Break It Down!: National Symphony Orchestra Kinderkonzert

For Teachers and Parents

A Good Audience…

Dear Grownups:

stays seated, stays quiet, doesn’t eat, listens, and claps.

Have fun!

Welcome to the NSO Kinderkonzerts, designed to introduce children in pre-kindergarten through grade 2 to musical instruments of the orchestra. Please help your young concertgoers read and understand the information in this Cuesheet. The information and activity ideas below are designed to help you further the children’s concert experience.

The Concert Program The musicians will perform repertoire that includes the musical selections below. Before or after the concert, you may want to have the children listen to some or all of these musical selections if you have access to them in the library or online. Point out that the music was not originally written to be performed by flute and marimba, so the performers changed it a little to work with their instruments. Children will notice a difference between recorded versions and what they hear on stage. Ask children to see whether they can recognize the music when they hear it the second time.

Prelude No. 1, by George Gershwin

Wait! There’s More!

Prelude No. 2, Op. 34, by Dmitri Shostakovich (duh-MEE-tree Shah-stuh-KOH-vitch)

Musical Instrument “Petting Zoo”

Valse-Soufflé by Arnold Black

Before the concert, enjoy hands-on fun with the instruments that the musicians will play on stage in the Hall of States. A project of the Women’s Committee for the NSO.

More Fun With Music

Kinderkonzert

David M. Rubenstein Chairman Michael M. Kaiser President Darrell M. Ayers Vice President, Education

Christoph Eschenbach Music Director, National Symphony Orchestra Additional support for Performances for Young Audiences is provided in part by Adobe Foundation, The Clark Charitable Foundation; Mr. James V. Kimsey; The Macy*s Foundation; The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Park Foundation, Inc.; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; an endowment from the Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation; U.S. Department of Education; Washington Gas; and by generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund, and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas.

artsedge.kennedy-center.org

Cuesheets are produced by ARTSEDGE, an education program of the Kennedy Center.

Learn more about Education at The Kennedy Center at www.kennedy-center.org/education

Here are some activities for children.

Name That Tune During the performance, you’ll learn to hear the difference between rhythm and melody. After the performance, choose a song that you and your friends both know. Try clapping the rhythm of the song and see whether your friends can guess it. If they can’t, try humming the melody. Try this with a few different songs. Which part, rhythm or melody, was easier to guess?

“Preview” the Concert Hall We hope you have so much fun at the concert that you’ll come back soon to hear a performance of the full National Symphony Orchestra—that’s 100 musicians! When they all play together, they perform on the big stage in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Get a sneak peak at the Hall (and even go backstage) in the playful online tour led by former NSO Associate Conductor Emil de Cou at: artsedge.kennedy-center.org/nsoed.

Upcoming Family Concerts Instrument Make-Believe

Please build on your Kinderkonzert experience by joining us at the next National Symphony Orchestra Family Concerts, performed by the full NSO:

During the performance, you’ll see how instruments can help tell stories. After the performance, try it yourself.

Gather a few musical instruments. Mime (using face expression and movement but no talking!) an action using the instrument as another object (like pretending to write a letter using a flute as the pencil). See whether friends and family can guess your action. Or, do the opposite. Find objects that look like instruments, and mime playing them and have friends guess the instrument.

Sunday, March 24, 2013 — Tchaikovsky Discovers America

5

Sunday, May 19, 2013 — The Cricket in Times Square The NSO also presents full orchestra Young People’s Concerts for school groups in the Concert Hall each season during the school day for grades 3 through 6.

For more about NSO education programs, see www.kennedy-center.org/nso/nsoed

6

The contents of this Cuesheet do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. ©2013 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Please recycle this Cuesheet by sharing it with friends!

Orchestra Interactive Enjoy an interactive exploration of orchestras, their instruments, and their music at the Perfect Pitch Web site at: artsedge. kennedy-center.org/ perfectpitch

Did you know that music is made up of parts?

That’s right. Just like a building made of blocks, music is made with different parts. At the performance, two musicians will help you explore how music and even musical instruments break down and come together to make amazing music.

David and Alice Rubenstein are the Presenting Underwriters of the NSO. Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by

Performed by Paul Fadoul, marimba Zara Lawler, flute

Hello, teachers and pa

rents!

Please see page 5 for d activities. information an

The Flute Breaking Down Music

Putting It All Together

When you hear music, it might sound like one whole piece. But if you listen closer, you’ll hear that most music has three important parts:

To put it all together and make great music, we just need to give the instruments something to play, like melody. In music, certain parts are usually played on certain types of instruments.

For example, instruments with a lower sound (like the double bass) often play the harmonies and those instruments played by drumming or striking (like percussion) often play the rhythm.

Melody—the tune you hum or sing when listening to a favorite song

Breaking Down Instruments Musical instruments help us make music.

But something else has to happen before many musical instruments can make their sounds. Can you guess? We have to put them together. Believe it or not, many of the woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments come apart into different pieces. That makes them easier to carry— some can even fit in your backpack—and also take care of. At the performance, you’ll get a good look at how a few instruments are assembled and how they work.

Harmony— the sound that occurs when several different notes are played or sung at the same time; these different notes can be played on the same instrument or by blending notes from many instruments Rhythm—makes you want to tap your foot, snap your fingers, or clap your hands when you hear the music; it’s made up of strong and weak beats played in a repeating pattern

Your musician hosts at the performance are Paul Fadoul (marimba and drums) and Zara Lawler (flute). They both began playing music as kids.

At age 9, Paul started playing his first “drum set”—a bunch of chopsticks and some books.

Zara began playing the flute in fifth grade. Even though she was the last kid in the class to be able to make a sound on her instrument, she didn’t get discouraged. Look at her now!

But there are a few surprises here, too. Some instruments (like the marimba, pronounced muh-RIM-buh) can play two roles at once—which can be challenging and fun for the musician. And sometimes composers (people who write music) and performers like to create different sounds by mixing up the parts. Do you think the flute can play rhythms normally played by the drums?

At the performance, you’ll find out.

The flute belongs to the woodwind family of instruments, even though it is made of metal, not wood. The important thing to remember is “wind,” because musicians play woodwind instruments by blowing into them. With the flute, the musician blows air across the opening.

To change the sounds, the musician can adjust the airflow and press different keys. Related instruments include the piccolo (which looks like a baby flute and plays higher sounds) and the alto flute (a longer flute with a curved end that plays lower sounds).

The Marimba

As grownup musicians, Paul and Zara are a musical team. When you play on a team, you work together to do more than you can by yourselves, right? It’s the same with musicians and music. They play different parts that work together to make music.

The marimba belongs to the percussion family.

These instruments make sound when you cause them to vibrate (move very quickly) by hitting, rubbing, shaking, or scraping. The marimba has a large set of wooden bars set up like a piano keyboard. The bars vibrate when you strike them with mallets. Resonators, or small metal tubes under each bar, make the sound stronger. To play this large instrument, players sometimes use four or more mallets—watch how Paul does this with only two hands.

Psst!

Also watch out for the unexpected ways instruments can help tell stories.

The Drum Set The drum set is a group of percussion instruments that play both high and low sounds. These sets— played by one musician—usually include:

Paul Fadoul and Zara Lawler

2

3

■

a snare drum, a small cylinder with two heads and wires (or snares) that create a buzzing sound when the player hits the drum with drumsticks

■

a bass drum, a larger drum with deep sound played using a foot pedal

■

cymbals, round metal plates with a high sound that the musician hits with drumsticks or clashes together with a foot pedal

4

The Flute Breaking Down Music

Putting It All Together

When you hear music, it might sound like one whole piece. But if you listen closer, you’ll hear that most music has three important parts:

To put it all together and make great music, we just need to give the instruments something to play, like melody. In music, certain parts are usually played on certain types of instruments.

For example, instruments with a lower sound (like the double bass) often play the harmonies and those instruments played by drumming or striking (like percussion) often play the rhythm.

Melody—the tune you hum or sing when listening to a favorite song

Breaking Down Instruments Musical instruments help us make music.

But something else has to happen before many musical instruments can make their sounds. Can you guess? We have to put them together. Believe it or not, many of the woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments come apart into different pieces. That makes them easier to carry— some can even fit in your backpack—and also take care of. At the performance, you’ll get a good look at how a few instruments are assembled and how they work.

Harmony— the sound that occurs when several different notes are played or sung at the same time; these different notes can be played on the same instrument or by blending notes from many instruments Rhythm—makes you want to tap your foot, snap your fingers, or clap your hands when you hear the music; it’s made up of strong and weak beats played in a repeating pattern

Your musician hosts at the performance are Paul Fadoul (marimba and drums) and Zara Lawler (flute). They both began playing music as kids.

At age 9, Paul started playing his first “drum set”—a bunch of chopsticks and some books.

Zara began playing the flute in fifth grade. Even though she was the last kid in the class to be able to make a sound on her instrument, she didn’t get discouraged. Look at her now!

But there are a few surprises here, too. Some instruments (like the marimba, pronounced muh-RIM-buh) can play two roles at once—which can be challenging and fun for the musician. And sometimes composers (people who write music) and performers like to create different sounds by mixing up the parts. Do you think the flute can play rhythms normally played by the drums?

At the performance, you’ll find out.

The flute belongs to the woodwind family of instruments, even though it is made of metal, not wood. The important thing to remember is “wind,” because musicians play woodwind instruments by blowing into them. With the flute, the musician blows air across the opening.

To change the sounds, the musician can adjust the airflow and press different keys. Related instruments include the piccolo (which looks like a baby flute and plays higher sounds) and the alto flute (a longer flute with a curved end that plays lower sounds).

The Marimba

As grownup musicians, Paul and Zara are a musical team. When you play on a team, you work together to do more than you can by yourselves, right? It’s the same with musicians and music. They play different parts that work together to make music.

The marimba belongs to the percussion family.

These instruments make sound when you cause them to vibrate (move very quickly) by hitting, rubbing, shaking, or scraping. The marimba has a large set of wooden bars set up like a piano keyboard. The bars vibrate when you strike them with mallets. Resonators, or small metal tubes under each bar, make the sound stronger. To play this large instrument, players sometimes use four or more mallets—watch how Paul does this with only two hands.

Psst!

Also watch out for the unexpected ways instruments can help tell stories.

The Drum Set The drum set is a group of percussion instruments that play both high and low sounds. These sets— played by one musician—usually include:

Paul Fadoul and Zara Lawler

2

3

■

a snare drum, a small cylinder with two heads and wires (or snares) that create a buzzing sound when the player hits the drum with drumsticks

■

a bass drum, a larger drum with deep sound played using a foot pedal

■

cymbals, round metal plates with a high sound that the musician hits with drumsticks or clashes together with a foot pedal

4

The Flute Breaking Down Music

Putting It All Together

When you hear music, it might sound like one whole piece. But if you listen closer, you’ll hear that most music has three important parts:

To put it all together and make great music, we just need to give the instruments something to play, like melody. In music, certain parts are usually played on certain types of instruments.

For example, instruments with a lower sound (like the double bass) often play the harmonies and those instruments played by drumming or striking (like percussion) often play the rhythm.

Melody—the tune you hum or sing when listening to a favorite song

Breaking Down Instruments Musical instruments help us make music.

But something else has to happen before many musical instruments can make their sounds. Can you guess? We have to put them together. Believe it or not, many of the woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments come apart into different pieces. That makes them easier to carry— some can even fit in your backpack—and also take care of. At the performance, you’ll get a good look at how a few instruments are assembled and how they work.

Harmony— the sound that occurs when several different notes are played or sung at the same time; these different notes can be played on the same instrument or by blending notes from many instruments Rhythm—makes you want to tap your foot, snap your fingers, or clap your hands when you hear the music; it’s made up of strong and weak beats played in a repeating pattern

Your musician hosts at the performance are Paul Fadoul (marimba and drums) and Zara Lawler (flute). They both began playing music as kids.

At age 9, Paul started playing his first “drum set”—a bunch of chopsticks and some books.

Zara began playing the flute in fifth grade. Even though she was the last kid in the class to be able to make a sound on her instrument, she didn’t get discouraged. Look at her now!

But there are a few surprises here, too. Some instruments (like the marimba, pronounced muh-RIM-buh) can play two roles at once—which can be challenging and fun for the musician. And sometimes composers (people who write music) and performers like to create different sounds by mixing up the parts. Do you think the flute can play rhythms normally played by the drums?

At the performance, you’ll find out.

The flute belongs to the woodwind family of instruments, even though it is made of metal, not wood. The important thing to remember is “wind,” because musicians play woodwind instruments by blowing into them. With the flute, the musician blows air across the opening.

To change the sounds, the musician can adjust the airflow and press different keys. Related instruments include the piccolo (which looks like a baby flute and plays higher sounds) and the alto flute (a longer flute with a curved end that plays lower sounds).

The Marimba

As grownup musicians, Paul and Zara are a musical team. When you play on a team, you work together to do more than you can by yourselves, right? It’s the same with musicians and music. They play different parts that work together to make music.

The marimba belongs to the percussion family.

These instruments make sound when you cause them to vibrate (move very quickly) by hitting, rubbing, shaking, or scraping. The marimba has a large set of wooden bars set up like a piano keyboard. The bars vibrate when you strike them with mallets. Resonators, or small metal tubes under each bar, make the sound stronger. To play this large instrument, players sometimes use four or more mallets—watch how Paul does this with only two hands.

Psst!

Also watch out for the unexpected ways instruments can help tell stories.

The Drum Set The drum set is a group of percussion instruments that play both high and low sounds. These sets— played by one musician—usually include:

Paul Fadoul and Zara Lawler

2

3

■

a snare drum, a small cylinder with two heads and wires (or snares) that create a buzzing sound when the player hits the drum with drumsticks

■

a bass drum, a larger drum with deep sound played using a foot pedal

■

cymbals, round metal plates with a high sound that the musician hits with drumsticks or clashes together with a foot pedal

4

For Teachers and Parents

A Good Audience…

Dear Grownups:

stays seated, stays quiet, doesn’t eat, listens, and claps.

Have fun!

Welcome to the NSO Kinderkonzerts, designed to introduce children in pre-kindergarten through grade 2 to musical instruments of the orchestra. Please help your young concertgoers read and understand the information in this Cuesheet. The information and activity ideas below are designed to help you further the children’s concert experience.

The Concert Program The musicians will perform repertoire that includes the musical selections below. Before or after the concert, you may want to have the children listen to some or all of these musical selections if you have access to them in the library or online. Point out that the music was not originally written to be performed by flute and marimba, so the performers changed it a little to work with their instruments. Children will notice a difference between recorded versions and what they hear on stage. Ask children to see whether they can recognize the music when they hear it the second time.

Prelude No. 1, by George Gershwin

Wait! There’s More!

Prelude No. 2, Op. 34, by Dmitri Shostakovich (duh-MEE-tree Shah-stuh-KOH-vitch)

Musical Instrument “Petting Zoo”

Valse-Soufflé by Arnold Black

Before the concert, enjoy hands-on fun with the instruments that the musicians will play on stage in the Hall of States. A project of the Women’s Committee for the NSO.

More Fun With Music

Kinderkonzert

David M. Rubenstein Chairman Michael M. Kaiser President Darrell M. Ayers Vice President, Education

Christoph Eschenbach Music Director, National Symphony Orchestra Additional support for Performances for Young Audiences is provided in part by Adobe Foundation, The Clark Charitable Foundation; Mr. James V. Kimsey; The Macy*s Foundation; The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Park Foundation, Inc.; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; an endowment from the Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation; U.S. Department of Education; Washington Gas; and by generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund, and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas.

artsedge.kennedy-center.org

Cuesheets are produced by ARTSEDGE, an education program of the Kennedy Center.

Learn more about Education at The Kennedy Center at www.kennedy-center.org/education

Here are some activities for children.

Name That Tune During the performance, you’ll learn to hear the difference between rhythm and melody. After the performance, choose a song that you and your friends both know. Try clapping the rhythm of the song and see whether your friends can guess it. If they can’t, try humming the melody. Try this with a few different songs. Which part, rhythm or melody, was easier to guess?

“Preview” the Concert Hall We hope you have so much fun at the concert that you’ll come back soon to hear a performance of the full National Symphony Orchestra—that’s 100 musicians! When they all play together, they perform on the big stage in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Get a sneak peak at the Hall (and even go backstage) in the playful online tour led by former NSO Associate Conductor Emil de Cou at: artsedge.kennedy-center.org/nsoed.

Upcoming Family Concerts Instrument Make-Believe

Please build on your Kinderkonzert experience by joining us at the next National Symphony Orchestra Family Concerts, performed by the full NSO:

During the performance, you’ll see how instruments can help tell stories. After the performance, try it yourself.

Gather a few musical instruments. Mime (using face expression and movement but no talking!) an action using the instrument as another object (like pretending to write a letter using a flute as the pencil). See whether friends and family can guess your action. Or, do the opposite. Find objects that look like instruments, and mime playing them and have friends guess the instrument.

Sunday, March 24, 2013 — Tchaikovsky Discovers America

5

Sunday, May 19, 2013 — The Cricket in Times Square The NSO also presents full orchestra Young People’s Concerts for school groups in the Concert Hall each season during the school day for grades 3 through 6.

For more about NSO education programs, see www.kennedy-center.org/nso/nsoed

6

The contents of this Cuesheet do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. ©2013 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Please recycle this Cuesheet by sharing it with friends!

Orchestra Interactive Enjoy an interactive exploration of orchestras, their instruments, and their music at the Perfect Pitch Web site at: artsedge. kennedy-center.org/ perfectpitch

Did you know that music is made up of parts?

That’s right. Just like a building made of blocks, music is made with different parts. At the performance, two musicians will help you explore how music and even musical instruments break down and come together to make amazing music.

David and Alice Rubenstein are the Presenting Underwriters of the NSO. Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by

Performed by Paul Fadoul, marimba Zara Lawler, flute

Hello, teachers and pa

rents!

Please see page 5 for d activities. information an

For Teachers and Parents

A Good Audience…

Dear Grownups:

stays seated, stays quiet, doesn’t eat, listens, and claps.

Have fun!

Welcome to the NSO Kinderkonzerts, designed to introduce children in pre-kindergarten through grade 2 to musical instruments of the orchestra. Please help your young concertgoers read and understand the information in this Cuesheet. The information and activity ideas below are designed to help you further the children’s concert experience.

The Concert Program The musicians will perform repertoire that includes the musical selections below. Before or after the concert, you may want to have the children listen to some or all of these musical selections if you have access to them in the library or online. Point out that the music was not originally written to be performed by flute and marimba, so the performers changed it a little to work with their instruments. Children will notice a difference between recorded versions and what they hear on stage. Ask children to see whether they can recognize the music when they hear it the second time.

Prelude No. 1, by George Gershwin

Wait! There’s More!

Prelude No. 2, Op. 34, by Dmitri Shostakovich (duh-MEE-tree Shah-stuh-KOH-vitch)

Musical Instrument “Petting Zoo”

Valse-Soufflé by Arnold Black

Before the concert, enjoy hands-on fun with the instruments that the musicians will play on stage in the Hall of States. A project of the Women’s Committee for the NSO.

More Fun With Music

Kinderkonzert

David M. Rubenstein Chairman Michael M. Kaiser President Darrell M. Ayers Vice President, Education

Christoph Eschenbach Music Director, National Symphony Orchestra Additional support for Performances for Young Audiences is provided in part by Adobe Foundation, The Clark Charitable Foundation; Mr. James V. Kimsey; The Macy*s Foundation; The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Park Foundation, Inc.; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; an endowment from the Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation; U.S. Department of Education; Washington Gas; and by generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund, and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas.

artsedge.kennedy-center.org

Cuesheets are produced by ARTSEDGE, an education program of the Kennedy Center.

Learn more about Education at The Kennedy Center at www.kennedy-center.org/education

Here are some activities for children.

Name That Tune During the performance, you’ll learn to hear the difference between rhythm and melody. After the performance, choose a song that you and your friends both know. Try clapping the rhythm of the song and see whether your friends can guess it. If they can’t, try humming the melody. Try this with a few different songs. Which part, rhythm or melody, was easier to guess?

“Preview” the Concert Hall We hope you have so much fun at the concert that you’ll come back soon to hear a performance of the full National Symphony Orchestra—that’s 100 musicians! When they all play together, they perform on the big stage in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Get a sneak peak at the Hall (and even go backstage) in the playful online tour led by former NSO Associate Conductor Emil de Cou at: artsedge.kennedy-center.org/nsoed.

Upcoming Family Concerts Instrument Make-Believe

Please build on your Kinderkonzert experience by joining us at the next National Symphony Orchestra Family Concerts, performed by the full NSO:

During the performance, you’ll see how instruments can help tell stories. After the performance, try it yourself.

Gather a few musical instruments. Mime (using face expression and movement but no talking!) an action using the instrument as another object (like pretending to write a letter using a flute as the pencil). See whether friends and family can guess your action. Or, do the opposite. Find objects that look like instruments, and mime playing them and have friends guess the instrument.

Sunday, March 24, 2013 — Tchaikovsky Discovers America

5

Sunday, May 19, 2013 — The Cricket in Times Square The NSO also presents full orchestra Young People’s Concerts for school groups in the Concert Hall each season during the school day for grades 3 through 6.

For more about NSO education programs, see www.kennedy-center.org/nso/nsoed

6

The contents of this Cuesheet do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. ©2013 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Please recycle this Cuesheet by sharing it with friends!

Orchestra Interactive Enjoy an interactive exploration of orchestras, their instruments, and their music at the Perfect Pitch Web site at: artsedge. kennedy-center.org/ perfectpitch

Did you know that music is made up of parts?

That’s right. Just like a building made of blocks, music is made with different parts. At the performance, two musicians will help you explore how music and even musical instruments break down and come together to make amazing music.

David and Alice Rubenstein are the Presenting Underwriters of the NSO. Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by

Performed by Paul Fadoul, marimba Zara Lawler, flute

Hello, teachers and pa

rents!

Please see page 5 for d activities. information an