The Music Box

Kiana, Fiona, and YOU?! We’re bringing the classroom right to your living room in this week’s episode all about musical storytelling. Grab your pen, notebook, and imagination! We’ll listen to the music of The Fretless, Sergei Prokofiev, Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Paquito D’Rivera while talking about what inspired them to write their stories. Then, Kiana and Fiona encourage you to write and tell us your story.

Find out how to bring 90.5 WUOL and the Music Box to your classroom at lpm.org/music-education or by emailing us at [email protected]

The Musical Storytelling Playlist:

Sergei Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet, No. 13: Dance of the Knights played by the London Symphony Orchestra

Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky - “Love Theme” from Romeo and Juliet

Paquito D’rivera - Aires Tropicales: Vals Venezolano (Venezuelan Waltz) played by Imani Winds

The Fretless - Big Trip (Trip to Windsor / Sheepskin & Beeswax)

Shhh! Do you have your listening ears on? Kiana and Fiona are at Waterfront Park in Louisville, Kentucky tuning our ears to the sonic environment. We explore how to use your community's sounds to make music, art and field recordings. So, have your headphones ready for this episode all about found sound!

Break out your binoculars! We're heading through the musical forest in search of bird music. No, not actual birds, but music meant to sound like them. From Saint-Saëns to Jennifer Higdon, Kiana and Fiona show us the musical aviary, and how nature has inspired composers for centuries.

All aboard the Music Box Express! Kiana wants to visit 1953 and meet a renowned jazz theorist, and Fiona wants to travel to the future to hear some tunes. But they get distracted on the train, and end up waaaaay back in ancient Mesopotamia! And they're just in time for a musical performance like none they've ever heard before. Come along!

Ready for your brain to get bigger? Come along with us as we all fill our heads and ears with Indian classical music! We'll learn about the melodies, rhythms and beats that make up this musical style that's over 6,000 years old! And we'll hear some cool instruments that might sound familiar, even if you don't know their names... yet!

There's more than one way to play a violin, and on this episode, we're learning all about non-traditional ways of playing, also called extended techniques. But what's this? The lesson is coming from INSIDE THE VIOLIN! And there are... pigs? Tiny pigs in there. Listening to Béla Bartók. Because of course they are. You won't want to miss these sounds, folks (but you might want to miss the smells).

What does a sound designer do? Turns out, a lot more than Kiana and Fiona think! On this episode, our own sound designer Alex Biscardi shows the power of sound design to transport us through time and space, make us laugh, and even get us out of some tight spots. Turn on your listening ears and come along!

The Music Box is back! And it's a good thing, because it looks like Baroque needs some fixing. Luckily, Dr. Kiana and Dr. Fiona are on the case! The music "doctors" cauterize Baroque's counterpoint, malleate its melodies, and assess its appoggiaturas... but can they bring Baroque back to all its intricate glory? Find out on this episode of The Music Box!

For season six’s FINALE, we’ll board the finest time traveling locomotive this side of the train soundboard once again to explore experimental music throughout history! We’ll be going all the way from Pauline Oliveros to Bjӧrk, remembering all the things we’ve talked about this season, like improvisation, drum machines, and more! Learn about musical experiments, meet up with an old friend, and get your ticket to hop aboard at musicboxpod.org. Recommended for grades 3-8, but all students can join in on the time traveling fun!!

In the words of James Brown, “get funky with me! C’mon!” We’re back in the operating room this week, so put on your lab coats and get ready to examine all the elements of our next patient - Funk! Join us as we explore rock steady beats, staying on the one, and grooving supporting guitar chords.

This episode is recommended for grades K-5, but everyone can groove with us! Additional lessons and resources at musicboxpod.org.