75: Composer Spotlight: Béla Bartók — A Musical Explorer of Folk and Imagination for homeschool families

Do your kids enjoy mysterious, bold, and rule-breaking music? Then this Composer Spotlight on Béla Bartók is a must-listen!

In this episode of the Music in Our Homeschool Podcast, Gena Mayo introduces homeschool families to one of the most fascinating and influential composers of the 20th century—Béla Bartók. Known for his rhythmic intensity, unique harmonies, and love of folk music, Bartók's music opens up a whole new world of listening for students of all ages.

Gena shares Bartók’s incredible life story—from a child pianist in Hungary to a trailblazing ethnomusicologist who traveled with a phonograph to preserve folk songs. His compositions, full of surprising rhythms and dissonance, challenge traditional ideas of what music "should" sound like—making them a great fit for curious and creative homeschoolers.

🎶 You’ll discover:

• What makes Bartók’s music sound “spooky” or “strange” (and why kids love it!)
• How to explore rhythm, range, and instrumental color through his works
• Fun, zero-prep music appreciation activities for the whole family
• Listening examples perfect for fall or Halloween studies

Whether you’re brand new to classical music or a seasoned homeschool parent, this episode gives you fresh inspiration and easy ideas to make Bartók’s music come alive in your homeschool.

👉 Ready to go deeper? Access the full replay of Gena’s live lesson on Bartók—only for Music in Our Homeschool Plus Premium members!

🎧 Tune in now and let your kids experience the magic, mystery, and movement of Béla Bartók’s music.

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/composer-spotlight-bela-bartok/ 

Please follow/subscribe to the podcast and leave a 5-star review and comment if you liked this episode! Find all courses at https://Learn.MusicinOurHomeschool.com ,free music lessons here: https://MusicinOurHomeschool.com/FreeMusicLessons , and lots more links here: https://linktr.ee/genamayo !

Transcript

Bela Bartok Composer Spotlight

Gena: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Music in Our Homeschool podcast. I'm Gena Mayo, your host and fellow homeschool mom. I'm so glad you're here because today we're doing another Composer Spotlight, and this is on someone whose music sounds a little different, a little mysterious, sometimes even a little spooky.

And that's because he loved to break the rules of what music should sound like. His name is Béla Bartók and he was one of the most important composers of the 20th century. If your kids love unique sounds and rhythms that challenge the ears, you'll love this podcast episode today. We'll explore his life, his love for folk music, and how he used the piano and orchestra in ways that most composers hadn't before. And as always, I'll share some fun listening activities and music appreciation tips that you can do right at home, even if you have no musical background yourself.

Béla [00:01:00] Bartók was born in Hungary in 1881. Even as a child, he was drawn to music. He started playing the piano when he was five. But really what made him special wasn't that he was a good pianist or composer, which he was. It was that he became a musical explorer. He became an ethnomusicologist.

Now I know they make fun of that term in Inside Out 2, but it really is a fascinating job. He traveled to tiny villages in Hungary and other parts of Eastern Europe collecting, discovering, listening to, and recording folk songs sung by the everyday people out there, the farmers, the shepherds.

He used a phonograph. Yes, the old kind with the giant horn. This was a long time ago, a hundred years ago, and he collected thousands of melodies that might otherwise have been lost. He wasn't just copying folk tunes, [00:02:00] Bartók, studied them, learned from them, and blended their styles into his own music. So when you listen to a Bartók piece, you're hearing a mix of classical training and raw, traditional folk sounds.

Bartok's music can sound strange at first, especially compared to a composer such as Mozart or Beethoven. He used unusual scales, asymmetrical rhythms, and dissonance, which means that the music doesn't resolve in the way that we're used to. But that's what makes it so fun to explore with kids.

For example, one of his most famous solo piano pieces is called Allegro Barbaro. It's wild and bold, full of pounding rhythms and sharp harmonies. I love using this piece to show students how the piano can sound percussive, almost like a drum.

And then there's his extremely dissonant String Quartet No. 4, where the instruments [00:03:00] talk to each other with pizzicato, plucked strings, glissandos, which are sliding sounds, and layered rhythms that sound like a musical puzzle.

And one piece that might capture your student's attention is Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. It features the instrument called the Celesta, which looks like a piano, but it sounds like magical bells. You may recognize it from movies like Harry Potter. It's mysterious perfect for October or Halloween lessons.

When you're learning about Béla Bartók, it's also fun to explore instrument ranges. For example, in Allegro Barbaro, the piano is used in its extreme low and high registers. His string quartets stretch the violin and cello to play outside their usual comfort zones. And in Concerto for Orchestra Bartók showcases every section of the orchestra. [00:04:00] It's like he wanted almost every instrument to have a solo. And because Bartók was influenced by folk music, you'll often hear irregular meters like 5/8 time or 7/8 time, and syncopation that feels more like free flow dancing rather than strict marching.

Here are a few quick and easy ideas to bring Bartók into your homeschool. Listen and move to the piano piece Allegro Barbaro. Ask your kids what kind of animal or what weather it reminds them of. Act it out.

Number two, draw what you hear when you're listening to Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. What colors or shapes come to mind?

Number three. Try clapping the unusual rhythms in his folk inspired dances, like Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm.

And four, see if you can identify the instruments featured with [00:05:00] solos in Concerto for Orchestra.

I taught a live music lesson, which is now available as a replay for the Premium members of Music in Our Homeschool Plus. So if you're already a member, go check that out.

Béla Bartók's music might not be what your kids expect, but that's exactly the point. He invites us to listen more carefully, to notice patterns and surprises, and to appreciate music from around the world.

If you'd like an easy way to include Bartók and other composer studies in your homeschool, check out the easy-to-use, no prep online course called Learn Classical Music with Cartoons. You can find that at MusicinOurHomeschool.com/Cartoons or make it even easier by joining the Music in Our Homeschool Plus membership at MusicinOurHomeschool.com/Membership. We make it simple and fun to teach music even if you've [00:06:00] never taken a music class yourself.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you and your kids discover something new and inspiring as you listen to the composer Béla Bartók this week. Until next time, keep making music a meaningful part of your homeschool.

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/composer-spotlight-bela-bartok/