I think its very important that kids are exposed to classical music and composers, whether or not they want to be a classical musician. I always make it a priority to familiarize my Piano Lesson/Lab students with classical works and composers’ stories. This year, we’re listening to a different theme of music each month, starting with Symphony September.
We started off the month exploring the San Francisco Symphony Kids Website where we could hear and see all of the instruments of the orchestra. Next we listened to a podcast on Classics for Kids that told about each of the Beethoven Symphonies and we listened to the woodwinds imitating a ticking metronome in the second movement of Beethoven’s 8th Symphony.
This week we have been watching a YouTube video of Haydn’s Farewell Symphony. Its especially fun to teach students about music that has a story. Haydn composed the Farewell Symphony to make a statement about the overworked state of the musicians at Esterhaza. During the final movement, musicians snuff the candle on their music stand and leave the stage one-by-one until there are only 2 musician remaining. On Tuesday, my youngest students watched the the video and each time a musician got up and left they got to ring a chime. They were extra attentive, waiting for the next chance to ring the chime!
We have one more week of symphonies before Bach-tober! 🙂