Listening with Purpose, Part II

Posted by Christine | 0 comments

“Mom, I don’t like this song!” my 6-year-old shouts from the back seat of the van.

“Why not?” I answer.

“Because it makes me feel sad, like I’m at a friend’s house and I have to leave,” comes the reply.

Music has such power– power over our emotions, our ability to focus (for good or bad), and our energy level. The song my daughter didn’t like had a soulful oboe solo, a gently wailing melody in a minor key that had a hint of sadness in it. She heard, responded, and decided that she didn’t like how it made her feel. Children intuitively sense differences in music, even small ones, and though they don’t know the terminology, they need to be given the opportunity to express their feelings as they listen.

In this part of the Listening with Purpose series (the first of which can be found here) we will focus on the styles of classical music and how to incorporate them into your homeschool.

This will not be a post of details. I’ll throw in a little history here and there to tie it all together, but for the most part, beyond introductions to specific aspects of classical music, we’ll look at ways to gently, and without much fuss, sneak in some extra-musical flair to your homeschool week. Non-musicians often let intimidation get in the way of some beautiful additions to their week, and it doesn’t have to be that way.

The word “style” in classical music is rather vague. It can apply to time periods in history and the music that was written within them; the area of the world in which the music originated; sub-categories within a specific genre (like vocal music); or even the way the instruments articulate their parts. For the purpose of this post, I will be focusing on time periods and the characteristics that shape the classical music of those times. We have great opportunities as homeschoolers to shape the aural environment in our homes in order to match what we are studying in other parts of our learning experience.

Classical music from 1400 AD falls into these basic historical periods. They overlap in some cases so the years listed are not completely firm:

• Renaissance: 1400-1600AD (with music from Palestrina, Victoria, and Gabrieli)
• Baroque: 1600-1750 (think Bach, Vivaldi and Handel)
• Classical: 1750- ca. 1840 (Mozart is king here, but Haydn and a couple of others are in the mix too)
• Romantic: ca. 1840-1930 (luscious stuff by Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Berlioz, for example)
• Contemporary: ca. 1930- present (this music can get very academic and sometimes weird, but there are many gems here by the likes of Stravinsky, Glass and others. It’s actually my favorite time period.)

First and foremost, we need to hear music, really listen to it with an uncritical ear, to even form an opinion about it. Children are blank slates when it comes to the arts, and have no preconceived notions about what “should” be. Music that they’ve heard before becomes theirs quickly, so that when they hear the same piece as background for a commercial, in an elevator, or at a concert they have a sense of ownership.

The same thing can happen with history, literature and art when it is tied to music of the period you are studying. Doesn’t music “bring you back” to certain times of your life, whether it is high school, band camp, or a wedding you attended? We can bring learning to life when we make a small effort to provide music as the glue in our lessons.

Here are a handful of ideas to take this enormous span of music and narrow it to suit a normal day-in-the-life of a typical homeschooler:

• During reading time, play some Palestrina choral music, such as this CD. Palestrina has an ethereal and calming quality that fits perfectly in down times. We have been known to have “Palestrina parties” (my husband’s invention) when all of the kids have to conduct what they hear. Of course, for them it simply means waving their arms to the beat and the shape of the music.
• While flipping through a book of art by Monet, Degas, Renoir or Cassatt, play Debussy, who wrote music in the impressionistic style that paralleled the same movement in the art world.
• During the Christmas season, while decorating the tree or wrapping presents, play some Giovanni Gabrieli brass music or Handel’s Messiah. The story behind the Messiah is an inspiring one.
• While learning about kings and queens of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, listen to Handel’s Water Music and Fire Music suites. If you’re feeling up to it, learn some Baroque Dance moves.
• Watch Fantasia with your children. The music from the video includes Mussorgsky, Stravinsky, and Dukas.
• While learning about Napoleon and his time, listen to Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. Beethoven wrote it as a tribute to Napoleon, but then rescinded that dedication when Napoleon betrayed the people. Check out this book from the library.
• Listen to the entire Mozart Requiem and have your children come up with 5 adjectives for each movement. The movements are so diverse and beg for discussion. The story behind the Requiem is fascinating as well, as it was unfinished at Mozart’s death. Mystery, intrigue, illness all figure in to the end of Mozart’s life.
• Many pieces have a specific story that they illustrate (think “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in Fantasia) or a something that they represent. Listen to “Peter and the Wolf” by Prokofiev, Saint Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals”, or Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition. Get a book on the subject to look through and then have the kids draw or write about what they are hearing.
• Mike Venezia’s books on composer’s are favorites in our home. They give interesting and easily readable life stories of many of the well-known composers I have mentioned. They are cheap too!
• Have fun at this website trying to put the composers in their time periods once you’ve explored some of their music in the activities above.

Music need not be a difficult “Do I have to??” addition to your homeschool. Five to ten minutes of planning and web surfing per week could allow you one great lesson. Or, better yet, let the music speak for itself as you play it around the house or in the car. Make the choice to include it, and you and your children will be blessed.

Christine is a Christian, homeschooling mom to three boys and a girl, ranging in age from 9 to 2 years old. She is a musician by trade, eclectic in homeschool style, and continues to grow and learn along with her children in this journey of life and discipleship at home. Visit her blog at Fruit in Season.