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Mary Chris
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or hope for the non musical. Both my husband and I come from non musical homes and honestly, music lessons are not in the future for our dc. I would like to introduce some classical music into our home, but I don't know where to start. So if you could suggest some CD's (we do have all the Beethoven's Wig CD's  ) I would so appreciate it. I would like to download them from Itunes.
Also, any suggestions for a Gregorian Chant CD would be very welcome!
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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Betsy
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You can down stream this awesome classical radio station to get started....
The Classical Station
Betsy
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JodieLyn
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If you'd like things that will seem relatively familiar.. look for
The Nutcracker Suite
Sleeping Beauty
Swan Lake
and the soundtrack from Fantasia
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Mary G
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Mary Chris .... not suggestions but just wanted you to know you're not alone! We do play NPR's Classical music station around here as much as the kids will let us ... but I have no musical bone in my body -- seriously, none, zilch, nada, zippo! I think my sister and a couple of brothers got what was supposed to come to me (a typical remark when you're the 6th of 7).
Maybe we could work out something musical/nature-study-ish/crafty for next semester and clobber a bunch of bugaboos as once! 
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Helen
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Mary Chris, I think Macbeth once suggested to someone to begin with Bach.
I like to take out videos from the library. Often, I'll just walk down the classical music video aisle and see what catches my eye: Baroque concerts, the life of a composer, New Year's eve concerts.
I've found a couple of great ones. Netflix has Jacqueline duPre and the Elgar Cello concerto. While learning about the life of Jacqueline, selections of the concerto are playing. At the end, the whole piece is played.
In the Monthly Composer Archive there is a link to Elgar.
Videos help the younger children stay engaged. Then the piece can be played on CD (also borrowed from the library) for repetition.
Have fun!
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Ave Maria!
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guitarnan
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MC, one thing we did (for art as well as music) was to read biographies (Mike Venezia's series is great) and then tackle the works themselves. It all seemed to make more sense once my kids knew something about the person behind the music. We found many of Mike Venezia's books at our library.
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CKwasniewski
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Mary Chris,
The Cistercian monks of Heiligen Kreuz (Holy Cross, in Austria) recently made a great chant recording which topped the charts here and in Europe.
Chant: Music for the Soul
It is really good. (And I am picky bc my dh is a schola director. )
Also, you might want to look into Introduce your Child to Classical Music in 52 lessons. Emmanuel books carries it.
hth,
ck
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Mary G
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CKwasniewski wrote:
Mary Chris,
The Cistercian monks of Heiligen Kreuz (Holy Cross, in Austria) recently made a great chant recording which topped the charts here and in Europe.
Chant: Music for the Soul
It is really good. (And I am picky bc my dh is a schola director. )
ck |
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Thanks for posting this ... I so want to get it for Rick! 
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MaryG
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MarilynW
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Mary Chris
I am linking our music plan for the year - you may be able to clean some information from there - especially the listening and websites. Also taking your children to as many concerts as possible (you drive places more than me!) - lots of affordable stuff from Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (let me know if you want the email of the homeschool contact who always lets us know about the homeschool discounts), also free performances at Kennedy center and affordable performances by Vienna Youth Orchestra.
Our music plan
There are also a couple of wonderful opera cds - name I have forgotten right now - which your kids would enjoy.
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Loren
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I don't have anything on Gregorian chant, but for the classics we have and enjoy The Story of _______ in Words and Music. These CD's each tells the story of a famous composer with excerpts from the music he has written. My kids really enjoy listening to "the composers" and each CD has program notes and suggestions for further reading and listening.
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cvbmom
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We really have learned a lot from using Themes to Remember as our spine, then finding the complete song and listening to it as we can. I highly recommend it 
God bless,
Christine
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Rachel May
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Not that you need another suggestion , but this year we were given the titles of 5 famous pieces for the kids to learn to recognize. I put those pieces on the Ipod. Then we started by playing just one twice in a row, one day a week and saying, "This is Pachabel's Canon in D."
The pieces are those that are famous enough and unusual enough (and with catchy enough titles ) that you will hear and recognize them over and over again in your life. Handel's Water Music and Hallelujah Chorus, Bach's Toccata in Fugue, Beethoven's 5th. So this year is a basic music literacy campaign.
Surely you remember Pachabel's Canon in D as being the "C and R Clothiers" theme?
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Jen L.
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We have enjoyed listening to
The Story of Classical Music
"Alsop, a well-known and respected conductor, takes the reins here, talking about the music she loves. Henley's text blends a historic time line, replete with facts about the Magna Carta, the bubonic plague and the industrial revolution, together with a colorful who's who of composers, spotlighting more than 90 artists. All the usual suspects are here—Beethoven, Bach, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, etc.—as are more contemporary composers like John Cage and Philip Glass. Alsop's easygoing approach works well as she serves as a welcoming tour guide offering fun facts and interesting biographical sketches for listeners. Each era of history and composer's bio is paired with famous, representative snippets of music—150 in all—performed by world-class musicians. A fourth enhanced CD in the package contains such extras as quizzes, sheet music, photos and ancillary articles. "
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Angie Mc
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Here is our home grown music study.
We still follow this and over the years it has really added up...one of our most successful learning adventures.
Last year we finally had the older children take music lessons. It isn't our strength but it was worth it...learning that we're not really musicians but we can appreciate the effort much more:).
I would recommend picking up a CD for each holiday, and make just a little effort to work in the classics. Since you already have Beethoven's Wig (love them!), pick a favorite song from there and purchase a CD by the composer. I like Tchichovsy (sp) at Christmas and Handel at Easter and Foster/Sousa for the 4th of July. Peg music to driving, Sunday, meals, cleaning, etc. Let the Holy Spirit (and the recommendations of these fine ladies) guide you and you really can't go wrong.
Let us know what good stuff you find!
Love,
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CKwasniewski
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Mary G, go for it! It will be a great surprise.
Just wanted to add--now is a great time to get Handel's Messiah and put it on! Also during Lent.
There are a number of very fine versions out there--honestly, you really can't go wrong.
ck
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JennGM
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Rachel May wrote:
Not that you need another suggestion , but this year we were given the titles of 5 famous pieces for the kids to learn to recognize. I put those pieces on the Ipod. Then we started by playing just one twice in a row, one day a week and saying, "This is Pachabel's Canon in D."
The pieces are those that are famous enough and unusual enough (and with catchy enough titles ) that you will hear and recognize them over and over again in your life. Handel's Water Music and Hallelujah Chorus, Bach's Toccata in Fugue, Beethoven's 5th. So this year is a basic music literacy campaign.
Surely you remember Pachabel's Canon in D as being the "C and R Clothiers" theme? |
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I lost my original reply. I don't have particular suggestions, except elaborating on Rachel's. Start with the familiar and expand from there.
"Classical music" can conjure up images of snooty and dusty old music (and old people), but we really are immersed in classical music every day. What you are doing is finding what you know and identifying it, labeling it. You'll be hearing the clips in the "musical context." It's kind of like a Catholic who has been hearing Scripture text in the liturgy for years, but it isn't until he reads the books from the Bible in context that he realizes that he actually does know a lot more of the Bible than he thought!
Looney Tunes (the old Bugs Bunny, not the new trash) was full of classical themes. I had a friend who was a music major that watched the old cartoons to familiarize himself with the music.
This site has a great top 100 list that I'm sure if you clicked you would know the pieces. Do further listening on the composers and pieces you like.
As far as Gregorian Chant, I like the cd Christine mentioned. Rachel's brother's Christmas chant cd is very good, too. I have a few more I could recommend, too. "Gregorian Chant" is a wide label, and varies on the sound. If you want to understand it further, not just listen, I have a few suggestions that way, too.
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Mary Chris
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Thank you so much for all the wonderful ideas! As usual, you all are awesome. It feels good to know where to start. Sometimes, just knowing where to start is overwhelming.
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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4Real Forums : The Arts in the Everyday
Topic: Where to start??
