For this project, students were introduced to the synesthetic relationship between visual art and music. They listened to various genres of instrumental music (some of their own choosing) and learned how to create abstract works of art that illustrated the emotions inspired by the dynamics of each song played.

The Basic Learning Objectives:

• recognize the emotional impact of music

• recognize the emotional impact of color

• recognize the historical use of music as a means to inspire visual art and vice versa

• demonstrate proper handling and care of painting materials

• reproduce abstract painting techniques

• produce abstract paintings inspired from or representative of the music played in class

On the first day I taught this class, I established the emotional effect that music has on people by asking students to discuss the music they listen to and the reasons behind their enjoyment of that music. How does the music make you feel? Why do you think that is?

Once I was satisfied that that connection had been forged, I went on to discuss the emotional reactions people have to color. How do you feel when you see the color red? What about the color purple? Why do you think people say they are feeling ‘blue’ when they are sad?

Using the emotional connection students identified with music and color, I then launched an abstract expressionist unit wherein students listened to music, thought about how that made them feel, matched that feeling to a color, and then painted with that color using painterly techniques taught in a previous class.

The results were astounding. Most of the artwork produced truly exceeded my expectations. By playing culturally relevant music that the students chose, I established a real-world connection between abstract painting and the music students enjoy.

Lesson Content is Relevant to Real-World Interests

The vast majority of students participating in these lessons were first or second generation Mexican immigrants. As a result, many are homesick and became really engaged in their paintings when I played ‘Trival’ music. Trival is sort of like a modernized Cumbia or Tejano genre. The beat is autotuned, repetitive, yet delightful–and is intended for a night full of dancing. One of the students claimed that painting to the music made him feel like he was in Mexico again (See Artifacts in Section III).

Teaching Materials

Students engaged with a wide array of materials and participated in several activities throughout this unit. During the introduction to this project, I had students participate in a music movement game to visually and kinetically demonstrate the emotional impact of music in real time. Additionally, students used paint brushes of various sizes, paints of various colors, and various weights of paper to construct their abstract paintings. For a complete list of materials and activities, please see my attached lesson plans in this section.