In this lesson, learn about and listen to the harp most commonly used in orchestras: the "pedal harp."
Learn more about how the pipe organ works- part two of a three-part series!
Mallet instruments are a part of the percussion family. Explore four kinds of mallet instruments in this lesson.
The mandolin is a string instrument that can be used in many different genres of music! Learn about the instrument and listen to it in several different styles of music.
Meet four organists, or people who play the organ, in four different settings.
Did you know most oboe players make their own reeds? Learn about this woodwind instrument and hear what it sounds like in this instrument exploration lesson!
The piano has 88 keys! Explore how sound is made on this keyboard instrument.
Bari, Tenor, Alto, Soprano - learn about these four saxophones in this instrument exploration lesson.
The brass family is one of four main instrument families in the orchestra. Learn how to make a sound on a brass instrument and hear recordings of various brass instruments.
The trombone is a member of the brass family! Learn a little about the instrument, and hear its sound in several different settings.
The viola looks like the violin, but it’s just a little bigger! Learn about the viola and listen to several Class Notes artists demonstrate their instrument.
The violin is the smallest instrument in the string family! Learn to identify the violin by sight and sound! Listen to several Class Notes artists demonstrate their instrument.
Once upon a time, in Ireland, there lived a "gloomery" little girl named Nora. What's "gloomery"? It's a sort of sad, crying feeling — the kind where, even if no tears fall from your eyes, you can still feel the crying deep in your bones. Restoring Nora's smile would take a magical adventure and the intervention of woodland fairies. Listen now to the Irish folk tale Nora Mavourneen and the Fairy Queen, the latest episode of YourClassical Storytime, featuring Irish music plus original illustrations by Nancy Carlson.
What happens when a boy named Jack climbs a towering beanstalk into the sky? Hint: It involves a magical harp, a golden goose and an ornery giant named Basil. Go on a wild musical adventure with Jack and the Beanstalk, featuring storytelling by Scott Blankenship, with illustrations by Nancy Carlson and music by Leos Janacek.
Do you like apples? Find out about the real man who loved apples so much that he traveled the country to share the fruit with everyone he met in Johnny Appleseed. It's the latest episode of YourClassical Storytime, featuring music from Antonin Dvořák's New World Symphony and original illustrations by Nancy Carlson.
Four friends — a violin, viola, cello and bass — are nervous about meeting their new owners. Will the young musicians learn to play properly and treat their string instruments with care? Find out in KinderLute, from YourClassical Storytime, featuring music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and illustrations by Eusebius Williams.
Why does the king throw every person that cuts his hair into jail? What is he hiding? Find out in The King With Donkey Ears. It's the latest episode of YourClassical Storytime, with music by Hamilton Harty and illustrations by Nancy Carlson.
Cat videos, cat memes, and composers and cats! Notice how melodic contour can represent the path of a cat’s feet, moving up and down a keyboard in Domenico Scarlatti's ‘Cat Fugue.’
Identify six musical concepts in this piece of music performed by St. Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians. Viet Cuong’s Circling Back conveys the sense of being driven off course and returned to our path. Students will develop active listening skills through identification of musical elements. Students will respond to a piece of music by articulating a personal connection.
Explore the timbres of the violin, cello, and piano in this listening lesson. Students will listen to Einaudi’s Golden Butterflies and connect music with nature.