Study Music Appreciation For Families
In 6 Lessons

Introduce your family to music with this music appreciation for families study guide.

Who doesn't like music? Here at the Industrious Family music is a big part of our lives. That's why we have this course to offer. Whether you already love music or just want to learn more about it, this course is perfect!

This course is designed to be used for one quarter of your homeschool year or for six, weekly evenings of music appreciation in the family. I use the word day but it denotes one lesson and doesn't necessary need to be done day after day. Week after week is more appropriate.

The course encompasses three introductory stages of music appreciation for families.

1. The first stage introduces instruments and music forms.
2. The second stage begins teaches how to pay attention to music and be able to follow lyrics and singing.
3. The third stage ends this course and combines action, listening to music, as well as singing.

Music Appreciation For Families Stage 1

The first stage introduces instruments and music forms. You will learn:

• How to "read" famous composers like Mozart and Beethoven and
  
• How to identify movements and themes
  

Day 1: Mozart Symphony No. 40

Every artist has his own style. In this Symphony you'll learn to "read" Mozart. Don't worry, reading is easy. In fact to read an artist is to know his style.

Let's compare Mozart with Beethoven (who you will be learning about in Day 2).

In this symphony you'll read Mozart with stringed and air instruments. His work seems to be ever changing but yet, still has the same theme.

Mozart starts with his original theme which lasts to 0:55. All through the work he changes from his first movement to a different sound.

If you listen closely you can hear him come back to his first theme.  At 4:11 he returns to his original work with a few alternations but you can still hear it.

At 3:39 he changes and ends the symphony with a foreign movement.

I don't want your head to spin but if you want to get really into it, you can learn about this symphony's form here.

Now please watch the video below:

Day 2: Beethoven 04-Symphony No. 1

Both Mozart 40 and Beethoven 1 are joyful compositions so they are at first going to sound the same. But they do have their own styles. Notice that Beethoven uses more horns and drums than Mozart.

• Until 0:23 the symphony sounds like it will be peaceful and quiet.
• But till 1:02 he builds this loud and happy sounding movement which repeats.
• At 2:48 he changes to a new theme.
• At 3:40 he returns to his original theme.
• Then at 5:00 he changes to a new theme and ends it.

Now listen to the audio clip below:

Music Appreciation For Families Stage 2

In stage two you will learn how to pay attention to music and be able to follow lyrics and singing.

Day 3: Vivaldi's Four Seasons

The Seasons is one of my favorites because you can almost close your eyes and imagine the poem as a motion picture in your minds eye.

As you listen to this work you'll realize that there are different sounds for different parts of the year.

• Spring is many singing birds
• Summer is warm storms
• Fall is joyous hunts and
  
• Winter is soft snows

All these are depicted through instruments.

Print the lyrics here... (To print, after opening the link, hold down the control key and then p on your keyboard)

Once you've printed the lyrics, watch the YouTube video below:

Day 4 and 5: Handel's Messiah

In The Messiah you'll "read" Handel with his yodel-like singing and the harpsichord before each singer's part.

As we build from just music and move on to lyrics and voices and eventually, in operas, action, we sometimes forget about the orchestra.

As this is music appreciation so you may appreciate in any way you want but try to pay attention to the instruments as well as the singing.

As this is a long video you can watch it in two days or watch the whole thing!

You'll find the lyrics here...

Music Appreciation For Families Stage 3

In stage three, the end of this course, action is added while trying to still pay attention both music and singing.

Day 6: Rossini’s La Cenerentola

Now for an opera! Rossini’s La Cenerentola is a very likable story and the music and singing is great.

The nice thing about this video is it has English captions making it easier to follow the story and pay more attention to the music.

Rossini’s La Cenerentola is an Opera that is based on the tale of Cinderella. There is a twist in the story as there is no fairy godmother and, in place of the evil step-mother, there is an evil step-father. It is a very likable story as it is very humorous.

It is a favorite in our home. Mary and Faustina laughed through the entire video the first time they watched it. The humor is great and the actors, never better!

We hope you have just as much fun with this course as we have! This is a very simple course and there is so much more to learn about music. I hope you are well on your way to discover the beautiful world of music through this music appreciation for families course!