Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.
Psalm 149:3
The Nutcracker Music Unit
There are some fantastic lapbook materials already for The Nutcracker and Ballet - see below.
I will be focusing more on the musical aspects (rhythms, movements, notes, time signatures, etc.) of The Nutcracker. I will add lesson plans, worksheets, games, lapbook mini books, etc. as I can.
Hope these will be useful to someone!
Tchaikovsky and Ballet Study
Notebook Pages, Lapbook Pages, Units
Tchaikovsky Notebook 1 General Tchaikovsky notebook page.
Tchaikovsky Notebook 2 Writing assignment for The Nutcracker story.
Tchaikovsky Notebook 3 Notes from Classics for Kids.
Tchaikovsky Notebook 4 Coordinates with biographies from Classics for Kids , Dallas Symphony Orchestra , and New York Philharmonic.
Tchaikovsky Notebook 5 Use with Tchaikovsky radio show exerpts from Classics for Kids.
Tchaikovsky Lapbook Mini Blank mini book to to write your notes in.
Ballet Lapbook Mini Blank tri-fold or shape book to write in notes about ballet.
Nutcracker Ballet Vocabulary Blank Cards
Nutcracker Ballet Vocabulary Cards Definitions came from Nutcracker Study Guide
Nutcracker Ballet Vocabulary Pocket
Nutcracker Unit & Lapbook This is really cool! Thank you to the ladies who directed me here!
Nutcracker Unit from Homeschool Share
Ballet Lap-N-Note Wow! Another fabulous one at Homeschool Share!
Ballet History, Classes, Steps, Positions (nice pictures), Behind the Scenes, Making a Ballet, Dancer’s Life, Projects to Do
Russia Map & Flag Mini Books Scroll down - part of a unit.
Overture
1. Define overture; tell students they will be listening to the overture of the great ballet The Nutcracker. I have the children color pictures while they are listening to help them sit still and keep their hands busy! I used a book called “The Nutcracker Suite - Simplified for Piano” by Richard Bradley. It contains the story, and coloring illustrations, and brief piano parts of the main themes. Below are some coloring pages you can use for free:
Nutcracker Music Vocabulary Mini Book or Flashcards
Nutcracker Ballet Coloring Book
Clara, Nutcracker, Grandfather Clock, Toy Soldier, Mouse Soldier, Prince, Chinese Dancer, Snow Queen, Ballet Slippers, Mother Ginger and the Bon Bons
Nutcracker Ballet Coloring Book 2
Nutcracker, Tree, Clara, Nutcracker 2, Prince, Toy Soldier, Mouse Soldier, Pasha, Peacock, Chinese Dancer, Dervish, Columbine, Clock, Ballerina, Ballet Dancer, Stage
1 page contains Nutcracker, Mouse King, Drosselmier, Clara, Prince
There is a great list of Tchaikovsky’s compositions here.
Some of the midi file recordings are free to listen to when you sign up, others are for paid members.
Tchaikovsky Biography - Links to You Tube
2. Define and discuss ballet. What do the dancers do? How do they tell the story? Do they speak or sing? What do they wear? What does the orchestra do? How do they help tell the story? Who leads the orchestra? Conductor -- Check at Conducting 101 to learn conducting patterns.
Conducting Patterns and Conductor Mini Books
Begin a study of ballet if you wish. Resources, notebook pages, lapbook minis, and links to units are listed at the top of this page.
3. Teach words to the Overture theme to help them identify the theme when listening. These are just silly ones I made up to help the kids remember the concepts I wanted to teach them! Theme Song Lyrics
Ballet, the Nutcracker was written by Tchaikovsky.
This is the Overture it starts the ballet off just right! (Repeat)
4. Listen to the Overture again and find the recurring theme; sing with it every time.
5. Read a version or two of the story. Discuss the artwork, costumes, scenery, etc. Play the music softly in the background while you read the story.
The Nutcracker Story An online book with pictures from the New York Ballet.
6. On the next lesson, review overture theme and terms. Kids do not like to sit still and listen to classical music over and over again at first. I like to introduce a piece one day, and then review it over several lessons adding new concepts. Sometimes I introduce a new musical piece on the same lesson. Hearing a piece repeatedly over a longer span makes the piece more familiar each time. It becomes like a well-known friend! We like to listen to our piece of the week / month while we are drawing, riding in the car, or even doing household chores – just imagine the kids dancing pirouettes on their toes around the living room while putting away toys and dusting. It definitely is more fun that way!
Define staccato and accent. Identify them in a copy of sheet music. (I listed several sites where you can find sheet music below.) Hum or sing the main theme without staccato notes, then with staccato notes. How does it change the piece? Does it give a different feeling? Listen to the overture again and add a drum part on the accents. Anything can serve as a homemade drum – oatmeal containers, coffee cans, boxes – whatever you can find to tap on! Have fun being creative.
Nutcracker Music Vocabulary Mini Book or Flashcards
Some of it is free – the gif files, and sib files. There are also midi files, and music by subscription. Dance of the Flowers, Arabian Dance, Dance of the Reed Flutes, Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, Russian Dance, March, several other Tchaikovsky pieces.
You can download three per day free – March, Dance of the Flowers, Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy
Sugar Plum Fairy – whole orchestral score and parts.
By subscription or individual piece.
March, Trepek, Dance of the Flowers
Whole orchestral scores for Overture, March, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Trepek, Arabian Dance, Chinese Dance, Dance of the Reed Flutes, Waltz of the Flowers. Scroll down for list – great for more advanced students who already play an instrument.
Nutcracker Sheet Music to Purchase
7. Discuss meter. Listen to the stressed notes. Beat one of every measure is usually played a little louder than other beats. Count. Identify Overture as in 4/4 time signature. Count 1 2 3 4 for each measure while listening. Tap hands on knees on beat one, and speak all four numbers. Find out how a conductor would direct a piece with four beats in a measure. Write the pattern down in the conducting mini book. Fill in the Note Values mini for lapbook. I am giving easier ones only to my youngest child, and the harder values to my older children. Play the following game to work on note values, music math, and time signatures.
Count the Beats Game Cards B - Harder patterns.
Count the Beats Game Cards C - Blank to add your own.
Count the Beats Game Pocket - to hold cards.
Count the Beats Game Board - This can be attached to a lapbook or file folder.
March
1. Listen to the March. Elementary children - have them do a different movement to each section or
Movement Activity
‘A’ Section –March like toy soldiers with stiff bodies, arms to the side, and high lifted straight legs to the steady beat.
‘B’ Section – gallop like soldiers on horses to the dotted eighth and sixteenth note patterns (like Fritz in the story on his toy horse).
2. Look at the March Music. Point out the music elements on the page – staff, treble clef, time signature, measure, repeat sign, note values, pitches, accent. With younger students, I would just mention the names of each with a brief explanation. Older students, especially if they play an instrument or sing, may want to dig deeper on each of these music theory concepts. Pick parts of the following online tutorial and music theory mini book that your child is ready for. This obviously could be spread over several lessons, or in a few for older children.
3. Questions for students after hearing piece twice.
a) Which instrument family do your hear most often? String or brass? Find out more about the string family and write information in the Instrument Family Book - Strings.
b) What instrument do you hear with the fast ascending notes (going up)? Strings or woodwinds? Concepts: Tempo and Pitch
c) Is this ensemble of instruments a band or an orchestra? Why? What is the difference?
d) What is the meter of this piece? 4/4 or ¾?
e) What dynamics do you hear?
Write down any new vocabulary or symbols from above.
4. Preschool and early elementary: may wish to color Nutcracker pictures while listening to pieces.
5. Upper elementary – high school: Extra activities:
a) Introduce notes G, A, and B on the treble clef with the Flash Cards. Practice reading the notes from March Music.
b) Teach or review note values of half notes, quarter notes, and triplets with the Flash Cards. Locate the different note values on March Music – name and tell of their values. Clap the rhythms several times (do it with the recording if that is easier). Then clap the rhythms and say the names of the notes to that rhythm.
c) Learn to play the notes on recorder. See the recorder fingering Flash Cards. Practice several times slowly over many days until able to play it with the recording.
d) Find dotted eighth and sixteenth note patterns on March Music. Read about, then count and clap the rhythm pattern. If you have sand blocks, percussion instruments, or homemade instruments, play along with the recording. Your student can listen for accents and play a cymbal or other instrument along with.
When teaching group classes, I would play the piano part to the march and assign individual or groups of students to play the recorder, sand block, and cymbal parts with me.
Listen to other version of the March, or versions by other performance groups to compare and contrast what they hear. One of my favorites to compare is a traditional orchestra version with Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s "A Mad Russian's Christmas"
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
- Young children may want to color while listening to the Sugar Plum Fairy. Ask student to listen for a special instrument called the Celesta. Research history with link and listen to samples of the instrument. Which family of instruments is it from? What other tone colors or instrument sounds can be heard in the piece?
Instrument Family Book - Keyboards
2. Teach students my silly lyrics to the ‘A’ Theme. Theme Song Lyrics Listen to the piece again singing the “A” theme, and tapping a steady beat on their laps for the other sections.
Nutcracker Dance of the Sugar Plum, Sugar Plum, Sugar Plum, Sugar Plum Fairy.
Features instrument called celesta, celesta, celesta, came form Paris, France.
Nutcracker Dance of the Sugar Plum, Sugar Plum, Sugar Plum, Sugar Plum Fairy.
By Tchaikovsky, by Tchaikovsky, by Tchaikovsky, the end!
3.Look at sheet music for “Sugar Plum”. Parents – I used the score below for these questions. If you have a different arrangement there will be slight differences. Simply adjust as needed.
Orchestral Score of The Sugar Plum Fairy
Scroll down to Tchaikovsky; there is a score for the whole orchestra, and separate instrument parts to see.
I did not create a lapbook mini for this section; instead, I had the children use copies of the first two pages of the score to circle concepts we talked about and take notes. The pages can be folded to put in a lapbook pocket.
a) What is the meter? 2/4 What does that mean? There are 2 beats per measure, and every quarter note gets one beat.
b) Where is the key signature located? At the beginning of each line. How many sharps # does the Bass Clarinet part have? 3 How many sharps # do the string and celesta parts have? 1 Strings, keyboards, and some brass and woodwinds play in what is called concert pitch and are considered C instruments. A key signature with one # is called concert G major. Other instruments play in different keys due to their sizes and shapes; therefore you will see various key signatures in the score. Although the key signatures look different, they are pitched the same. The bass clarinet part (BC) is in A major but sounds in concert G major. The French horn part (Hn) has no flats or sharps in C major, but it also sounds in G major. The ‘A’ clarinet part (cl) is marked in Bb major with two flats, but sounds in concert G major. Most clarinets are considered Bb clarinets, but some are pitched differently. My daughter recently performed Nutcracker in a youth orchestra switching from her Bb clarinet to an A clarinet as the score called for. The fingerings are the same, but the size variation causes the change in pitch. ~~ Confusing, huh? I hope this makes sense!
c) Find q = 64 on the top left of the first page. This tells the conductor and performers the tempo or speed of the piece. Sometimes it will have M.M. q = 64 standing for metronome marking set for a quarter note at 64. If the number were 60, it would mean there should be 60 beats per minute, or one beat per second. 120 would mean 120 beats per minute, or two beats per second.
d) Find “pizz.” in the string parts on the first page. Pizz. stands for pizzicato - it tells the string players to pluck their strings instead of using their bows; it creates a short, detached sound instead of the usual smooth sound.
e) Look at the celeste part on the first stanza. Find the dot (.) on top of the notes. This is called staccato. The performer will play the notes separated or detached – more of a bouncy feel!
f) Pick out any other concept you would like your child to know.
4. Listen to other arrangements to compare and contrast what you hear.
Continued at The Nutcracker Music Unit 2
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