Need ideas for easy and fun at-home music learning? Here's our daily Classical Kids Music Lesson, featuring music by Zoë Keating.
Target age range: Grades 3-5
1. Begin by watching and listening to "Escape Artist," by Zoë Keating.
2. Questions for reflection, discussion or journaling:
• In the beginning of the video, the composer explains the title of the piece. Can you think of a time when you wanted to escape something?
• The composer mentions moving between the city and a forest. Where do you live? What does it sound like there?
• Did it surprise you that one person could create all these layers of sound? Do you know how she does it?
3. Learn about the cello.
• Watch and listen to Class Notes: Technique, Virtuosity, and Soul, featuring the amazing Nygel Witherspoon. Here are some lessons and activities that go along with the video.
• Listen and compare the following pieces for cello. For each piece, write down your observations and answer the following questions: What did you hear? What did you notice? Did you like it? Why or why not?
LISTEN — Suite for Solo Cello, No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007
Johann Sebastian Bach
Matt Haimovitz, cello
LISTEN — 7 Papillons: No. 7
Kaija Saariaho
Estelle Revaz, cello
LISTEN — Cello Sonata I. Dialogo
Gyorgy Ligeti
Ludwig Quandt, cello
4. Learn about the looping pedal
• A looping pedal records a sound and plays it over and over again. Once the recorded patterns start repeating, a musician can play along with the loops, creating layers of sound.
• Interested in looping pedals? Listen to Class Notes Artists Gaelynn Lea, who uses looping pedals in her work.
Want to know even more? Learn more about composer and performer Zoë Keating here.
Have a question or suggestion? Contact Katie Condon, music education specialist.
More: View all of our daily Classical Kids Music Lessons
