Harmony Fine Arts – Art and Music Appreciation

 Art, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Music  No Responses »
Aug 272009
 

Art and music appreciation are subjects that if not given priority, fail to be done in our home. (It’s probably safe to assume that is true for many homes.) It seems like every year I plan on adding art appreciation to our long list of subjects and at the end of the year I realize that once again I haven’t done it. One of the problems is that I know next to nothing about art. It should be simple enough to add in picture study to accompany history. But that would require me to actually know which artists and paintings are most significant. Sure, I could probably research, learn and figure some things out. But thankfully I’ve discovered that someone else, much more knowledgeable than I, has already done the work for me.

Harmony Fine Arts is an art and music appreciation program written by Harmony Art Mom – Barbara McCoy. If you’re thinking that name sounds familiar, it should, because she’s one of the contributing writers here at The Curriculum Choice. Barb has put together an art and music program with 12 yearly plans that are linked to a chronological 4-year history cycle, and are divided into the stages of learning of the classical trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric).  That is exactly what I would do! (If I knew how, that is.)

Beach Scene, Guernsey, 1883

Beach Scene - Guernsey, Renoir, 1883

I received the plan for Grade One to review. Grade One is different from the other plans in that it does not cover art from its time period in history. Since the study of ancient art is not a study particularly well suited to the early grammar stage, she chose to make Grade One an overview of a variety of artists. Among the included artists are Renoir, van Gogh, Manet, and Cassatt. The study includes 8 artists with 4 works by each artist. The plan contains 3 different options for art study. Option 1 is picture study only. (Don’t worry, instructions on HOW to do picture study are included.) Option 2 takes picture study a step further combining the study of art in art appreciation books with a short related activity. Option 3 combines picture study with coloring books. (The student will be able to color a picture of the work studied.) In addition to the various options for art appreciation, there is also a section for composer study that includes suggested resources for listening and reading.

What do I like about this program?

  • Coordinates with history studies.
    (It’s not like adding “another” subject.)
  • Simple to use.
    (The plan is clearly laid out. The additional resources are clearly listed.)
  • Variety of options
    (I love that the plan includes different options with different time committments.)
  • Flexible for multiple ages.
    (It is written with a “grade” assigned, but it is not necessary to use only with the specified grade.)
  • Low cost.
    (The grammar and logic levels are $19.95 for each year plan. Rhetoric levels are $9.95.)

With everything already planned for me, I’ll have no one to blame but myself if we don’t finally begin our art and music appreciation studies this year! To learn more about the Harmony Fine Arts Program, visit HarmonyFineArts.com.

Written by Kristen, A Relaxed Classical Mom of 4

Classical Music Start-Up Kit

 Art, Charlotte Mason, Classical, High School, Highschool, Music  3 Responses »
Aug 062009
 

I have been listening to classical music for quite some time. Many of my friends  say classical music is not their cup of tea so they don’t expose themselves or their children to the variety and sound of classical music. In my experience, it takes a few times listening through a particular composer to get the feel for his music. Lumping all classical music into one category is a big mistake since the sounds and styles of each composer are so different.

Starting when the children are young is the best way to develop an ear for classical music but don’t despair if your children are older and you still want to give them the opportunity. It is never too late. My husband never listened to classical music until we started composer study in the Charlotte Mason style. He now can recognize and appreciate many different composers.

cm-start-up-two-disksI found the perfect CD sets to introduce your family to the general overview of classical music. The series is called The Classical Music Start-Up Kit, volumes one and two. The first CD covers the years 1500-1825 and the second volume covers 1825-1945.

They call it a kit but really it is a CD with a booklet “instruction manual”. You can listen and enjoy the selections or you can listen, enjoy, and then pull out the booklet and read about the composer, the time period, and the music itself. I had my boys listen to the CD several times and then we went back and read a bit about what we were listening to after they had some exposure to the music.

I have learned to fit in our listening as we go about our daily routine. We listen to the music in the car while we are driving to our appointments or errands. I put the music on when they are working on art projects. I listen to the music during the day while I work on the computer. You would be surprised at how many times you can find to listen to one or two of the selections each day.cm-start-up-close-up-of-manual

You can click the link to Amazon.com below and there you can actually listen to samples of the music from each CD.

Classical Music Start-Up Kit Volume One

Classical Music Start-Up Kit Volume Two

Each one of these volumes could be the basis of a term’s music appreciation. Here is what the introduction says for these kits.

“Each volume requires two to three hours of listening and reading. If you’re new to classical music, this CD and instruction manual may be easier to absorb if you plan several shorter sittings…..It is not essential for you to have read Volume One before beginning Volume Two, but if you go through these CDs in order, you’ll have a better overall understanding of classical music.”

These CDs are a great starting point for a study of classical music. You can use the selections to pick composers you want to listen to in more depth in the future. If you find a composer you like and want to stop and dwell on his music, you can be flexible and do that as well.

There is no right or wrong way to get started with music appreciation. The most important thing is that you start!

cm-start-up-disk-and-manual

I love to keep things simple and the Classical Music Start-Up CDs with the accompanying instruction manual are an inexpensive and painless way to expose your children to great music. These CDs are appropriate for all ages of students. In fact, I use them in my high school music appreciation plans on Harmony Fine Arts. These plans are free and you can download the PDFs to use with your children.

You can also listen to both of these Classical Music Start-Up Kits on Naxos.com if you are a subscriber. You can also listen to samples on Naxos.com for free.

Volume One: Catalogue Number 8.550779

Volume Two: Catalogue Number 8.550835

Enjoy!

Written by Barb-Harmony Art mom.  She also blogs at http://www.harmonyartmom.blogspot.com