Do you struggle to get kids interested in classical music? The creators of thought provoking weekly music experiments CDZA think they may have the answer, and it could be as simple as Justin Bieber + Hayden = fun!
In the video below, the team take to the studio to perform a number of classical favourites with the help of two little singing helpers, who transplant the lyrics to recent chart hits over the top of the performances.
Check it out for yourself:
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CDZA’s approach may rile more traditional fans of the orchestra but by the looks of singers Alyssa Lower and Aiden Medina, it sure does look a lot of fun, which is the ultimately the aim of the whole exercise.
Explaining the concept within the video’s YouTube description, CDZA’s Matt Werner asks: “how do you get students thinking critically about how Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach are relevant to music today? These composers provide the building blocks of modern music, and are necessary knowledge to a well-rounded musical education.
“But how do you get students to pay attention to these long-deceased classical music masters?”
Werner hopes that teachers can use the video’s “entertaining exercises” as an entry point to teach younger students the fundamentals of music through songs they already know, love and are comfortable with. It’s suggested the video’s method can help youngsters learn to evaluate “timbre, beat and tempo, meter, pitch and mode, tonality, melody, texture and harmony, and understand principles of concise writing through song lyrics.”
Did you recognise all the mash ups in the video above? We’ve listed each track in case you missed any:
Mozart‘s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik vs. LMFAO‘s Party Rock
Offenbach‘s Can Can vs. Lady Gaga‘s Bad Romance
Beethoven‘s Fur Elise vs. Adele‘s Rolling in the Deep
Grieg‘s Peer Gynt Overture vs. Carly Rae Jepson‘s Call Me Maybe
Beethoven‘s Fifth Symphony vs. Katy Perry‘s Wide Awake
Tchaikovsky‘s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy vs. One Direction‘s What Makes You Beautiful
Haydn‘s Surprise Symphony vs. Justin Bieber‘s Baby
John Williams‘ Jurassic Park Theme vs. Psy‘s Gangnam Style
What are your hints, tips and tricks for introducing children to new and challenging music?