The Music Box

Introducing our new host, Faith Murphy! Season 3 starts on April 23.

We'll explore the rhythms of our own names, and the special nonsense sounds we use sometimes to speak rhythms aloud. This is the final of three episodes about rhythm; this one is mainly for 4th and 5th graders, but even little ones have fun with the silly syllables. Additional information, including lesson plans and suggestions for extending the learning, available at musicboxpod.org . This episod...

Rhythm patterns coming at you again this week -- and this time we'll try putting different rhythms on top of each other to make a BIG pattern! We'll use the length of your hair to play with rhythms — what?? This is the second of three episodes about rhythm; this episode is aimed at 2nd and 3rd grade, but anyone can play. Additional information, including lesson plans and suggestions for extending...

Rhythm is a pattern! We'll practice listening to rhythms and clapping them back. This is the first of three episodes about rhythm; this episode is aimed at kindergarten and first grade, but everybody will have fun with these tricky rhythms. Additional information, including lesson plans and suggestions for extending the learning, available at musicboxpod.org . This episode was recorded in part at...

Rocking to a steady beat... and waltzing, and marching, and bopping, and more. This is the final of three episodes about beat; this one is aimed at 4th and 5th grade level, but all ages will have fun counting and stepping. Additional information, including lesson plans and suggestions for extending the learning, available at musicboxpod.org . This episode was recorded in part at Eisenhower Element...

We'll keep exploring that steady beat! This time we'll learn about how beats are grouped in different ways to make time signatures, and we'll move around to a march, a waltz, some jazz, some hip hop, and more. This is the second of three episodes about beat; this episode is aimed at 2nd and 3rd grade levels, but everybody's welcome to bop along. Additional information, including lesson plans and s...

Beat is STEADY! We'll be moving around to different types of music today -- get ready to tiptoe, skip, walk, and hop. This is the first of three episodes about beat; this episode is aimed at kindergarten & 1st grade, but anyone can jump to the beat! Additional information, including lesson plans and suggestions for extending the learning, available at musicboxpod.org . This episode was recorde...

Our special music word is "timbre" which means the way something sounds. We'll be using different timbres to tell a story from our imagination -- we'll supply the timbres, you supply the story! This is the final of three episodes about timbre; this episode is aimed at the 4th and 5th grade levels, but everybody enjoys a good story. Additional information, including lesson plans and suggestions for...

We'll continue our investigation of timbre (a music word that means "the way something sounds") with a movement activity that'll get you going in all directions. Plus, we'll make our own version of the cha-cha slide! This is the second of three episodes about timbre; this episode is aimed at the second and third grade levels, but anyone can play. Additional information, including lesson plans and...

Timbre = the way something sounds! We'll play with different timbres, and we'll use body percussion to make our own thunderstorm. This is the first of three episodes about timbre; this episode is aimed at the kindergarten and first grade level, but is fun for everyone. Additional information, including lesson plans and suggestions for extending the learning, available at musicboxpod.org . This epi...

Pitch is high, pitch is low -- and we'll use some singers you know (and a few you probably don't) to explore different pitches in the human voice. This is the final of three episodes about pitch; this one is aimed at 4th and 5th grade, but we can all sing along. For more information, including printable lesson plans and ideas for extending the learning, visit us at musicboxpod.org . This episode w...

High pitch or low pitch or something in between? We'll use pitch to help us know which way to go, and we'll hear different members of the instrument families with high or low pitches. This is the second of three episodes about pitch; this one is aimed at 2nd and 3rd grade, but there's something for everyone here. For more information, including lesson plans and ideas for extending the learning, vi...

Pitch is high, pitch is low. We'll have some fun with animal sounds that make high and low pitches, and we'll pretend to be birds and cows. This is the first of three episodes about pitch; this one is aimed at kindergarten and 1st grade, but everyone can do an animal sound or two. (Moooooooo!) Additional information, including lesson plans and suggestions for extending the learning, available at m...

A new season of The Music Box is coming soon! Hosted by musician and educator Jecorey Arthur, we’ll explore four fundamental music concepts — beat, rhythm, pitch and timbre — with episodes for all ages. Our website at musicboxpod.org includes extras like teaching ideas for extending the learning. New episodes coming September 5!

Don't have an instrument? Don't you worry! Sometimes if you practice all you need is a leaf to make beautiful music. Listen to our final episode of Season I and get inspired to make your own homemade instrument. We have special guests from the 1st grade music class at Kentucky Country Day plus we'll hear from experts Dr. Aaron Allen from North Carolina and Dr. Robin Ryan all the way from Australia...

Rachel Grimes is a composer from Carroll County, Kentucky. The ukulele class at Harmony Elementary interviewed her about what it's like to be a composer today. Listen and you'll learn that you can be a composer too! Sometimes you just need to start small. Just like you can build cities out of legos you can build symphonies out of just a few notes. Hosted and produced by Sara Louise Callaway, WUOL...

Instruments that can talk?! Mozart as a super hero?! An old time machine in the back of the UofL music library?! How did this craziness happen? Oh ya, we let the 4th grade orchestra write the script… and it’s great! What exactly is classical music, we ask. Well, answers are always more complicated than we hope but it’s worth the ride. Hop on but make sure you buckle up and have your signed permiss...

Visit The Music Box site Somewhere out in space there floats a golden record… Listen to the 2nd grade class at Lincoln Elementary school as they explore classical that’s way out there, like past the Oort cloud out there. That’s right, there are symphonies floating in interstellar space just waiting to be heard. How? Find out in our opening episode where it doesn’t matter if you’ve ever heard class...

Subscribe to The Music Box podcast | Visit The Music Box site Music boxes were invented to make music small enough to fit in your pocket, just like this podcast. With a tap you’ll be carried into classrooms, across the city, and out into the field where we ask what is music and how do we make it. We’re taking classical music out of the box and giving you the inspiration and tools to compose your s...