Crescendo Lesson from "Peter and the Wolf" with Piano the Cat and Forte the Lion!

How would you teach young children the concept of a crescendo? Most likely you’ve never thought about it before -- We hadn’t either! (Some of you are wondering what a crescendo even is, and that’s great too!) We heard the best “crescendo” moment in Peter and the Wolf and just had to turn it into a teaching opportunity. This is the kind of stuff we love -- making real musical concepts fun and accessible using quality music and lots of fun.

So, how do we do it? Well, of course it will involve two playful puppet friends, “Piano” the kitty and “Forte” the lion. Then, our listeners experience the crescendo as they listen to the section from “Peter and the Wolf” when the wolf comes out of the forest, and the french horns play softly, then louder and louder as the wolf apparently gets closer and closer. Finally, we (and the puppets) describe what they just heard, show them the crescendo symbol, and let them experience it one more time while they move their body. 

We hope you enjoy this video, straight from our All Access Membership!

Check out Episode 3 and Episode 19 of our podcast for more Peter and the Wolf fun.

 Check out our All Access Membership for tons of engaging, educational music instruction for your kiddos!