Outside the Orchestra Weekly Wrap-Up: 3/16 - 3/22/2020

Weekly Wrap-Up 3/16 - 3/22/2020

Meet Inside the Orchestra We're Inside the Orchestra - a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based out of Denver, Colorado. We specialize in large-scale, immersive, interactive, educational orchestra performances for children. As part of those experiences, we design lesson plans, program packets, activities, and at-home and in-school musical experiences for our attendees. Since we can't do our concert programming right now, we are going to make sure we're bringing music #OutsideTheOrchestra and to the kids where they are - at home. Questions, thoughts, feedback, ideas, anything? Let us know.

It's been so much for bringing music right to your home this past week. Whether you just took some time to play orchestra memory online or took it a step further and created your own artwork along with orchestra music that told a story, we hope you a wonderful, musical time. Any type of orchestra or arts content you'd like to see? Send us an email at info@insidetheorchestra.org we'd love to hear what you and your kids want!

Sara Hare Program Manager

Shelby Mattingly Executive Director

Just like small businesses, Inside the Orchestra is a small arts organization experiencing very heavy financial impacts right now. If you are able to purchase a gift card or make a donation of any amount, please know that a every penny makes an impact.

INSTRUMENT PETTING ZOO

Meet a Musician The Interviewers

Liz (5)

The Musician

Luke (6)

Mike

What is a bass?

A bass is the lowest sounding instrument of the string family that includes violins, violas, cellos and basses.

Do your arms hurt when you play an instrument?

The bass is a very physical instrument but if played correctly it shouldn't hurt really. Any instrument uses certain muscles more than others. For example the wind instruments use the muscles of the face, mostly the ones around the mouth, while string instruments use the muscles of the hands, arms, shoulders, and torso. The violins and violas also use the muscles of the neck to hold their instruments. But with enough practice, and proper technique, there shouldn't be that much pain.

Do you push the bow hard or soft?

Pushing the bow hard or soft depends on what the music calls for. The more weight and speed we apply to the bow, the louder we can play. The less weight gives a softer sound and tone.

Can you do tricks on your instrument?

Of course! I am, after all, easily amused. I can make my bass roar like a lion, or bark like a dog, or sound like signals from outer space, or seagulls, or whales, and yes! I can spin it - BUT NO, - I would never stand on it.

The bass may be a big instrument, it is still very fragile.

Mike Fitzmaurice Read more about Mike and see him perform on pg. 8!

Monday, 3/16

Program Music is a type of music that tells a story. It is a wonderful way for new listeners, young and old, to connect with the world of the orchestra - you can literally hear and imagine the scene as it unfolded in the mind of the composer while you listen to the music.

No prep: This activity requires no prep at all.

Entry-Level, all ages option: Listen to one or more pieces from the Program Music Spotify playlist Tell your kids the story that the music is trying to portray.

Going Further, ages 3-12: The beginning of the activity will need 5-10 minutes of guidance from a grown-up, but then the age and skill-adaptable arts activities will keep them engaged in independent or group creativity.

Follow the activity guide to learn all about program music where children will end by creating their own art.

Each movement of this seven-movement suite by Gustav Holst was written about a different planet, specifically the role of the planet in astrology (not astronomy). The Jupiter movement was also given the title of "The Bringer of Jollity." It begins and ends with a frenzied, but happy, energy with a beautiful, full melody in the middle.

Kids can get their energy out by running around acting like shooting stars during the energetic sections, and then moving their bodies slowly like a giant planet during the melody in the middle.

Explore the planets by listening to this fun and catchy song. Once that is stuck in everyone's head, here are some coloring pages if you have a printer at home, or a make some planet sun catchers from Fun-A-Day all you need are coffee filters and some markers!

If you and your kiddo(s) want to learn even more about Holst's music, check out these Classics for Kids lesson plans all about Jupiter

by Holst.

Monday, 3/16 Ages 4 & Under: Spring Songs Check out this list that includes a variety of spring songs from Let's Play Music. The author included a couple of counting songs, a circle game as well as some to be sung with puppets - certainly something for everyone!

6th - 8th Grade: Plants & Music Do plants respond to music? Several studies indicate that the answer is yes.

If you have plants around the house, you can adapt this experiment from Education.com to the plants you already have. Find out if they love music!

Children can be equally as affected as adults by the stress in their environment, even if they are not always able to communicate it. Check out our blog post full of comforting music to help the little one(s) in your life through all the changes that are happening right now.

Women's History Month This playlist is Pt. 1 of our series that features music composed by women throughout the ages.

Tuesday, 3/17

Music is a fascinating blend of physical vibrations, basic counting, complicated mathematical patterns/ rules - complete with a whole lot of creativity and humanity. It's the perfect medium for early learners to explore the scientific process. Here are STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) experiments for kids in different age ranges.

Some prep: This activity requires pots and pans, glasses, and straws depending on age level.

Entry-level, All Ages Option: Listen to the science-inspired playlist to hear music about Einstein, the moon, the periodic table, and more!

Going further, All Ages Options: Activities are included for babies through middle school-aged children. Complete one of the STEAM experiments.

Listen to the buzzing string players and the trilling wind instruments at the beginning of this piece by Ralph Vaughn Williams and you'll understand why it is called The Wasps!

Activity: Use your hands to make stingers on your head and buzz like bees. Buzz along with the buzzing strings.

Keep on buzzing at home with this fun bee hand puppet craft from Easy Peasy Fun. Fly your bee around while listening to The Wasps or another bee-utiful classic, Flight of the Bumblebees.

Tuesday, 3/17 Ages 1-3: If you've been to Tiny Tots in the past couple of years, chances are you've made a shaker at our DIY instrument station! This blog from In the Playroom gives some fun ideas of ways to use the shaker to encourage your child's speech and language development.

This peaceful playlist will help settle your little ones to sleep. Play it during their bedtime routine or after you lay them down to sleep. It features a wide variety of music, from piano solos to string orchestras, with music composed from 1730 to 1978.

Audio playlist here Post with videos and more info here

Music of March The month of March brings two distinct holidays - St. Patrick's Day and Mardi Gras. Each holiday has its own rich traditions and unique musical style associated with it.

Check out this playlist that is inspired by both.

Wednesday, 3/18

The orchestra is grouped into four main families. This activity guide focuses on the strings and woodwinds families. You can plan an interactive online game that explores instruments and their sounds, listen to instrument-specific playlists, and/or explore the enrichment packet.

Entry-level, All Ages Options: Play the woodwind playlist and/or the string playlist as you go about your day Check out the interactive orchestra in the activity guide to hear to the beautiful sounds of the string and woodwind families Depending on the age, with an adult: Test your knowledge with a fun sound quiz

Going Further, Late Elementary & Older: Enrichment Packet Read about string and woodwind instruments in the orchestra Watch videos featuring each instrument Complete worksheets based on what you learned

If you've been to an Inside the Orchestra concert, chances are you've already met Mike! He is one of our core bass players, doing in-school and public programming with us. Let's join him at his house as he tells us about his double bass and gives a performance of an Irish piece called (in English) The Mountain of Geal gCua (or Mt. Geal Gua).

For advanced learners: Watch from the beginning to learn about overtones and harmonics on the bass.

Straight to the performance: Skip to [2:26] to hear him perform the piece.

Wednesday, 3/18 Okay, we promised you that you would be able to do our activities without the need for A+++ Pinterest skills, but we're sure that a few of you are craft masters. So, we're offering four levels of DIY instruments here, starting with rubber-band-a-balloon-to-a-can-and-you're-done and going all the way to if-you-do-this-and-don't-share-the-internetwill-be-disappointed.

Low Prep - Bongo Drums from Mini Eco More Prep (& snacks!) - Pringles Drums from Taylor House Okay it is Getting Crafty - Spin Drums from Julep We Bow Down - Cardboard Guitar from Make it & Love It

In Summer 2019, we did Tiny Tots concerts where attendees picked some of the repertoire! This playlist has the choices that attendees voted on. Four pieces won out, but it was a heated race to the finish line. The winners were Thunder, Jurassic Park, The Blue Danube, and Beethoven.

What song do you get when experts team up to design music that make a baby happy? This one. Caspar Addyman, an expert in child development, and Lauren Stewart, a musical psychologist, teamed up with Imogen Heap - to put together a melody following some ground rules: it had to be in a major key, be simple and repetitive, and have a broad range of dynamics to keep the baby surprised and tuned in.

It also had to be up-tempo, mirroring a baby's heartbeat, which is faster than that of an adult, and it had to have a lively female vocal track, "ideally recorded in the presence of an actual baby." How do you think they did?

Thursday, 3/19

These mini-playlists and activities are a great way for kids of all ages to spend some quiet time concentrating on a small task or getting out their energy with full-body movements. Some require minimal prep work from a parent and some require none at all!

Entry level, all ages: Listen to the Fine Motor Playlist for some quiet time Crank up the Gross Motor Playlist for a dance party Or throw on the learn-to-dance Kidz Bop video and let your kids go to town

Going Further, all ages: Try out some of the low-prep activities with specific suggestions geared towards kids of every age

Now I Know My Little Star: The music for Twinkle, Twinkle - and the ABC Song (yes, it's exactly the same music!) - has been around for hundreds of years and is used across many languages in many different songs.

Here's a fun way to flex your musical brain with a child's toy that many of you will have at home: a Fisher Price Xylophone. Even if you can't read music, follow along with the colors in the upper right picture to play the matching colored bar on your xylophone.

You can now play two songs, Twinkle Twinkle and the ABC's!

If you want your kiddo(s) to follow along with a video tutorial instead, you'll find that on the bottom left.

Thursday, 3/19

Speaking of Twinkle Twinkle, are you getting tired of singing the same songs over and over again? Check out this directory of more than 150 children's songs from Let's Play Music.

They are organized by theme and give options to replace some of your well-worn melodies.

And Next Comes L has a fun music theory activity you can adjust depending on the age of the child(ren). Do you have match cars (or really any small four-wheeled toys) at home? Use them to your musical advantage with this car and staffline matching game.

Music for Family Fun Time to get silly with your family! This music provides great inspiration for creative dance parties or an upbeat game night.

Music can be a great way to explore and express emotion.

Here you can watch B.B. King singing One Shoe Blues, the perfect silly blues song for kids.

With all that is changing in the world, but also at home kids are processing a lot of feelings right now. This is a great time to use music as a form of self expression and a way to talk through feelings in a healthy and creative way.

Talk about how when you sing the blues, you sing about things that are making you unhappy or bothering you, like when BB King couldn't find his shoe. You can go even further, and make up your own blues song using this music in the background.

Friday, 3/20

Get ready to have some fun playing these musical games.

Entry-level, all ages: Run around to our silly playlist or play orchestra memory online.

Check out some classic musical games and the upbeat playlist we have to go along with them.

Going further, preschool and older: Orchestra Guess Who: You can download our string and woodwind family game set to be used in Guess Who game boards Play orchestra memory online (or print out a set of cards to play in person)

Friday, 3/20 All you need is a bottle, sticks, rice or beans, and glue to make a rainstick from Rhythms of Play. Tip: if you don't have a bottle, you can use a paper towel roll and cover the ends with duct tape. "Discovery bottles like this see-through rainstick can be used in many ways. They can be used to help children learn to self-regulate, for no mess safe sensory play, and help children (and adults) calm down and unwind."

Alright,these monster castanets from Krokotak are super cute. You'll need cardboard, bottle caps, glue, and whatever items you want to use for decor markers, construction paper, tinsel, go for it. "I was amazed how long the kids spent with these cardboard monsters. They kept on clicking and scared each other."

Rondo Alla Turca is a very famous piece that is actually just the final movement of a piano sonata written by Mozart in 1784. Watch this cute video - it's a silly way to introduce this famous music.

Classical Music 101 Would you like to introduce your children to classical music but you're not sure where to start? We've put together a playlist of 14 essential pieces of classical music to spark curiosity and inspire your little ones (or new listeners of any age). Find more details and video links here.

The Week in Silly Sounds