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Dmitri Kabalevsky

• The Russian composer Dmitri Kabalevsky is perhaps most famous for the many piano pieces he wrote for young students.  He was very concerned with music education and was in charge of several music programs for kids. 

•  As a boy Kabalevsky excelled at piano, painting, and even tried his hand at poetry.  As a teenager he enrolled in music school, excelling at piano and soon after, composition. 

• Kabelevsky was very patriotic toward his home country of Russia, and became very popular with the Russian people.

To see more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.
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Conductor

• Conductors direct and lead musical ensembles such as orchestras, choirs, bands, and chamber groups
• The earliest conductors used large staffs or sticks to help the ensembles keep time.  Now, conductors us a thin, lightweight stick called a baton.
• In addition to using a baton, conductors use eye contact, hand motions, and facial expressions to communicate with the ensemble as they play.
• A conductor’s score (music with printed notes) has all the notes for each instrument!

Visit Alberti Publishing to see more.
Illustration by Heidi Cabrera 

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Sergei Prokofiev 1891-1953

These are just a few of the kid-friendly music facts you’re students can read about in The Right Notes.

• Sergei Prokofiev was born in Ukraine, part of the former USSR. He learned chess by age seven and excelled at it throughout his life, even once beating a chess master!

• At age 13, Prokofiev was the youngest student ever to be admitted to the St. Petersburg Conservatory (a music college). He won the top prize awarded by his school, and became a concert pianist who toured many countries.

• His compositions were always new and creative, prompting his teachers to disapprove of his works since he was always “breaking the rules” of composition. Undaunted, Prokofiev experimented even further and became famous for his distinct style.

FREE BOOK! Just register your email address and you could win a free copy of The Right Notes! Winners are chosen on a bi-weekly basis (U.S. registrants only).
Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.

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Concert Pianist

Concert Pianist

Take the time to share the arts with children - You just might inspire the next famous concert pianist, composer, or conductor!

Here's a simple way to explain what a "concert pianist" is to the kids in your life:

• Skilled pianists who perform classical piano works are known as “concert pianists.”

• Concert pianists play solo music and ensemble works.

• Many concert pianists earn their living by playing concerts, teaching, and recording.

• When concert pianists aren’t performing, they often practice several hours every day. After all, playing the piano is a concert pianist’s job!

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.

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Symphony

Symphony

Do you want to explain what a symphony is to the young protege in your life? Here is a simple definition:

• A “symphony” is a composition usually written for an orchestra to play.

• Most symphonies have three or four movements.

• One very famous symphony is Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Surprise Symphony.” It begins quietly and then suddenly, SURPRISE! –the orchestra plays a loud chord, waking up anyone who has dozed off!

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.

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Orchestra

Many children know what an orchestra is, but do they know the different types of orchestras? The Right Notes describes an orchestra in the following way:

An “orchestra” is a group of musicians who play together. Musicians in an orchestra play woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion, and sometimes keyboard instruments.

A conductor stands in front of the orchestra and leads the musicians as they play.

A large orchestra is sometimes called a “symphony orchestra.” A small orchestra is called a “chamber orchestra.” A symphony orchestra may have up to 100 musicians and a chamber orchestra may have 30 to 40 musicians.

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

W.A. Mozart was an incredibly talented composer and performer. Check out these interesting facts about his musical life.

• Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a musical child prodigy. As a child, he could play keyboard instruments better than most adults. He was an excellent sight-reader and fortepiano player and performed for many nobles throughout Europe.

• Until he was almost ten years old, Mozart was very afraid of horns. Once, when he heard a blaring trumpet, he grew pale and almost fainted!

• Nannerl, Mozart’s older sister, was also good at playing the piano. When they were young, Wolfgang and Nannerl played many duets together.

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.
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Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Check out these fun historical facts about Haydn...

• Franz Joseph Haydn was born in Austria.

• Haydn is called the “Father of the Symphony” because he composed more than 100 symphonies—all of which are still performed to this day.

• Haydn taught composition to Beethoven.

• Haydn liked to play pranks. As a boy, he sang in a choir, but was thrown out when he cut off the pigtail of another singer!

To learn more, vistit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.

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Sonata

Some interesting facts about sonatas and particularly, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

• A “sonata” is often written for a solo instrument.

• Most sonatas have two or more separate sections called “movements.” They can be so different that they don’t even sound like the same piece!

• A “sonatina” is a small sonata—usually shorter and easier to play than a sonata.

• One of the most famous piano sonatas is Beethoven’s "Moonlight Sonata." The sonata received its name when a music critic, after hearing the sonata played, remarked that the piece made him think of moonlight reflecting off a lake.

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.
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Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Check out these interesting facts and trivia about Robert Schumann.

• Composer Robert Schumann was a gifted pianist. He injured his finger early in his career. This prevented him from being a performer, so Schumann composed music instead.

• Schumann became a music journalist and started his own music newspaper, The New Journal of Music, in his home country of Germany.

• Schumann married Clara Wieck, a famous pianist.

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.

Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin (1867/68-1917)

These are just a few of the interesting facts and trivia about Scott Joplin.

• Scott Joplin was an African-American composer. No one knows exactly in what year Joplin was born—either 1867 or 1868. When Joplin was a child, a classical music teacher taught him about composition and form. Joplin studied composition in college.

• Joplin is famous for creating “ragtime” music. Ragtime is a combination of African-American folk style and classical form. Many “player pianos” play Joplin’s ragtime pieces. Player pianos are self-playing mechanical pianos.

• “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer” are Joplin’s most famous pieces. “The Entertainer” won an Oscar for best song for the 1973 movie “The Sting.”

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.

Franz Liszt

The history of Franz Liszt is fascinating for pianists.

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

• Franz Liszt was a superstar concert pianist and composer of the Romantic Period. For example, when he toured Europe, he was greeted by beautiful carriages and important people. He attended fancy parties. At his concerts, women fought for Liszt’s gloves and other personal items that belonged to him.

• Liszt made quite a bit of money from his European tours and was very generous. He taught piano lessons for free to those who could not afford them. He also gave money to other musicians who needed financial help.

• Many of Liszt’s students became famous performers and teachers.

To Learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera

Domenico Scarlatti

Its great for students to know the "famous" facts about Scarlatti.

Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)

• Composer Domenico Scarlatti was born in Italy in 1685, the same year as J.S. Bach and George F. Handel.

• Scarlatti composed more than 500 keyboard sonatas!

• Scarlatti wrote many of his sonatas for his harpsichord students. Today his sonatas are often performed on the piano.

• A story is told about Scarlatti’s cat stepping on several harpsichord keys, one by one. When Scarlatti heard his cat play these notes, he wrote “The Cat’s Fugue,” a piece for harpsichord in G minor.

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera

Chopin composed almost exclusively for the piano. Check out these fun facts.


Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

• Composer Frederic Chopin wrote mainly for the piano. He is known as the “Poet of the Piano.”

• Chopin was also a well-respected piano teacher. He taught many princesses, duchesses, and other nobles who wanted to study with him in Paris.

• Legend has it, that once when Chopin was watching his dog chase his tail, Chopin’s girlfriend told him, “If I had your talent, I would compose a pianoforte piece about this dog.” Chopin sat down at the piano and composed the “Minute Waltz,” one of the great waltzes for piano.

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.

Piano Pedals

You would be surprised to learn how little most piano students really know about their instrument. Here are some good ways to explain the pedals.


• The right piano pedal is called the “sustaining pedal” or “damper pedal.” It allows sound to continue after the keys are released.

• The left pedal is called the “soft pedal” or “una corda pedal.” It makes the piano sound softer and more muted.

• The middle pedal is called the “sostenuto pedal” and sustains only those sounds that are first produced when the pedal is depressed.

• Before foot pedals were invented, players had to use their knee to move a lever!

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.
Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.

The Greeks

Kids can learn about the EARLY beginnings of music at this Greek Site. Recommended reading, fun facts, etc.

Piano Recital

So much of modern piano culture has a rich past to it. Share some of that history and see your students adopt a new outlook on simple things like recitals.


• Franz Liszt invented the first “solo piano recital.” Before Liszt, solo performers played only in programs that included other players. He and pianist Clara Schumann were among the first solo pianists to play complete programs by memory—which is now the standard.

• Pianist Jan Dussek was the first to perform with the piano turned sideways to the audience. This allowed the audience to see him better. Franz Liszt did the same and played with the piano lid open so that the sound would fill the entire room.

• Today, pianists bow after they perform to thank the audience. After bowing, the performer walks off the stage. If the audience continues to clap after a bow or two, many pianists perform an “encore,” an additional piece not included in the original program.

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Even though young students might not play Bach until later in their development, you can whet their appetite and create interest by highlighting the more interesting parts of his life.

• Composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Germany in 1685.

• Bach had 20 children!

• Bach, a great organist, once walked 200 miles just to hear the famous organist Dieterich Buxtehude perform.

• Bach was forbidden as a child to touch sheet music for fear he would get it dirty. He used to sneak out in the middle of the night to get into the music cabinet. He copied every note by hand, which took him six months!

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.


Illustration by Heidi Cabrera

Beethoven

Beethoven is perhaps the best-known of the classical masters. His famously eccentric personality is always intriguing to kids. Consider teaching the following points:

• Composer Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in Germany, but he lived for many years in Austria.

• Beethoven gradually lost his hearing and eventually became deaf. That didn’t stop him, however, from composing some of his most impressive works—including his Ninth Symphony. This piece, which contains “The Ode to Joy,” is one of the most popular pieces in music history.

• Beethoven sometimes dipped his head in cold water to clear his mind before composing!

• Much of Beethoven’s work was written during the Classical Period. He also composed music in the style of the next musical era—the Romantic Period.

To learn more, visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera

Time Periods

Kids Can Learn the Periods of Music

Learning the major periods of music gives students a solid framework to start with. As they learn more music facts, they place them into this framework and begin building a tight platform of music history.

Want to learn more? Visit Alberti Publishing.

Harpsichord

Most kids say, "harpsi-WHAT?" Alberti Publishing explains harpsichords this way:

• A “harpsichord” looks like a small piano. The first harpsichord was created more than 600 years ago.

• The black and white keys on a harpsichord are often the opposite from the modern piano.

• Pianos use a hammer to strike the strings but a harpsichord uses a plectrum to pluck the strings. When you play a harpsichord, it doesn’t matter how hard you press the key, the sound is not louder or softer—it’s always the same!


Want to see more? visit Alberti Publishing.

Illustration by Heidi Cabrera

No Experience Necessary

Who Can Teach Music History?
Strange as it may seem, music history is not just for high-brow academics who ride segways.
Music history is for everyone. If you are a piano teacher, you know more about music than your student does, so share what you know.

The MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) has about 17,000 piano teacher members. Of those, fewer than 40% have a Bachelor's degree in piano. Though a degree translates into more education, teaching piano is clearly not restricted to musicians with the fancy initials after their name. And likewise, teaching music history is available to all as well.

How Do I Learn Music History?
The following are excellent resources for starters:

• The Great Pianists by Harold C Shonberg
• The Lives of the Great Composers by Harold C Shonberg
• Bach, Beethoven, and the Boys by David W. Barber
• Great Contemporary Pianists Speak for Themselves by Elyse Mach
• The Life and Death of Classical Music by Norman Lebrecht

The more you read, the more you will share with your students, so get started now!

Music History For Kids

Music History is Cool
Kids can like music history, just as they can like math, social studies, or Twinkies. It just depends on the kid. But it also depends on the presentation.

Hindsight is 20/20.
Good history teachers point out that we study history to see why things happen. So, tell a student not to pedal baroque music, and he may comply. Tell him why not to do it, and he's more likely to comply. In fact, let history tell him why not to pedal.

"Baroque era keyboards typically didn't have the capability to sustain (except organ), and therefore, the composers wrote in such a way to..."

Kids, like the rest of us, don't really want to do something if they don't see the point. Let music history make the point for you.

Want to Learn More? Visit Alberti Publishing.