Fast music turns a chore into a race. These fifteen pieces are quick, short, and bright. Pick one that fits the job, press play, and try to finish before the last note.
Pieces by length
| Piece | Composer | About how long | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Wild Asses,” from The Carnival of the Animals | Saint-Saëns | Under 1 minute | Shoes on |
| Trepak, from The Nutcracker | Tchaikovsky | 1 minute | Coats and hats |
| “Flight of the Bumblebee” | Rimsky-Korsakov | 1 and a half minutes | Picking up blocks |
| “Galop,” from The Comedians | Kabalevsky | 1 and a half minutes | Setting the table |
| Minute Waltz | Chopin | Under 2 minutes | Washing hands and faces |
| The Can-can | Offenbach | 2 minutes | Brushing teeth |
| Sabre Dance | Khachaturian | 2 and a half minutes | Toys in the bin |
| Hungarian Dance No. 5 | Brahms | 2 and a half minutes | Making the bed |
| “In the Hall of the Mountain King” | Grieg | 2 and a half minutes | A job that speeds up |
| Tritsch-Tratsch Polka | Johann Strauss II | 3 minutes | Clearing the table |
| Thunder and Lightning Polka | Johann Strauss II | 3 minutes | Running off energy |
| “Summer,” last movement, from The Four Seasons | Vivaldi | 3 minutes | A whole messy room |
| The finale of the William Tell Overture | Rossini | 3 and a half minutes | A whole messy room |
| Rondo alla Turca | Mozart | 3 and a half minutes | Getting dressed |
| The overture to The Marriage of Figaro | Mozart | 4 minutes | The big clean-up |
Times vary from one recording to the next. Check yours before you set the challenge.
Three to start with
“Flight of the Bumblebee.” A bee buzzes around in a blur of notes. It never stops to breathe. See what to listen for.
The finale of the William Tell Overture. The famous gallop. See the William Tell guide.
“In the Hall of the Mountain King.” It starts at a creep and ends in a mad dash. This one is a good match for a job that begins slow. Read the story.
Rules for a clean-up race
- Name the job. “All the blocks in the bin.”
- Name the piece and its length. “You have two minutes of the Can-can.”
- Press play. No starting early.
- Freeze on the last note. Everyone stops and looks.
- Call it. Beat the music, or try again tomorrow.
Race the music, not each other. With two or more children, the team wins or loses together.
Why fast music helps
- It sets a pace. Feet and hands can fall in with a quick beat.
- It has an end. A child can see that the job will be over soon.
- It makes the job a game. The music is the one to beat, and the parent is not.
What makes music sound fast
- Short notes. Many notes fit into each beat.
- A quick beat. The Italian words are “allegro,” “vivace,” and “presto.”
- No rests. The tune keeps running.
- Getting faster. Some pieces speed up as they go. The Italian word is “accelerando.”
Read tempo words in music.
More fast pieces to try
- “Dance of the Comedians,” by Smetana. A whirl of strings from a comic opera.
- “Farandole,” by Bizet. A march and a fast dance that crash together at the end.
- Csárdás, by Monti. It starts slow and sad, and then it races.
- The overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila, by Glinka. Five minutes at top speed.
- “Bugler’s Holiday,” by Leroy Anderson. Three trumpets at a sprint.
When to slow down
Fast music is for moving. It is the wrong choice for homework or bedtime. Read classical music for homework and quiet time and calm classical music for bedtime.
Things to do together
Guess the speed. Play ten seconds of a piece. Ask whether it is a walk, a jog, or a sprint.
Fast and slow. Play the Can-can, and then “Tortoises” from The Carnival of the Animals. It is the same tune at a crawl. Read the Can-can for kids.
Find the beat. Tap along with the metronome for kids until its ticks match the music.
Speed words. Play the tempo word game.
Make a chore list. Match each daily job to a piece from the table.
Print and play
Print the tempo and dynamics word cards. Read classical music for kids to dance to and morning classical music for kids.
More from this guide
This article is part of How to introduce kids to classical music.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.