Listen! Post 1: Fur Elise

Welcome, everyone, to my new Student Challenge!

   Here's the rules of the game: Once a month, I will post a Youtube video of a classical piano piece. If you are my student (or if you are not and just want to do it for fun), I want you to listen to the piece. Not just play it in the background while you're doing your homework (although that's very beneficial to your brain too), but to sit down and pay close attention to what's happening. Here are some suggestions for things you can look for:

  • Tempo -- how fast is this piece going?
  • Dynamic -- how loud are they playing this? Be sure that you set your volume about midway if you have speakers attached to your computer. ('But it sounded really loud to me! I only had the speakers set at 100!')
  • Mood. What do you think is the mood of the piece? 
  • Different sections where the music changes. Maybe it speeds up, is suddenly softer, or changes from a quiet mood to an energetic and cheerful mood. Maybe you're not sure what the change was, only that it did change -- three or four times. 
   Once you've listened to the piece, comment below with three things you noticed. 

   Our first piece is Fur Elise! Three of you decided you wanted to learn this last spring, so I thought it was an ideal piece to start with. 

    Above all, have fun! 

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