You cannot learn to speak a language if you never hear it spoken.
Music is the most complex of all languages.
Your musical development is directly proportionate to the level of exposure you receive to quality music.
Listen while travelling to school each day or while eating your dinner. Listening multiple times each week will increase your enjoyment, as you get to know the music more intimately.
Enjoy getting to know the work of the great masters!
WEEK ONE
Enjoy a very famous Beethoven symphony this week, to get you off to a great start:
WEEK TWO
Notice that we are still in the key of C minor, but with a very different symphony!
WEEK THREE
This week is all about Chopin! I am including a few links as they are shorter pieces, and all simply delightful ❤️
WEEK FOUR
Tchaikovsky 👏
Piano Concerto no. 1
For extra exploring, listen to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite or any of his other magnificent works 🥰
Enjoy!
WEEK FIVE
Schubert, a very under-appreciated composer, but so sensitive and lyrical 🥰
WEEK SIX
No words, enjoy Dvorak! 🎶🌹
WEEK SEVEN
Rachmanninov 😎
Rach was a giant of a man, 1,98m tall. With hands to match. He could span a 12th on the piano (eg from middle C to high G)
A great pianist and composer.
Enjoy 🎶🌹
WEEK EIGHT
Film Music 🎦🎶
In particular, from one composer, John Williams.
Many students are surprised to learn that John Williams is very much alive still 😝 He has been composing film music for decades now, and has won so many awards, he is a legend in the film industry.
There are so many work opportunities in the music field, if you only have the dedication to pursue them. Film scoring is just one of the many ways you can use your composing skills in the real world.
Enjoy reliving your favourite movies, through the orchestral music that made you fall in love with them in the first place.
Classical music is the life-blood of all good movies!
WEEK NINE
Johann Strauss II – The Waltz King!
He wrote over 500 waltzes and other dance music. Here is, perhaps, the most famous of them all.
Break out your dancing shoes 😍❤️🌹
WEEK TEN
MOZART!
A child prodigy, he composed so rapidly that he gifted us over 800 compositions in his short lifespan of only 35 years.
Enjoy 🎶🎹
WEEK ELEVEN
Who can ignore Johann Sebastian Bach, father of 20 children, all of which studied music! The family dominated their hometown so much that the name Bach became synonymous with Musician.
Bach lived in the Baroque era, long before the piano was invented. Enjoy 🎶
And for those who are curious about the giant King of Instruments, the pipe organ:
WEEK TWELVE
Debussy, the great French Impressionist composer, and my personal favourite!
Debussy loved using ‘exotic’, non-traditional scales, such as the whole-tone scale, which gives his delicate music an etherial quality.
WEEK THIRTEEN
Saint-Saëns wrote a famous collection of short pieces, entitled The Carnival of the Animals. In it, each animal is presented in turn, including pianists (who, after all, are a kind of animal that lives in a practice room and plays scales all day long!)
As you listen, try to hear how each animal is presented in sound pictures.
When listening to La Danse Macabre, scroll down to the first comment, it has links to the analysis timesheet.
WEEK FOURTEEN
No specific composer this week – just some inspiring students playing great works. They are here to show you what good practicing habits and listening to great music can do for your playing.
Enjoy their hard work, and take notes, particularly of their mostly well-developed technique, at a very young age. Then go practice!
What is technique?
How we use our fingers, hands, wrists, arms, elbows, shoulders, knees, WHOLE BODY to play piano ❤️🎹
WEEK FIFTEEN
Vivaldi is a baroque legend. His “The Four Seasons,” is a set of four concertos, each representing a season of the year. It has stood the test of time and is one of his most famous works.
The Movements
Spring
“Spring” starts with the clarity and crispness of a typical spring day, accompanied by the choirs of birds and streams. It is invaded by a sudden thunderstorm, but the singing birds soon regain dominance. The movement ends with a lively country dance, with inhabitants celebrating the return of the fauna and flora after a harsh winter.
Summer
“Summer,” offers a slow start, portraying the weather as too hot for any movement. The air is almost at a standstill, the birds chirping away lazily until a breeze gathers up, whipping the warning of an imminent storm. The most striking moment is served in the third movement, as a hail storm mercilessly rains down, offering a perfect contrast.
Autumn
“Autumn,” makes a return to the clarity resembling “Spring,” with similar musical themes in the first movements. The country folk rejoice once again, celebrating the harvest by drinking wine. The tempo drops significantly, in parallel to the peaceful sleep that engulfs the people. The final movement illustrates a “hunt,” taking us back to a 14th-century Italian genre, “Caccia” – where songs were utilized to glorify hunts via voice canons.
Winter
The concertos end with “Winter.” The opening movement resembles a shivering person, stamping his feet in rhythm to stay warm. The middle movement portrays the pleasure of getting warm inside through a crackling fire. The final movement offers people outdoors walking down icy paths, while people inside houses feeling the relentless chill finding its way inside.
La Primavera/Spring/Lente
Spring Movement 1 (Allegro) – 0:04
Spring Movement 2 (Largo) – 3:31
Spring Movement 3 (Allegro) – 6:02
L’estate/Summer/Zomer
Summer Movement 1 (Allegro non molto) – 10:22
Summer Movement 2 (Adagio) – 15:41
Summer Movement 3 (Presto) – 17:54
L’autunno/Autumn/Herfst
Autumn Movement 1 (Allegro) – 21:01
Autumn Movement 2 (Adagio molto) – 26:10
Autumn Movement 3 (Allegro) – 28:41
L’inverno/Winter
Winter Movement 1 (Allegro non molto) – 32:05
Winter Movement 2 (Largo) – 35:21
Winter Movement 3 (Allegro) – 37:00
Above is the complete set of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Use the timestamps to listen to each, and read the descriptions above for the most enjoyment of the music.
This is possibly the most well-known movement, by a different soloist:
WEEK SIXTEEN
Mendelssohn was an early Romantic German composer who died at 38 years of age. You will recognise his music straight away – enjoy!
WEEK SEVENTEEN
This week’s theme is Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite.
I have selected the most famous movements for you – truly glorious, stunning, programmatic music ❤️🥰🌹❤️🎶
Enjoy each movement as your imagination takes you on a journey of discovery 💖. Each link is only a few minutes long – make the time to enjoy them all this week 🥰🤗🎶
WEEK EIGHTEEN
While Franz Liszt was a composer, conductor, critic and teacher, he was best known as a pianist. He was the first of the virtuoso performers.
When Liszt walked onto the stage, he took over the hall, amazing the audience with his incredible technique and his awesome presence.
He was a true showman and the man who invented the solo recital.
Although some were annoyed by his personality, Liszt was one of the greatest pianists the world has ever known. He enjoyed the fame that today’s pop stars enjoy.
WEEK NINETEEN
Scott Joplin:
His father was born into slavery in North Carolina; his mother was a freeborn woman from Kentucky. Both his parents were musical. When his parents separated, Scott’s mother supported the family by cleaning houses, and he was allowed to use the piano in one of those houses. He taught himself to play.
Joplin is best known as one of the greatest composers of piano rags.
Enjoy!
WEEK TWENTY
No particular composer this week. However, this performer is a favourite of many students. He arranges pop songs, performs on tour and also composes.
Notice how he sometimes uses a loop station to enhance his performances, and achieves ‘electronic’ sounds by using the piano in unconventional ways.
Enjoy his take on popular music!
WEEK TWENTY-ONE
Bartok was very interested in the folk music of his native land and traveled throughout Hungary and other neighbouring countries recording thousands of old songs.
He wanted to use this music in a very natural way in his own compositions. You can hear the strong rhythmic patterns of the folk tunes and their unique sounds in many of his pieces.
One of his most famous works is the Mikrokosmos, which consists of over 150 pieces for teaching piano that are based on Hungarian music.