Classical Music for the 21st Century Kid 

        If you’re not used to listening to classical music, it can sometimes be a little confusing.  Many classical pieces are much more complex than the songs you listen to on the radio.  Remember, though, classical music was the popular music of long ago! 

    Here are some beginner’s tips for enjoying the classics.  Follow these simple suggestions, and pretty soon you’ll find yourself humming Beethoven on your way to school or work – guaranteed! 

• Start small.  Listening to an entire symphony may be too much to start with if the longest thing you’ve ever listened to before is “Hotel California.”  Try tuning in to just one movement at a time, or seek out a shorter piece or a piece taken from an opera or ballet, like Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee.”

• Go popular.  Connoisseurs may turn up their noses, but it’s only because they’ve heard the most popular classical pieces so many times they’re sick of them.  There’s a reason the most famous pieces are played and requested so often: they’re catchy and unforgettable!  Try Beethoven’s “Fur Elise,” Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music),” or Bach’s “Tocatta and Fugue in D minor.” 

Oh, yeah, and a lot of today’s film music is written in the style of years past – think “Imperial March” from the Star Wars soundtrack by John Williams.

• Get emotional.  It’s not hard to do.  Most classical music was written to stir the emotions.  Here are some favorites:  “Pizzicato Polka” by Delibes (happy);  Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” (sad);  “O Fortuna” from Orff’s Carmina Burana (scary);  Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” (pompous)  “Sabre Dance” by Khachaturian (frantic).  And don’t forget Haydn’s musical joke in the second movement of the Surprise Symphony – if you do you might just jump out of your skin!

• Imagine…horses galloping when you hear the Rossini’s “William Tell Overture”… fairies flitting about in Tschaikovski’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”…trees bursting into leaf during Vivaldi’s “Spring.”  And if you haven’t yet seen Disney’s Fantasia, go check it out tonight!  The whole story is imagination inspired by music!

• Listen for the theme(s).  When you find yourself in the audience during the performance of a longer piece, see if you can pick out one or more melodies that keep coming back.  These are the themes.  Notice how the composer changes them slightly each time to keep the piece interesting. 

• Play it yourself!  The absolute best way to enjoy classical music is to learn to play it!  Fortunately there are tons of pieces out there for the beginner, no matter which instrument you play.  (If you’re not sure where to start, ask your teacher.  Or stop by Michelsen Music, and we’ll help you pick out something fun to play at a level right for you.)

Don’t worry – it’s easy to love classical music once you know a little more about it.  Being familiar with the way many classical pieces are put together will let you in on the secrets of enjoying the great music of the past.  (We’ll spotlight some of these ways, like the Sonata Allegro form, in future issues of Bells & Whistles.) Who knows – you may find yourself appreciating all styles of music in a whole new way!