Mood Music

 

Have you heard of Pandora before?  It's internet radio, and it's very fun.  If you haven't already, you should try it out!

In Pandora, you create your own personalized radio stations based on certain criteria.  You could type in "Mozart" or "Metallica," and Pandora will play music by those people -- as well as music related to those terms.  You can even type in the name of your favorite song (for instance, I like "El Rancho Grande"), and Pandora will play your song and what it thinks is similar.

If Pandora or the concept of internet radio is not for you, no big deal.  For today's free, fun activity for your kids, you can use the regular old radio -- or your CD's or iTunes collection.  (A lot of cable and satellite providers also offer "radio" stations as part of their free packages -- you could use those channels, too!)

The idea behind today's activity is the emotion inherent in all music.  Today, we'd like you to play some music for your kids and ask them, "What emotion (or feeling) does this song give you?"

You may also want to provide your kids with some words as examples of emotions:  happy, sad, excited, thoughtful, peaceful, scared, surprised, nervous, brave, and so forth.

Isn't it interesting that each song makes people feel different emotions?

You obviously don't have to play entire songs -- quick snippets will do the trick.

And while this activity works with any kind of music, we'd especially like you guys to check out some classical music today.  Classical music is truly wonderful, and it's often overlooked.  If you're using Pandora, type in Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, or Aaron Copland.  Not only do each of these composers sound very different, all their music is very emotional!

We hope this musical activity is fun and entertaining.  We hope it puts a skip in your step and puts your kids in very happy moods!