During the concert:
● Listen and track the shifting moods, feelings & emotions
● Listen and track one (or more) of the elements of music as these change throughout the piece:
o Melody
o Rhythm & tempo
o Harmony
o Tone & texture
● Enjoy and track the sounds of various instruments
● Watch the conductor and other performers
● Watch the interactions among the musicians
● Tune into the technical and performance challenges of a piece
● Sit in the right place in the concert venue
Listening before the concert:
● Listen several times to an exciting performance of the piece.
● Listen to various performances of the piece.
● Consider the interpretive options associated with the piece.
● Be open to new sounds, instrumentation, and unusual musical experiences.
Learning and Reading before the concert:
● Read the program notes ahead of time. These are available at the RI Phil website and the RI Chamber Music Concerts website. Take note of this information:
o Piece titles and movement names, tempos & key signatures
o Composer-written notes
o Critics’ analyses (with historical info)
o Composer’s biography.
● Learn about the composer
● Learn about the most common structures of classical music: the sonata form, the concerto, theme and variations, the rondo, the fugue.
● Learn about the genre, style or musical era of a piece
● Learn about and link the piece to the important events, ideas and politics of the time
● Learn about the performers and the conductor
🎯 Trust your personal responses - and share them!