Beginning this week, students will move on from the works of Vivaldi and the Baroque Era to the slightly more streamlined and cleaner sounds of the Classical Era.
We'll be focusing our efforts on the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A familiar composer to many of our kids, he is a fascinating composer to study! Mozart got his composing start rather early - at the age of 5!! This fact really seems to resonate with my students, as I remind them that musical talents come pretty early! And it helps the younger students relate to Mozart to realize how he was composing by the time he was their age!
We'll take the opportunity as we study a "young" composer to do a little composing ourselves! This week, I intend to introduce the students to online composing/arranging activities!
Mozart's works are recognizable, as I've played one particular piece (the tune is the one we know now as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star") for them to hear. We'll talk about patterns in musical, the nice clean and airy sound of Major 3rd intervals (something Mozart enjoyed using a lot in his works), and getting good at scales. Trust me, you can't play much Mozart if you aren't practicing your scales!
On the Classics for Kids website, there's another great show to listen to on Mozart (choose #2):
http://www.classicsforkids.com/shows/showview.asp?ID=27
Students are encouraged to bring in something to contribute to our bulletin board related to the Classical Era or Mozart. Looking forward to their contributions!
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