Looking for a fun In the Hall of the Mountain King music lesson for your elementary music students? Edvard Grieg’s famous piece is perfect for introducing children to classical music while exploring tempo, dynamics, and musical expression.
Because the music gradually gets faster and louder, students can easily hear how musical elements change throughout a piece. And with its mysterious beginning and exciting ending, In the Hall of the Mountain King is a piece that will capture your students’ attention right away!
About In the Hall of the Mountain King
In the Hall of the Mountain King was written by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg as part of the incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt.
In this scene, Peer finds himself in the hall of the Mountain King, surrounded by trolls and other creatures. The music begins quietly and slowly, then gradually becomes faster, louder, and more intense.
That makes it an especially effective piece for helping young musicians hear changes in music.
Fun fact! Grieg almost didn’t like In the Hall of the Mountain King! He described the music as something he could hardly stand to listen to because it was so full of exaggerated Norwegian character. Ironically, it became one of his most famous and recognizable pieces.
What Can Students Listen For?
Before playing the piece, give students a few specific things to listen for.
Ask:
- Does the music stay at the same tempo?
- What happens to the dynamics?
- Do you hear the same melody more than once?
- Which instruments do you notice?
- How does the mood of the music change?
- What do you imagine happening as you listen?
Students will likely notice one of the most important features of the piece: the music gradually gets faster and louder.
This provides a natural opportunity to introduce or review accelerando (gradually getting faster) and crescendo (gradually getting louder).
Color & Listen to In the Hall of the Mountain King
One of my favorite ways to use this piece is with a simple Color & Listen activity.
Instead of asking young students to sit still while listening to an entire classical piece, students have something quiet to do with their hands while their listening is focused on the music.
Students color an In the Hall of the Mountain King listening page as the music plays. The activity also gives you an opportunity to pause, discuss what students are hearing, and listen again for specific musical elements.
You can use the activity as:
- a classical music listening lesson
- a quiet end-of-class activity
- an introduction to Edvard Grieg and his music
- a tempo and dynamics lesson
- a listening center
- an early-finisher activity
- a no-prep sub lesson
Try a Movement Activity First
Before students complete the Color & Listen page, try experiencing the changes in the music through movement.
Ask your students to improvise moevements while the music is quiet and slow. As the piece gradually speeds up and becomes louder, students can show that as their movements to become faster and bigger.
Afterward, ask students what they noticed.
What happened to the tempo? What happened to the dynamics?
Now introduce the musical vocabulary accelerando and crescendo. Students have already experienced these concepts physically, making the terminology more meaningful.
Listen a Second Time
On the second listening, have students complete their In the Hall of the Mountain King Color & Listen page.
Encourage them to listen for the repeating musical idea and notice how Grieg changes the music even though much of the melody is familiar.
For older elementary students, you can extend the discussion by asking:
How did Grieg make the music increasingly exciting without constantly introducing a new melody?
Students may identify changes in tempo, dynamics, instrumentation, register, or texture.
An Easy Classical Music Lesson for Elementary Music
In the Hall of the Mountain King is one of those classical pieces that makes musical concepts especially easy for children to hear.
Students can experience the music through movement, identify changes in tempo and dynamics, learn about Edvard Grieg, and then reinforce their listening with a coloring activity.
The result is a simple elementary music lesson that combines active listening, movement, musical vocabulary, and classical music appreciation.
In the Hall of the Mountain King Color & Listen Activity
Want the ready-to-use listening activity?
My In the Hall of the Mountain King Color & Listen resource gives students a fun visual activity to complete while listening to Grieg’s famous piece. It works well for elementary music classes, listening centers, sub plans, or any time you want an easy way to introduce students to classical music.
Listen… Color…. Discover the music!