Composer Study -- Charlotte Mason Style

Lovely Guitar Player
No, not Charlotte Mason.

Composer study is so easy the Charlotte Mason (CM) way! You simply choose a composer (more on how to do that later) and frequently listen to that composer's music for an entire term. You don't have to study the musical history behind the composer's style although you can if you desire. You don't have to study the composer's life either although you may choose to add in a bit of relevant information on you child's level.

Instead, you simply listen to a lot of that composer's music. The objective is to listen to so much of the particular artist's music that you internalize his style and can recognize the music played elsewhere.

Handel

This is not a cram session to memorize pieces and names. This is a slow and steady stream of exposure to a certain type of music. A little bit often is a common refrain among CM practitioners. Listening to two music selections each day while preparing a meal is much more effective than sitting the children down on the couch and forcing them to endure an hour of classical music. Let the music become the background of your home. And its rhythms and moods will seep into your children's heads and hearts. It's learning at its easiest. You simply hit play and let the music do its work.

You do want the children to associate the music they are hearing with the composer's name. So do mention his name frequently, "Let's put on the Tchaikovsky disc!" or "I love this piece by Mozart."

You certainly can have the children sit and listen silently to a new piece of music. And then you can discuss it afterwards. If listening to music is not easy for your child, use some of the Music Listening Questions to give him something to listen for. Having an objective in his listening will help keep him focused.

Can you identify the composers in this image?
In the center is Bach.
On the left are Beethoven at top and Handel at bottom.
On the right are Mozart at top and Haydn at bottom.

The easy answer to this question is to begin with whatever classical music CD you happen to have. Pull it off the shelf and begin playing it! Play it as often as you can -- aim for daily -- for an entire 9-12 week period. Then choose another composer.

Some popular composers are

• Bach


• Mozart


• Beethoven


• Vivaldi


• Tchaikovsky


• Haydn


• Chopin
.

Some moms like to choose a composer that lived during the period of history that the family is currently studying. That makes it easier to make historic connections. You can do that or just choose someone you think your children would enjoy.

Ambleside Online has a composer schedule you can follow that includes lists of specific pieces by the composer. I still find it difficult to find exact pieces, and so I prefer to buy a "best of" audio CD.

For more scheduling suggestions, try this year long art and music schedule or this one featuring the Middle Ages.

These are all optional activities to enhance your composer study. Pick and choose and remember that these are not the focus. The focus is listening to the music.

• read biographical information about the composer
  (A free resource is the public domain book The World's Great Men Of Music at Google Books or in .txt format)


• study music history


• make a composer timeline with these composer cards or with this set
  
  Timelines to print -- 3 multi-page options OR a one page PDF]


• play some simple pieces by the composer on your instrument of choice


• notebooking pages-- Here is a composer notebooking page and a journal page, both of which will work for any composer. More options are this notebooking page called Composer's Corner and this Composer Form. A large set of general free composer pages is at Homeschool Notebooking. For specific composers, try That Resource Site where each composer has a 21 page set of notebooking pages.
  
  Or try the freebies at Practical Pages that include printables for thirteen different composers.


• hang a wall chart of composers


• watch live music at a symphony or other concert