Discovery Orchestra Chat 110 – Another Effective Surprise
All surprises in life feel the way they do because of the unexpected aspect of the surprise. Composers can create “musical surprises” – see how in this Chat featuring pianist…
Composer M-R
Thanks! An Encore Presentation. . .
As I began to write what I hope will be an annual Thanksgiving Day blog post, I re-read last year’s – my first. It appeared to contain some good thoughts,…
Discovery Orchestra Chat 108 – The Land of 6th’s and Octaves
When composers want to add harmony to a melody, there are a number of ways they can do it. Learn more in this Discovery Orchestra Chat, featuring high-school musicians Katie…
Musical Discoveries of the Third Kind
You may recall the motion picture Close Encounters of the Third Kind that centers about a groundbreaking encounter with extraterrestrials. If groundbreaking classical music discoveries are what you seek, you…
“When You’re a Jet. . .”
“When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way / From your first cigarette to your last dyin’ day.” This lyric from West Side Story appeared in Jonathan Cott’s…
Right Size!
Some good friends of mine are fond of using the words ‘right size.’ And by this they are describing a state of mind in which we perceive our real place…
Thank you for providing the free online learning videos! We had our students listen to The Firebird Suite Lullaby & Finale and read an article where researchers found evidence that a conch shell was used as an instrument 17,000 years ago. Then students drew a picture (grades K-2) or wrote (grades 3-8) about how the music made them feel.