Classics for Kids website

This website is chock full of info about composers, genres like opera that you can learn about, and even a podcast to listen to. It's super important to know the background to the music you're making - it can inform the way you play in so many ways. The lucky thing is, it's fun to learn about this stuff. There's an A-Z composer index to look up all the gossip on the big name composers you might be playing the pieces of.
Go to the website: http://www.classicsforkids.com/

ANZCA Grade 6 Latin American - Girl from Ipanema

This tune is super famous - about ten seconds in, you'll know it. Perhaps the most famous sung version is by Astrud Gilberto - check out her 60s verson here: Astrud Gilberto's version

The picture in the video below is of Ipanema beach. It's some pretty awesome scenery overlooking the sand.

Girl from Ipanema - Antônio Carlos Jobim

ANZCA Grade 6 Latin American - Wave

This tune is written by the great Bossa Nova composer Antônio Carlos Jobim. You might know his classic The Girl from Ipanema.

Wave sounds like it's about a very gentle wave at the beach - perhaps it's about watching the tide go in and out while chillaxing under a big umbrella.

Wave - Antônio Carlos Jobim

ANZCA Grade 4 Jazz - Opus One

Woah, I picked the picture for this video before I found out about the composer, Sy Oliver. Turns out he was a famous trumpeter, so my picture actually works! Sy's Mum was a piano teacher, and his Dad played lots of instruments.

This little number is in Ternary Form with an introduction. Ternary form means there are three parts to the piece, with the first and last parts being pretty much the same.

Opus One - Sy Oliver