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I've written before about the many beautiful picture books for children about composers and music. Having a variety of books in your home builds a sense of curiosity and interest in your children. What happens, however, when our children get older? Finding quality literature (in any subject area) can be a bit of a challenge. You need to look a b...

The Classical Era of music (1750-1820) contains pieces by the musical giants Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.  The music of this time period reflects a sense of order and precision in the world at that time. Reason and logic began to shape thinking. It was The Age of Enlightenment. Specific forms of music became prevalent; the concerto, symphony, a...

“Music is a higher revelation than philosophy.” ~ Ludwig van Beethoven The music of Beethoven has spoken to listeners for nearly 250 years. His symphonies, sonatas, concertos, chamber music, and MORE have gained him the reputation as one of the most important composers in history - if not THE most important composer in history. Giving our chi...

Let's add to our growing list of music and book pairings! Our subject is Charles Ives, the American composer who changed the landscape of music in the Modern Era.  Through the book, What Charlie Heard, (along with another picture book about Ives), and the music lesson presented in this post, your children can learn about this musical pioneer ...

Now that I've given you a list of 5 pieces of music children should know, let's talk about composers your children will enjoy. These are composers who either wrote a lot of music for children, or whose music just APPEALS to children (or the child in all of us).  As with ALL of music, this list is subjective, based on my years of teaching el...