Composer study for preschool and kindergarten: a simple routine

Composer study for a child of three to six is short and playful. Pick one composer for a month. Play one short piece each week, a few times, and move or draw to it. Say the composer’s name, show a picture, and tell one fact. That is the whole plan, and it takes about five minutes a day.

A small child does not need dates or a timeline. The goal is for a few pieces to feel like old friends.

The routine

Monday: meet the piece. Say the composer’s name and the title. Play the piece. Dance, sway, or march.

Midweek: play it again. Play it at breakfast or in the car. Ask one question. Is it fast or slow? Loud or soft? Happy or sad?

Friday: draw it. Play the piece once more while your child draws what the music brings to mind.

Keep each session to the length of the piece. Stop while your child still wants more.

One fact and one picture

Show a picture of the composer. Tell one thing a small child can hold on to.

• Bach had twenty children
• Mozart wrote music when he was five
• Beethoven could not hear when he was older, and he still wrote music
• Haydn hid a loud surprise in a quiet piece
• Tchaikovsky wrote the music for The Nutcracker
• Saint-Saëns wrote a piece about a zoo

Repeat the same fact each time. Small children enjoy knowing the answer.

A year of composers and pieces

Each piece is short, or has a short part to start with.

Month	Composer	Four pieces, one a week
September	Saint-Saëns	“The Elephant,” “Aquarium,” “The Swan,” and “Fossils” from The Carnival of the Animals
October	Grieg	“In the Hall of the Mountain King,” “Morning Mood,” “Anitra’s Dance,” and “March of the Trolls”
November	Mozart	Variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle,” Rondo alla turca, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, and the Horn Concerto No. 4 rondo
December	Tchaikovsky	March, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” Russian Dance, and “Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker
January	Haydn	“Surprise” Symphony, second movement, “The Clock,” the Trumpet Concerto finale, and the “Farewell” finale
February	Bach	Minuet in G major from the Anna Magdalena notebook, the Badinerie, the “Air,” and the Prelude in C major
March	Vivaldi	“Spring,” first part, “Winter,” second part, “Summer,” third part, and “Autumn,” first part
April	Beethoven	“Für Elise,” the start of Symphony No. 5, “Ode to Joy,” and the “Pastoral” storm
May	Prokofiev	Peter and the Wolf, in four sittings

The Minuet in G major is in a notebook that Bach’s family kept. It was written by another composer of the time, Christian Petzold.

Ways to move

Small children listen with their whole bodies.

• March to a march
• Tiptoe to soft, light music
• Stomp like an elephant to low, heavy music
• Float with a scarf to slow music
• Freeze when the music stops
• Conduct with a wooden spoon

Classical music for kids to dance to has more games.

What to print

The composer fact sheets have a box to draw in. A child who cannot write yet can draw the piece, and you can write down what they say about it.

A listening journal page works for any single piece.

Hang the month’s sheet on the fridge. By the end of the year, you have nine.

What to skip at this age

Skip dates, long life stories, and the names of musical forms. Skip pieces longer than about five minutes unless they tell a story. Skip any piece your child dislikes. There are plenty more.

When a child asks for the same piece again

Play it. Hearing a piece many times is how a small child comes to know it. A favorite from October can come back every week of the year.

What comes next

At about six or seven, a child is ready for a little more: six weeks with each composer, a short life story, and a page in a notebook. The composer study schedule sets that out. For the wider plan, read music appreciation for homeschool and composer study for homeschool. For more short pieces, see classical music for toddlers.