Teaching Music in Los Angeles in Grades 9–12

Quick answer: Start from the music students already hear every day: film and screen scores. Play one scene with two different soundtracks, then build the vocabulary to explain the difference. A complete Film Music Analysis unit takes students from function and diegesis to Herrmann and Zimmer and ends with them scoring a scene, which suits a city built around the film industry.

Los Angeles is a film city, and that gives music teachers an easy way in. Many students know film and game soundtracks better than any concert repertoire, and some have family who work in production. Film music lets you teach listening, form and analysis with material students already care about.

It also bridges the gap between general music students and trained performers. A student who has never read a score can still describe what a sustained low string note does to a scene, and a trained musician can go further into harmony and orchestration. Both are doing real analysis.

What should high school music students learn through film music?

Film music is a vehicle for core musical skills. By the end of a unit, students should be able to:

• Describe music with precise terms for tempo, dynamics, texture, register and timbre.
• Distinguish diegetic music, which characters in the scene can hear, from non-diegetic music, which only the audience hears.
• Name functions of film music, such as setting mood, signaling danger, linking scenes or revealing what a character feels.
• Recognize techniques such as ostinato, stingers and leitmotif, and explain their effect.
• Justify their own compositional or selection choices in writing.

How can I sequence a film music unit?

The Film Music Analysis unit runs over six lessons with five differentiated worksheets, three student reading texts, answer keys, a detailed lesson plan and an editable presentation. A sequence that follows its logic:

1. The two-score experiment: play the same silent clip twice with contrasting music and have students write how their reading of the scene changed.
2. Functions: list what the music did in each version and sort the answers into categories such as mood, tension and character.
3. Diegesis: watch short clips and classify each cue as diegetic or non-diegetic, then find a cue that crosses from one to the other.
4. Techniques: listen for ostinato and sustained tones in a suspense scene and describe how repetition builds tension.
5. Case studies: compare Herrmann's Psycho score with a Zimmer score, focusing on instrumentation and rhythm.
6. Scoring project: students choose or create music for a short scene and present a written rationale.

The first lesson does most of the persuading. Once students see the same images read as romantic in one version and threatening in another, they accept that music is doing work, not decorating.

How does leitmotif connect Wagner to modern film?

Leitmotif is the technique that most clearly links nineteenth-century music drama and today's blockbusters. The Leitmotif Technique unit has students identify a motif, track how it is transformed in Wagner's Ring, then apply the same analysis to John Williams's Imperial March.

The strongest discussion comes at the end, when the unit asks how far such an effective technique shades into manipulation. Students should argue with musical evidence: which changes in rhythm, key or orchestration make the audience feel something before they know why.

How can I use Los Angeles as context?

Use the city's film industry as a frame, not a trip requirement. Ask students to list the jobs involved in getting music onto the screen, such as composer, orchestrator, music editor, session player and sound mixer, and research what one of them does. This connects the unit to careers without any outside visit.

A local project works well: students film 30 seconds of a place they know in Los Angeles, then score it twice, once to make it feel safe and once to make it feel tense.

What pitfalls should I watch for?

• Students describe the plot instead of the music. Require at least three musical terms in every written answer.
• Diegetic and non-diegetic get reversed. Use the test question: could a character in the scene hear it?
• Everything is labeled 'dramatic' or 'emotional'. Push for specifics: which instrument, which register, which rhythm?
• Scoring projects become playlist choices. Ask for a cue sheet with timings and a reason for each choice.

How do I differentiate for mixed musical backgrounds?

Give non-readers listening maps and timelines instead of scores, and give trained musicians the score extracts and harmonic questions. The worksheets in both units are differentiated, so the same lesson can serve both groups. For English learners, a word bank of 12 to 15 terms with audio examples helps more than definitions alone.

If you want a full semester, the Music, Media & Narrative Bundle combines program versus absolute music, soundscape and acoustic ecology, leitmotif technique and film music analysis in 24 lessons. Browse the High School Music collection for more, or see our Los Angeles teaching resources page for other subjects.

Music in Los Angeles: at a glance

Frequently asked questions

Why teach film music in high school music class?

Film music teaches core listening and analysis skills with music students already know. It works for trained musicians and general students alike, and it leads naturally into composition through scoring tasks. In Los Angeles it also connects to a major local industry.

What is the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic music?

Diegetic music exists inside the story, so characters can hear it, such as a radio playing in a scene. Non-diegetic music is added for the audience only, such as the orchestral score under a chase. Some cues move from one to the other, which makes a strong analysis task.

How long does a film music unit take?

Six lessons is a good length for one unit. The Film Music Analysis unit is built around six lessons, and pairing it with the leitmotif unit gives you roughly half a semester of connected work.

Do students need to read notation for these units?

No. Listening maps, timelines and clear vocabulary let non-readers analyze film music well. Students who read notation can go further with score extracts, so the same unit serves a mixed class.

Related reading

• Los Angeles teaching resources: selected units and subjects