[MUSIC PLAYING]
REBECCA: Hi, everybody.
Welcome to this episode of the New York Philharmonic's Very
Young People's Concert At Home.
I'm Becky, your host.
And I play viola with the New York Philharmonic.
Since none of us can get to a concert hall right now,
we're coming to you to play some music and have some fun.
Join us each time as we meet a new member of the orchestra
family.
[THEME SONG] The violin, viola and the cello
and the bass, and the harp and piano.
Each one is in its place.
The Piccolo, flute and clarinet, the English horn and bassoon.
Don't forget the oboe because he's the one who tunes us.
French horn, trumpet, tuba and don't forget trombone.
The timpani and cymbals and the xylophone.
For now you know the orchestra family.
Next time won't you sing with me.
REBECCA: The special instrument of the day
is [HORN SOUND] the flute.
Here to help us learn a little bit about the flute
is New York Philharmonic Principal Flute
and my friend Robert Langevin.
Hi, Robert.
ROBERT LANGEVIN: Hi, Becky.
Hi, kids.
Thanks for having me.
I'm really happy to be here today.
REBECCA: Robert, before we do anything else,
would you please play a little something on your flute?
So we can hear what a flute sounds like.
ROBERT LANGEVIN: Sure.
I think you might recognize this.
[FLUTE SOUND]
REBECCA: That was awesome.
And I recognize it.
It was the music for the bird from Prokofiev's Peter
and the Wolf.
Did you recognize it?
Say, Robert, how about if you show us how the flute works.
ROBERT LANGEVIN: Sure.
So the flute comes in three parts.
You have the foot joint.
You have the whole body that has all the keys on them.
If you can see them, like this.
And then you have the head joint.
And the head joint is where you blow the air
to make the sounds.
Or if I just use the head joint it goes like this.
[FLUTE SOUND] And then you put the head joint
in the body of the flute.
Then you have all these keys that change notes.
So by pressing with your fingers, up and down,
you get [FLUTE SOUND].
Or the reverse going up [FLUTE SOUND]
So playing the flute is a little bit like singing.
You blow the air through the mouthpiece instead of going
(SINGING) ha ha, you go.
[FLUTE SOUND] And you can go really fast
if you bring your fingers down quickly [FLUTE SOUND]
Or you can play some nice long melodies.
[FLUTE SOUND]
Or you can go.
[FLUTE SOUND]
REBECCA: Wow, that's so cool.
Robert, I notice that sometimes when you play
the notes are short and jumpy.
And sometimes when you play the notes
are smooth and snowy and connected.
ROBERT LANGEVIN: That's right, Becky.
In music there are words for both of these ways of playing.
The short notes are called staccato.
And the long, flowy notes are called the legato.
REBECCA: Ooh, I love big fancy music words.
Hey, I know two short songs.
One about staccato and one about legato.
Let's sing them.
Robert, you can play, too.
Let's start with staccato.
Robert and I will do it first.
And then you sing along with Robert while I listen.
Ready.
(SINGING) Staccato, staccato, staccato,
it means the notes are short.
Your turn.
[FLUTE SOUND]
Now let's do the legato.
(SINGING) Legato, legato, legato,
it means the notes are smooth.
Your turn.
[FLUTE SOUND]
REBECCA: Very good, everybody.
Robert, is there a way we could make those staccato and legato
sounds with our mouths?
As if we had pretend flutes.
ROBERT LANGEVIN: Of course.
Everyone, hold your hands in front of your mouths.
If you would make a staccato, you go.
[MIMICKING STACCATO SOUND] and to make a legato, you go.
[BLOWING]
REBECCA: Gee, and all this time I
thought the flute was difficult to play.
Hey, let's play a game.
Can you think of some animals that move in a staccato way?
Since staccato means notes that sound short,
maybe the animal that you're thinking of
jumps around like this.
Or hops like this.
[HOPPING SOUND] Oh, hello.
Likewise, can you think of an animal
that moves in a legato way?
Since legato means notes that sound smooth, or flowy,
or connected.
Maybe the animals that you're thinking of glide gracefully,
or soar swiftly, or slither slimely.
So here's what we're going to do.
You choose a staccato animal and a legato animal.
Go ahead do it right now.
I'll wait.
[TICKING CLOCK SOUND]
ROBERT LANGEVIN: Robert is going to play some music when
he plays staccato, you jump or hop like your staccato animal
and when he plays legato, you slither slide
or glide like your legato animal.
But listen carefully, if I know Robert,
he's going to try and trick us.
Take it away, Robert.
[LEGATO NOTES]
[STACCATO NOTES]
[LEGATO NOTES]
[STACCATO NOTES]
[LEGATO NOTES]
[STACCATO NOTES]
[LEGATO NOTES]
[STACCATO NOTES]
[LEGATO NOTES]
[STACCATO NOTES]
[LEGATO NOTES]
REBECCA: OK, kids.
Do you have your paper and crayons?
Because it's time for, Picture the Music.
You will hear a beautiful piece played by the big orchestra.
It's a piece by Felix Mendelssohn.
His Italian symphony.
Mendelssohn called this section, Asultarello.
No, asultarello is not a pasta.
Asultarello is a, kind of, special jumping dance.
Listen for Robert's staccato flute solo.
Use your crayon in a staccato way
making short dots or dashes, or little jumping
marks on the page.
You can draw whatever you want.
Maybe it's a picture, or maybe it's just colors.
As long as you do it staccato.
Here we go.
[ORCHESTRA]
REBECCA: What did your picture turn out like?
This is what I drew.
I guess I got viola on the brain.
Now we will hear Robert play what
may be the most famous flute solo ever written.
It's from a piece by Claude Debussy
called Afternoon of a Faun.
A faun in this case, is a creature that's
half human and half goat.
And it happens to be a very legato solo.
Now it's time to get your scarf or other flowy material.
You can even use a tissue.
As long as it's clean.
See if you can get someone to play with you.
Your mom or your dad, a brother or sister, or your son.
If you have one.
As you listen to the music dance around and move your scarf
in a legato way.
Simple enough, right.
But here's the fun part.
When you see this picture, that's
your cue to gently toss your scarf to your partner.
So that your partner can have a turn dancing around.
Then when you see the picture again
your partner can toss it back to you.
Keep it moving legato the whole time.
If you're playing by yourself, you can just toss it from hand
to hand.
[FLUTE SOLO]
REBECCA: Ooh, That was fun.
How'd you do?
You may not be aware of this, but we were just
listening to one of the greatest flute players in the world.
How lucky are we?
[CHEERING] Robert, thank you so much for sharing your time
and talent with us.
Is there anything else you'd like to say before we say,
goodbye.
ROBERT LANGEVIN: Thanks for having me.
That was a lot of fun.
Hope to see you soon.
Bye.
REBECCA: Well, that's our show.
Thanks so much for joining us.
Hope to see you again next time.
Remember, music is a way to keep us together,
even when we're apart.
So keep making it.
Toodle-loo.
[FLUTE SOUND]