Listen and Respond
JS Bach: "Little Fugue in G Minor"
Daerwood students: Try and imagine the familiar chime of Daerwood's school bell... "Dum, dum, dum..."
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When Mr. Led hears this bell, it always reminds him of this piece by composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Listen through it carefully, and answer the questions below.
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Grade K-2
Consider the following word pairs: which word from each pair best describes the part of the song you listened to?
Slow/Fast Heavy/Light Gentle/Rough Bouncy/Smooth Bright/Dark
Happy/Sad Joyous/Sorrowful Relaxed/Excited Carefree/Worrying
Keep going!: Ask yourself, why did you choose each word? Are there other words not listed here that describe what you heard? Are there different parts of the piece where both words in a pair would work?
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Grade 2-3
Imagine this piece of music is the soundtrack to a movie. What is happening in the movie while this music is playing? Write a short description of what you see.
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Keep going!: After this piece ends, what happens next? Instead of writing this part down, try creating the next "scene" musically. Use any instruments you can find at home, or make your own. Don't forget, your voice is the instrument everyone has!
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Grade 3-5
The main theme of this fugue starts with the exact same three notes of the Daerwood School bell. Using a piano at home, or using this website, can you figure out which notes are needed to play this bell? Try writing it down using MuseScore or some blank sheet music (both available here).
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Keep going!: Listen carefully and see if you can get write even more of the song out (hint: a scrolling score is available here).
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Grade 4-6
A fugue is a piece of music based around one or more "themes". A theme is a short bit of music that returns over and over. The main theme to Bach's little fugue in G is available here.
Using a piano at home or this site, can you play this theme?
Listen through again, and make note of every time you hear this theme.
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Keep going!: You might notice the theme written out is not exactly the same as the recording (try playing along to the recording and you will see this). Using your ear, can you play along to the "real" theme in the recording?