. Whichever feels best!
Write a Rap Inspired by Classroom Material
Repetition is an important part of our brain’s ability to store new information. When we repeatedly go over something, our brain transitions this information from conscious thought to subconscious fluency. Rap is a great way to rhyme words together in a way that helps our brain recall information. Invite students to write their own raps about topics, events or themes you are studying in class. This is a great way to help them retain valuable information––and it’s fun!
Share What Music Means to You
You might choose a question for your students to write to, or have them answer a few questions pertaining to music, and what it means to them. Most people can recall times in their lives when music was impactful, or important to them. For some of your students, it may be when their mom danced with them when they were younger. For others, it could be something as simple as their favorite song on the radio. Music impacts and shapes us in so many different ways, so it’ll be interesting to see the emotional impact it has had on your own students.
Maybe bring a tissue box, or two!
Review an Artist, Album, or Song
Which artists, albums, and songs can your students not stop talking about? Pen that energy into an argumentative essay––either for or against that particular artist, album, or song! You can also challenge your students to pick an unfamiliar genre of music, and get them to write about what they learned while listening to a new artist.
Write an Editorial
If you scan the magazine aisle in any supermarket you can find rows upon rows of magazines about pop-culture, and generally they’re about the latest and greatest on the Billboard Top 100. As a group, (or maybe break up into groups) ask your students to write an editorial piece about the pop-culture world today, and the influence musicians have on the general public. If you want to make it a fun activity for multiple groups, consider having your students pull songs out of a hat!
For more information about all things music related, contact The Music Room!