The Speed of Sound
with the
Enso String Quartet

The theme for this week is: The Speed of Sound!

In this video, I will watch the Enso String Quartet perform Beethoven's String Quartet No. 10 at the historic Trinity Church in downtown Manhattan.

As I watch, I will listen to the tempo, or speed, which the musicians play their instruments. Then I will create a drawing inspired by the fast or slow parts in the song.

Step 1:
I will watch this video

As I watch, these are some keywords I should know...

Enso String Quartet sitting in a semi-circle performing in Trinity Church, downtown Manhattan. The altar is behind them.

Enso String Quartet

A Grammy nominated United States based strings quartet

Cartoon of Beethoven playing a white piano. He wears a blue suit with coattails and brown shoes with gold buckles.

Ludwig van Beethoven

A German composer and pianist

Cartoon of various sizes of musical notations on a stave floating at various heights.

Tempo

The speed of the music. How fast or slow the musicians are playing.

As I watch, I will notice the musicians and their instruments:

Close-up of Maureen Nelson seated playing violin. She wears a red tank top.

Maureen Nelson

Cartoon emojo of a brown violin

Violin

Close-up of Ken Hamao seated playing violin. He wears a brown suit jacket and white checkered shirt.

Ken Hamao

Cartoon emojo of a brown violin

Violin

Close-up of Melissa Reardon seated playing violin. She wears a black shirt.

Melissa Reardon

Cartoon emoji of a brown viola

Viola

Close-up of Richard Becher seated playing cello, wearing a black suit jacket with blue teeshirt.

Richard Becher

Cartoon emoji of person seated playing cello, with sandy colored hair and beard, wearing a red shirt and blue pants.

Cello

As I watch, I will notice the tempo, speed, of the music.

LARGO
Slowly

Cartoon emoji of a grey elephant

ADANTE
Walking pace

Cartoon emoji of three figures walking, in light brown, yellow, dark brown.

ALLEGRO
Fast

Cartoon emoji of bumble bee with yellow body and grey wings

PRESTO
Very quickly

Cartoon emoji of a spotted leopard walking, with orange body and white belly

Step 2:
What did I notice about my favorite tempo?

1. Which tempo is my favorite?

Cartoon emoji of a grey elephant

LARGO
Slowly

Cartoon emoji of three figures walking, in light brown, yellow, dark brown.

ADANTE
Walking pace

Cartoon emoji of bumble bee with yellow body and grey wings

ALLEGRO
Fast

Cartoon emoji of a spotted leopard walking, with orange body and white belly

PRESTO
Very quickly

2. What does each instrument sound like when they play at that tempo?

Cartoon emojo of a brown violin

Violin

Cartoon emoji of person seated playing cello, with sandy colored hair and beard, wearing a red shirt and blue pants.

Cello

Cartoon emoji of a brown viola

Viola

3. How does that tempo make me feel?

Cartoon emoji faces showing a variety of emotions: crying, smiling, frowning, laughing

4. What do the musicians look like when they play at that tempo?

Enso String Quartet sitting in a semi-circle performing in Trinity Church, downtown Manhattan. The altar is behind them.

Step 3: Presto Picture!

Inspired by the exciting tempo of Beethoven’s song and the speed of the Enso String Quartet, I will create a Presto Picture!

White paper with shapes drawn: orange spirals, green wavy lines, blue straight lines, purple jagged lines

For my Presto Picture

I will need:

Paper
4 drawing tools in different colors (like colored pencils, or crayons, or pens, or markers)

Blank white paper with four colored pencils

Emoji hand raising index finger

First

I will assign each color to a tempo. I can match any color I want to any of the tempos.

For example:

Chart matching 4 tempos, their associated animals, and colors: Largo elephant-red, Adante person-blue, Allegro bee-green, Presto cheetah-purple

Emoji hand raising index and middle finger in the "#2" gesture

Then

I will listen to the music. I will notice the change in tempo.

Each time the tempo changes, I will change the color.

As I listen, I will continuously make marks on my blank paper with the color of the tempo I hear.

White paper with shapes drawn: green wavy lines and purple jagged lines

White paper with shapes drawn: orange spirals, green wavy lines, blue straight lines, purple jagged lines

I can make marks in all sizes, each color can have a different type of shape.

White paper with shapes drawn: orange spirals, green wavy lines, blue straight lines, purple jagged lines

I can make my Presto Picture unique! I can layer my colors and change the shape and size of my marks.

Emoji hand waving

Last

I can watch the video again and create a new Presto Picture!

Movement Extension:

I can watch Beethoven's String Quartet No. 10 again but instead of drawing on the paper, I can move my body around the room!

I can change the way I’m moving my body as the musicians change their tempos.

Emoji of a person with hands on hips

Emoji of a person with arms extended to each side above shoulders

Emoji of a person with arms raised above head

Explore More

Extension Questions:

The Enso String Quartet performed Beethoven's String Quartet No. 10 at the historic Trinity Church in downtown Manhattan.

What do you notice about the space?
If you could ask these musicians to play this piece again ANYWHERE, where would you ask them to play and why?

Additional Links:

To learn more about the Enso String Quartet, visit their YouTube
To learn more about Trinity Church, the historic church in downtown Manhattan, visit their website.
To learn more about Lincoln Center Passport programs, click here.

Share:

Tell us what you think! Email us at access@lincolncenter.org to share your thoughts on the activities and website.

Post photos of your story or art projects using the hashtag #LincolnCenterAtHome.

Click below for a printable copy of these activities

Enso String Quartet

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse