We'll be soon embarking on an Orchestra Unit here at Sweetness and Light! We had such a lovely time learning about Saint-Saens and the Carnival of the Animals, but it's time to move on to some different music studies! Thanks for Lissa for some new links relating to ear-training and note learning games and activities!! These are sure to be a "hit" in our music-loving family!!
As many of our Unit Studies revolve around really great picture books, so too will our Orchestra Study! Many of our favorites come from suggestions on the Real Learning Booklist, and others are discoveries of our own!
We had the pleasure of enjoying a wonderful "Dress Rehearsal" performance by our local Philharmonic this past Saturday, as a surprise field trip to kick off our study! It was great. Their theme was Sounds of America and they did some beautiful pieces by Gershwin, Ives and Copeland. Our favorite was the ending Rhapsody in Blue and most especially the pianist's part, he was exceptional!! This was a family friendly event and most affordable at only $30/family. The setting was relaxed and the sound mangificent. I encourage you to look into this type of opportunity for your family as well, it was truly worth it!
Now, back to the books!! For starters, Our Bookshelf is filled with:
Zin Zin Zin! A Violin! (Video, Audio CD, and Picture Book)
Berlioz the Bear, by Jan Brett (Video and Picture Book)
Meet the Orchestra: First Instruments (Baby Einstien DVD)
Meet the Orchestra (Baby Einstien Audio CD)
Meet the Orchestra, picture book by Ann Hayes
Out & About at the Orchestra, by Barbara J. Turner
The Young People's Guide to the Orchestra: Benjamin Britten's Composition on CD
Let's Look at Musical Instruments and the Orchestra, by C. O. Rhodes
We'll of course be listening to lots of different styles of Orchestral music and these will just be some random picks of mine. I especailly like the following sites for music appreciation and choosing music activities and listening online:
Interactive Symphony: The Orchestra
DSO Kids (Dallas Symphony Orchestra)
There are a myriad classical music sites, I'm sure an entire lifetime could be spent just on Music Appreciation, wouldn't Charlotte Mason be happy about that!! But we will have to keep it reigned in to this for now!
I hope you'll join us for a few musical pieces here and there, if you have a favorite resource or site, let me know in the comments section, it will be truly appreciated!! And don't miss the ongoing Composer Studies at the 4Real Learning Forums, there is always a wealth of information waiting for you anytime!!
Happy reading and listening and thanks for visiting today!!
That sound awesome! We just finished reading Zin! Zin! A Violin and really loved it.
Posted by: Theresa | Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 01:49 PM
I'd like to hear how this turns out, Meredith. I've been thinking about doing this later this year.
Posted by: Cheryl | Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 03:06 PM