J. S. Bach Background Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier is one of the treasures of western music. Each of its two volumes contains 24 preludes alternating with 24 fugues--a pair in each key. This is a study of the 48 fugues, which we liken to life and learning in many disciplines.

Purpose introduce students to the Well-Tempered Clavier and inspire them to love it. teach students to connect symbols with sounds and vice versa. establish metaphorical relationships between music and other disciplines. explore common elements of design that unite seemingly unlike things.

Monet Poplars Motivation The site was designed for an undergraduate course in Form and Analysis. The primary user would be a music major of junior standing. This student would typically have completed two years of harmony and ear training. While the site was developed as a music course, most of the traffic has come from casual browsers, persons with avocational interests in music, or students directed to the site by instructors in other disciplines. Realizing that many non musicians reference the site, the authors have written for an audience with broader skills and interests.

Fugue? Learning Activities Each fugue is a freestanding learning object with potential applications in varied settings. |get Shockwave| fourth graders learning how a fugue is like a flight of geese. high-schoolers studying DNA, a fractal, a Mobius strip, Monet's poplars, or Carl Sagan's fugue in space. university students reading a polyphonic novel, intertextualizing art of the Reformation, remembering the Holocaust, reconsidering rhetoric, Palladian architecture, Nietzsche's nihilism, or wrapping minds around Godel's theorem of incompleteness. music majors in a course on Schenkerian Analysis, double counterpoint, or Bach's compositional purpose.

Impact of Use on Teaching and Learning Students like how the interactive approach delivers content, addresses the needs of visual learners, and makes them think about related disciplines. The following comments are representative: We can learn so much about counterpoint, stretto, and the elements of form. The analysis and narrative incorporate different learning styles allowing all students to comprehend. Animations bring the assignment alive and help visual learners. The hyperlinks are really helpful, allowing us to hear specifically what you are referring to. Your narratives spawn a lot of thought; I love learning the relationships between music and the universe. Very thought provoking; not only are we learning about the fugues, but also about other aspects of the humanities such as painting and architecture.

Tips for Teaching Students should begin the study of a fugue by listening to it, followed by reading of the narrative. Paired students may listen together and compare interpretations. Hyperlinks should be clicked, and sounds connected with what students read in the score. Many of the fugues are accompanied by online quizzes targeted for students at the university or advanced high school level. Answers can be emailed to instructors.

Reflections This project began with an idea. When the idea came, We didn't know if it would be possible to execute. As we realized that "the idea" was going to "happen," the project acquired an interdisciplinary flavor and we discovered what we really wanted to say: ideas emanate from imagination and intellect, but products result from good designs and hard work. The four together--imagination, intelligence, design, and craftsmanship--reflect so much of what we see in the world, both in the arts and in nature. This project has helped us to realize that everything is the product of idea. Each common thread, so beautifully woven through the fabric of creation, indicates a common origin. The commonality extends not only to the origin of ideas themselves, but also to their designs and techniques whereby they have been crafted. We have received many positive responses from people around the world. They have enjoyed the music, the timelines, and the animations, but many of them have not been able to read the narratives. We would like to collaborate with native speakers to provide translations of selected fugues.