EXPRESS IT!EXPRESS IT!

How do we communicate? Through language, of course, but also

through gestures and images—and yes, music.

Like language, music is a system of symbols and rules that communicates specific ideas. Music can also

communicate emotions, and even tell stories.

During the performance, National Symphony Orchestra(NSO) cellist Yvonne Caruthers and three of her

musician friends will demonstrate some surprising connections between

language and music.

Connections:Language

+MusicMORE

Developed and hosted by Yvonne Caruthers

Performed by

Yvonne Caruthers, cello

Natasha Bogachek, violin

Gareth Flowers, trumpet

Daniel Villanueva, percussion

Yvonne and Natasha are members of the

National Symphony Orchestra.

A Good Audience… ■ Stays seated ■ Stays quiet■ Watches and listens carefully■ Claps at the end

David M. RubensteinChairman

Michael M. KaiserPresident

Darrell M. AyersVice President, Education

Christoph EschenbachMusic Director

David and Alice Rubenstein are thePresenting Underwriters of the NSO.

Additional support for Performancesfor Young Audiences is provided by thePresident’s Advisory Committee onthe Arts, Capital One Bank, the Carterand Melissa Cafritz Charitable Trust,The Clark Charitable Foundation,Fight for Children, Inc., Mr. James V.Kimsey, The Kirstein FamilyFoundation, Inc., The Max and VictoriaDreyfus Foundation, Inc., Linda andTobia Mercuro, The Morris andGwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, ParkFoundation, Inc., Mrs. Irene Pollin, Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J.Stolwijk, The Theodore H. BarthFoundation, Inc., the U.S. Departmentof Education, and the VerizonFoundation.

Major support for the KennedyCenter’s educational programs isprovided by David and AliceRubenstein through the RubensteinArts Access Program.

Cuesheets are produced by ARTSEDGE, an education program of theKennedy Center. ARTSEDGE is a part ofThinkfinity.org, a consortium of freeeducational Web sites for K-12teaching and learning.

Learn more about Education at The Kennedy Center atwww.kennedy-center.org/education

The contents of this Cuesheet do not necessarilyrepresent the policy of the U.S. Department ofEducation, and you should not assumeendorsement by the Federal Government.

© 2012 The John F. Kennedy Center for thePerforming Arts

Please recycle this Cuesheet bysharing it with friends!

Grand “Slams”Communication can sometimes becompetitive. Consider a poetry slam,where poets compete before an audienceto have the best poem and performance.Or a free-styling event, where rapmusicians make up new words to a song ina competition. More than 100 years ago,composers (people who write music) similarly tried to one-up each otherby writing variations of popular music. During the performance, youget to be the judge as two musicians compete against each other usingvariations of a song popular at that time.

Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by

DID YOU KNOW?American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “Music is the universal language of mankind.”

???

Language and music also share the ability to express emotions and ideas.

Think about how you could communicate an idea (like pride) or a feeling (like happiness) and jot down how you would communicate it in each of the following ways.

Speaking aloud:

In writing:

With gesture or body movement:

Visually, like in a drawing, painting, or model:

With music (humming, tapping a familiar beat, and so forth):

Next, share your ideas with a friend or family member. Which method communicated your idea best? Why?

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IDE

23678_Language-Music:23678_Launguage-Music 11/9/11 12:53 PM Page 1

BEAT IT!BEAT IT!

Make a Point (!)How would you write a word that you wantedto be spoken with excitement? How about anexclamation point (!)? In music notation, thinkof the accent mark (>) as music’s exclamationpoint. When musicians see the accent, they knowto play the note stronger or more forcefully.

During the performance, you’ll learn howmusic symbols translate into sounds. Get asneak peek with this labeled example.

Cracking the CodeWritten language—whether it is English,Chinese, Hindi, or something else—is a code

that represents the ideas and sounds of spoken language. Written musicworks the same way. Notes, or musicalsounds, can be thought of as the

musical alphabet. But unlike the 26 letters in the Englishalphabet, music only has 12 notes.During the performance, themusicians will demonstrate someof the many ways those 12 notescan be combined to create a

seemingly endless variety of musical phrases.

Music Speaks VolumesWhether in speech or music, the word dynamicsdescribes the overall volume level of the sound. Itcan be loud, soft, or something in-between. Musicplayed loudly gives a very different message frommusic played softly. Think about how this works inlanguage. What’s the difference between ashouted “YES” and a whispered one?

In music, Italian words describe musical dynamics.Forte (for-tay) means loud, piano means soft.Variations on these words describe degrees ofloudness or softness. For example, moderately softis mezzo-piano; very loud is fortissimo.

Let’sTalkAbout SomeWays Languageand MusicConnect

Reading, Writing, and RhythmRhythm is patterns of strong and weak beatsorganized into groups and repeated. In language,you most easily hear rhythm in poetry, whererhyming words are often emphasized. In music,rhythm—along with harmony and melody—is animportant building block. During the performance,listen for different rhythms among types of musicas well as music from other cultures.

notes: musical sounds

staccato:short

H I N D I

E N G L I S H

C H I N E S E

BY THE WAY…During the performance, you’lllearn how a French author andmusician used sounds, colors,and symbols to create a brandnew language. Plus, you’ll getto try your hand at crackinghis code.code.

Read this poetry excerpt aloud,nodding your head each time you say

a bolded word to see whether you sensethe rhythm:

How do you like to go up in a swing,Up in the air so blue?“Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thingEver a child can do!”

— from “The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Rhythm also helps us tell different types of music apart. For example, music that people march to often has strong first and third beats in every 4 beats of music. In rock music, beats two and four are usually the strong beats. Try to feel the difference by tapping your hand on your knee in a steady 1-2-3-4 beat with more energy on the highlighted beats below.

1 2 3 4

Marching Music

1 2 3 4

Rock Music

DID YOU KNOW?Many musical terms, like forte, are Italian words because many of them were first written down by Italian composers.???

Music to Your EarsAt the performance, you will hear:

An original piece by Gareth Flowers featuring tape loops

“ABC,” a three-note piece by Yvonne Caruthers

An arrangement of one of the pieces from “Six Easy Piano Pieces” by Arnold Schoenberg

“Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind by John Williams

“Carnival of Venice,” variations for trumpet by Jean-Bapiste Arban

“Carnival of Venice,” variations for violin by Niccolo Paganini

time signature:the rhythm

key signature:identifies the specificpattern of notes forthat piece of music

bass clef: a symbol that shows

the pitch range

staff: five horizontal lines

on which music is written

forte:loud

piano:soft

accent: emphasis

diminuendo: a gradual decrease

in volume

23678_Language-Music:23678_Launguage-Music 11/9/11 12:58 PM Page 3

BEAT IT!BEAT IT!

Make a Point (!)How would you write a word that you wantedto be spoken with excitement? How about anexclamation point (!)? In music notation, thinkof the accent mark (>) as music’s exclamationpoint. When musicians see the accent, they knowto play the note stronger or more forcefully.

During the performance, you’ll learn howmusic symbols translate into sounds. Get asneak peek with this labeled example.

Cracking the CodeWritten language—whether it is English,Chinese, Hindi, or something else—is a code

that represents the ideas and sounds of spoken language. Written musicworks the same way. Notes, or musicalsounds, can be thought of as the

musical alphabet. But unlike the 26 letters in the Englishalphabet, music only has 12 notes.During the performance, themusicians will demonstrate someof the many ways those 12 notescan be combined to create a

seemingly endless variety of musical phrases.

Music Speaks VolumesWhether in speech or music, the word dynamicsdescribes the overall volume level of the sound. Itcan be loud, soft, or something in-between. Musicplayed loudly gives a very different message frommusic played softly. Think about how this works inlanguage. What’s the difference between ashouted “YES” and a whispered one?

In music, Italian words describe musical dynamics.Forte (for-tay) means loud, piano means soft.Variations on these words describe degrees ofloudness or softness. For example, moderately softis mezzo-piano; very loud is fortissimo.

Let’sTalkAbout SomeWays Languageand MusicConnect

Reading, Writing, and RhythmRhythm is patterns of strong and weak beatsorganized into groups and repeated. In language,you most easily hear rhythm in poetry, whererhyming words are often emphasized. In music,rhythm—along with harmony and melody—is animportant building block. During the performance,listen for different rhythms among types of musicas well as music from other cultures.

notes: musical sounds

staccato:short

H I N D I

E N G L I S H

C H I N E S E

BY THE WAY…During the performance, you’lllearn how a French author andmusician used sounds, colors,and symbols to create a brandnew language. Plus, you’ll getto try your hand at crackinghis code.code.

Read this poetry excerpt aloud,nodding your head each time you say

a bolded word to see whether you sensethe rhythm:

How do you like to go up in a swing,Up in the air so blue?“Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thingEver a child can do!”

— from “The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson

Rhythm also helps us tell different types of music apart. For example, music that people march to often has strong first and third beats in every 4 beats of music. In rock music, beats two and four are usually the strong beats. Try to feel the difference by tapping your hand on your knee in a steady 1-2-3-4 beat with more energy on the highlighted beats below.

1 2 3 4

Marching Music

1 2 3 4

Rock Music

DID YOU KNOW?Many musical terms, like forte, are Italian words because many of them were first written down by Italian composers.???

Music to Your EarsAt the performance, you will hear:

An original piece by Gareth Flowers featuring tape loops

“ABC,” a three-note piece by Yvonne Caruthers

An arrangement of one of the pieces from “Six Easy Piano Pieces” by Arnold Schoenberg

“Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II

Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind by John Williams

“Carnival of Venice,” variations for trumpet by Jean-Bapiste Arban

“Carnival of Venice,” variations for violin by Niccolo Paganini

time signature:the rhythm

key signature:identifies the specificpattern of notes forthat piece of music

bass clef: a symbol that shows

the pitch range

staff: five horizontal lines

on which music is written

forte:loud

piano:soft

accent: emphasis

diminuendo: a gradual decrease

in volume

23678_Language-Music:23678_Launguage-Music 11/9/11 12:58 PM Page 3

EXPRESS IT!EXPRESS IT!

How do we communicate? Through language, of course, but also

through gestures and images—and yes, music.

Like language, music is a system of symbols and rules that communicates specific ideas. Music can also

communicate emotions, and even tell stories.

During the performance, National Symphony Orchestra(NSO) cellist Yvonne Caruthers and three of her

musician friends will demonstrate some surprising connections between

language and music.

Connections:Language

+MusicMORE

Developed and hosted by Yvonne Caruthers

Performed by

Yvonne Caruthers, cello

Natasha Bogachek, violin

Gareth Flowers, trumpet

Daniel Villanueva, percussion

Yvonne and Natasha are members of the

National Symphony Orchestra.

A Good Audience… ■ Stays seated ■ Stays quiet■ Watches and listens carefully■ Claps at the end

David M. RubensteinChairman

Michael M. KaiserPresident

Darrell M. AyersVice President, Education

Christoph EschenbachMusic Director

David and Alice Rubenstein are thePresenting Underwriters of the NSO.

Additional support for Performancesfor Young Audiences is provided by thePresident’s Advisory Committee onthe Arts, Capital One Bank, the Carterand Melissa Cafritz Charitable Trust,The Clark Charitable Foundation,Fight for Children, Inc., Mr. James V.Kimsey, The Kirstein FamilyFoundation, Inc., The Max and VictoriaDreyfus Foundation, Inc., Linda andTobia Mercuro, The Morris andGwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, ParkFoundation, Inc., Mrs. Irene Pollin, Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J.Stolwijk, The Theodore H. BarthFoundation, Inc., the U.S. Departmentof Education, and the VerizonFoundation.

Major support for the KennedyCenter’s educational programs isprovided by David and AliceRubenstein through the RubensteinArts Access Program.

Cuesheets are produced by ARTSEDGE, an education program of theKennedy Center. ARTSEDGE is a part ofThinkfinity.org, a consortium of freeeducational Web sites for K-12teaching and learning.

Learn more about Education at The Kennedy Center atwww.kennedy-center.org/education

The contents of this Cuesheet do not necessarilyrepresent the policy of the U.S. Department ofEducation, and you should not assumeendorsement by the Federal Government.

© 2012 The John F. Kennedy Center for thePerforming Arts

Please recycle this Cuesheet bysharing it with friends!

Grand “Slams”Communication can sometimes becompetitive. Consider a poetry slam,where poets compete before an audienceto have the best poem and performance.Or a free-styling event, where rapmusicians make up new words to a song ina competition. More than 100 years ago,composers (people who write music) similarly tried to one-up each otherby writing variations of popular music. During the performance, youget to be the judge as two musicians compete against each other usingvariations of a song popular at that time.

Performances for Young Audiences is made possible by

DID YOU KNOW?American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “Music is the universal language of mankind.”

???

Language and music also share the ability to express emotions and ideas.

Think about how you could communicate an idea (like pride) or a feeling (like happiness) and jot down how you would communicate it in each of the following ways.

Speaking aloud:

In writing:

With gesture or body movement:

Visually, like in a drawing, painting, or model:

With music (humming, tapping a familiar beat, and so forth):

Next, share your ideas with a friend or family member. Which method communicated your idea best? Why?

CuesheetP

ER

FO

RM

AN

CE

GU

IDE

23678_Language-Music:23678_Launguage-Music 11/9/11 12:53 PM Page 1