Then end of winter is in sight, and that always means a new playlist of music in our home. Something bright, cheerful, hopeful… Coincidentally, my kids love this spring music too!

This music appreciation lesson with spring music will be an easy way to incorporate music into your week. None of these pieces are very long or hard to listen to, so this is a perfect way to start introducing your kids to some wonderful classical music.

And, perhaps they will start to notice some new elements in music they didn’t know before!

As you listen to the pieces below with your kids, you may want to have your older kids fill out this free worksheet for music listening. Your younger children could just do a quiet activity like these Music instrument Coloring sheets, or you can take a different approach and have them dance or move to the music as they are listening ( My 3 year old’s personal favorite way to listen 😉).

As you listen, you may also want to ask them these questions:

“Is this music happy or sad?”
“What instruments do you hear in this song?”
” What does this song make you think about?”
” Is this music loud or soft?”

( You can find more questions and activities to ask for all ages HERE)

So, without further ado, here are 3 lovely and fun pieces of music about spring for you to use with your kids this week!

Spring Concerto, first Movement ( Antonio Vivaldi)

Perhaps the MOST famous piece written about spring is Vivaldi’s “Spring” concerto FromThe Four Seasons. This piece was written for a solo violinist and a chamber orchestra (a small orchestra). Vivaldi was a very good violinist himself, but he wrote this concerto for the students at the girls school where he was a teacher. People came from all over Europe to hear his students perform!

As you listen, you will hear the violins make trills by quickly playing between two notes– can you hear how it sounds like birds singing?

“Spring Song” (Felix Mendelssohn)

This beautiful piece of music is played by a cello and orchestra is the perfect waltzing song!

As you listen, you will hear something called ” Pizzicato” being played by the bass and cello; this is when the musician plucks the instrument with their fingers. See if you can pick out where that happens!

Symphony Number 1 “Spring” ( Robert Schumann)

This triumphant piece of music was written for a full Symphony, and is one of Schumann’s most famous pieces! When he wrote this symphony, he had recently married his wife, Clara ( Also a composer and brilliant pianist), and was inspired and energized to create and try new types of composing. This piece was created by the encouragement of Clara, who saw his potential when others did not.