The Music Box

By Louisville Public MediaKids & Family

The Music Box episodes

July 02, 2020 Kandinsky Can: How Art and Music Collide
Artists and musicians can inspire each other's work, even though they use different materials and techniques! We’ll learn about some of the ways that art and music intersects, and we’ll take a turn being inspired ourselves.
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Featured musical excerpts:
George Gershwin: An American in Paris, New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein
Jane Ira Bloom: Jackson Pollack, from Chasing Paint: Jane Ira Bloom Meets Jackson Pollack
John Cage: Sonata V, from Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano, performed by Giancarlo Cardini
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National Standards incorporated:
Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts
Understanding music in relation to history and culture
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Additional resources:
Wassily Kandinsky: 100 Famous Paintings Analysis and Biography
Jackson Pollock: 100 Famous Paintings Analysis and Biography
Pablo Picasso: 150 Famous Paintings, Bio & Quotes by Picasso
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
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11 min
June 25, 2020 Who Plays What?
This is the final episode in our mini-series about songwriting: we’ll explore how instruments are used to tell stories in sound — most specifically, in movie soundtracks! You’ll be sure to hear a few familiar tunes here, and you’ll never watch movies the same way again.
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Featured musical excerpts:
John Williams: Star Wars Main Theme, from “Star Wars” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Hans Zimmer: …To Die For, from “The Lion King” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
John Williams: Hedwig’s Theme, from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Opetaia Foa’i, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Marc Mancina: We Know the Way, from “Moana” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Rachel Portman: Tino, from “A Dog’s Purpose” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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National standards applied:
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music*
*Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts
Understanding music in relation to history and culture
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Additional resources:
“Tino” from A Dog’s Purpose
10 film composers you should know -- besides John Williams
Female composers are trying to break film’s sound barrier
THE POWER OF MUSIC IN FILM - How music affects film
Moana: On-set visit with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i & Mark Mancina
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13 min
June 18, 2020 Name the Place and Time
This is the second of three episodes on songwriting. This week, we’ll learn about how songs help us celebrate special occasions (hint: it involves cake and candles) and also how songs can make us feel strong in the face of hard times. We’ll hear some examples about songs that bring people together, and we’ll write our own verse to a well-known call-and-response song.
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Featured music:
B.B. King: Why I Sing the Blues
Aretha Franklin: A Change Is Gonna Come
Pete Seeger & the Song Swappers: We Shall Not Be Moved
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National standards incorporated:
Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
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Additional resources:
Songwriting With Kids
How To Teach Children to Write Songs
Sing Me A Story - Songs and Stories for Kids in Need
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Resources for discussing current events with your kids:
Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations About Race and Racism (Anti-Defamation League)
75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice (Medium)
How White Parents Can Use Media to Raise Anti-Racist Kids (Common Sense Media)
Resources for Talking About Race, Racism, and Racialized Violence With Kids (Center for Racial Justice in Education)
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13 min
June 11, 2020 It's Rhyme Time
This is the first of a series of three episodes on songwriting. This week, we’ll learn about how rhyming words can help us tell a story. We’ll start with some songs you already know, and then we’ll write our own song!
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Featured music:
W.A. Mozart: Variations on “Ah vous dirais-je, Maman” (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
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National standards incorporated:
Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music**
**Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines
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Additional resources:
Songwriting With Kids
How To Teach Children to Write Songs | Songwriting Tips
Sing Me a Story - Stories and Songs for Kids in Need
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Donate to support this and future seasons of The Music Box.
11 min
June 04, 2020 Hitting the Pause Button
We had a new episode all ready to go for you, but it just doesn’t feel right in this moment. Listen in and we’ll tell you why we’re hitting pause this week. And we’ll be back with you next week with a new episode about how you can write your own songs.
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Resources for discussing current events with your kids:
Race Talk: Engaging Young People in Conversations About Race and Racism (Anti-Defamation League)
75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice (Medium)
How White Parents Can Use Media to Raise Anti-Racist Kids (Common Sense Media)
Resources for Talking About Race, Racism, and Racialized Violence With Kids (Center for Racial Justice in Education)
1 min
May 28, 2020 The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowing in Woodwind
We’re wrapping up our roundup of the instrument families with the woodwind instruments this week! We’ll learn how they make sound (with some activities you can do at home) and even learn about a couple of surprise members of the family.
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Featured musical excerpts:
Bottle Boys: Call Me Maybe (Carly Rae Jepson cover on bottles)
Corrente: Bartolome de Selma y Salaverde
Bagpipe Master: Going Home played on bagpipes
Roman Andrukhiv: Isn’t She Lovely (Stevie Wonder cover on accordion)

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National Standards incorporated:
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts
Understanding music in relation to history and culture
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Additional resources:
How to make a reed for a woodwind instrument featuring Ms. Faith!
BBC National Orchestra of Wales - Woodwind
How To Turn A Carrot Into A Recorder
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11 min
May 21, 2020 Brass Is A Gas
We’ll be exploring all the different instruments of the brass family this week. We’ll learn about what defines a brass instruments, the various sounds they make, and all the different kinds of music they play. And we’ll practice blowing into our own imaginary brass instruments — it sounds pretty funny!
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Featured musical excerpts:
Hector Berlioz: Damnation of Faust, Hungarian March
John Philip Sousa: Sound Off
Jeremiah Clarke: The Prince of Denmark’s March (performed by Wynton Marsalis)
Wynton Marsalis: RJ
Kai Winding: Black Coffee
Trombone Shorty: Buckjump
W. A. Mozart: Horn Concerto in E-flat, K. 417, Rondo: Allegro (performed by Felix Klieser and Camerata Salzburg)

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*National Standards incorporated:
*Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Understanding music in relation to history and culture
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Additional resources:
Music from Home: The Brass Family and Making a Homemade Trumpet
BBC National Orchestra of Wales: Brass
10 Famous Trumpet Players
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11 min
May 14, 2020 Play That Percussion!
Percussion instruments are anything you can hit, shake, or scrape — which means they can be a LOT of fun to play! We’ll learn about the two main categories of percussion instruments, we’ll play a game to tell them apart, and there might even be some dancing, too.
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Featured musical excerpts:
Djembe solo by Master Drummer M’Bemba Bangoura
Get Lucky (Daft Punk) - Steel Pan cover played by Jonathan Scales
Legend of Zelda - Main Theme on marimba
Die Glocke :: 12 Pieces for Glockenspiel [Part 1] by Brett William Dietz
Work (Rihanna) - Steel pan cover played by Keishaun Julien
Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, Variation 1 a 1, performed by Glenn Gould
Djembe Solo by Laurent Camara
Send Me On My Way - Rusted Root
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**National Standards incorporated:
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
Understanding music in relation to history and culture
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Additional resources:
Music with Ms. Faith: Hair, Hair and More Hair!
Music with Ms. Faith: All About Drums
Wave Drum Tutorial
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Donate to support this and future seasons of The Music Box.
10 min
May 07, 2020 The String's The Thing
Did you know that we can put most musical instruments into family groups? Just like your family, there are larger and smaller members, and they all make different sounds. We’ll start learning about the string family today: violins, violas, cellos, and more.
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Featured musical excerpts:
Sonata for Violin Solo, No. 1 in G Minor - J.S. Bach
Viola Sonata, Op. 25, No. 1: III. Sehr Langsam - Paul Hindemith
Passacaglia for Violin and Viola - Johan Halvorsen
Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major - J.S. Bach
Capriccio No. 2 for Solo Double Bass - Dave Anderson
Living in the Country - George Winston
Quintet in A Major, D. 667, “Trout” (Opus 114), Andante - Franz Schubert
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National Standards incorporated:
Listening to, describing, and analyzing music
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Additional Resources:
Karen Meets the String Family
How do string instruments make a sound?
Make guitars and stringed musical instruments

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Donate to support this and future seasons of The Music Box.
12 min
April 30, 2020 Waves, Waves, Waves
We’ll learn about the ways that sound can move, both in the air around us and inside our bodies. Get ready to surf the musical waves with us!
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Featured musical excerpts:
Catchy Song - Dillon Francis
Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 118 - Franz Schubert
Mandala Offering - The Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir
Be Like the Water - A.N.D.
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National Standards incorporated:
Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
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Additional Resources:
WHAT IS SOUND? | LEARNING WITH SARAH | Educational videos for Kids
Sound Experiments for Kids | Science for Kids | Kids Academy
How Do We Sing?
7 Cool Sound Science Experiments for Kids Nov. 19, 2018
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Donate to support this and future seasons of The Music Box.
10 min

About The Music Box

From the publisher's feed

The Music Box is an interactive music education podcast for kids, exploring fundamental music concepts through performing, responding and connecting. The current season is hosted by music educators…