If there is one thing my students learn before they leave me to move onto the next teacher, it’s the BME Rule.  I have a sign in my classroom that states: “The BME Rule – All Good Writing is Following It!”

It has to do with the fact that all good pieces of writing have a beginning, a middle and an end.  But in my class, students get this concept drilled into their heads as we listen to music each day during our Active Listening time.  When I talk about the BME Rule, I always mention music.  Like this:

“All good pieces of writing (and music!) follow the BME Rule!”

And it’s true!  Music is a composition that needs to be pleasing to the human ear, just as a story, an article or a poem needs to be as well.  Our brains love organization and even the most abstract piece of music will still have some B, M and E!

If you listen to any piece of music, you can find its beginning, middle and end.  Sometime the beginning may be short and the ending can be abrupt, but they are there just the same.  Paralleling the BME in music to the stories, reports and poems we write can be yet another effective way to show students an important aspect of good writing.

And you can take it further too.  Ask students what makes a good beginning, middle and end in a piece of music:

B – Does it grab the listener’s attention?  Does it introduce anything? (instruments/character, themes, forshadowing)

M – Does it have details?  (layers of sound) Does it tell a story? (with various themes or lyrics)

E –  Is it exciting/subdued/abrupt?  Why and what does that do for the listener?  Does the ending wrap things up?  How? Does it bring back a familiar theme (ABA form) or introduce something somewhat new (coda)?

For some great songs you can use in your own classroom for BME and other Active Listening activities and lessons, view my set of public playlists on Spotify!

The Inspired Classroom on Spotify

 

 

 

~EMP

Celebrate Music and Literacy by taking advantage of Elizabeth’s book Inspired by Listening, a teacher resource book for integrating musical listening experiences into the classroom.  

Visualization in Music and Writing
Active Listening Time - A Vehicle for the Music-Literacy Connection