Rhythm & Hue: Music Painting
the art room and STEAM LABS
Watch how sound transforms into colour in this immersive sensory experience. We play various musical tempos—from slow classical to the whimsical, rhythmic scores of Moonrise Kingdom—and ask students to let the rhythm guide their brushes. Fast beats might lead to erratic, splattered dots, while smooth melodies inspire long, flowing ribbons of colour. This helps children build a visual vocabulary for abstract emotions and sounds, just as the “father of abstract art,” Wassily Kandinsky, did when he painted “music”. It’s a wonderful way to teach focus and active listening through the joy of painting. Students leave with a gallery of work that “sounds” just as good as it looks, capturing the energy of the instruments they heard.
Additional Scores:
- Benjamin Britten: The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and Simple Symphony: Playful Pizzicato.
- Camille Saint-Saëns: The Carnival of the Animals (Volière).
- Alexandre Desplat: The Heroic Weather-Conditions of the Universe.
What We’ll Do in Class
- Story Time: We’ll kick things off with The Noisy Paint Box, a cool book about Wassily Kandinsky—the artist who could actually “hear” colors!
- The Beat Check: Before we touch the good paper, we’ll do a “rhythm warm-up” on craft paper. I’ll play a few different beats, and we’ll practice making dots, zig-zags, and loops that match what we hear.
- The Main Event: Once we’re warmed up, the “real” music starts (lots of whimsical Britten and Moonrise Kingdom vibes). Students will use their tempera paints and pencil crayons to map out 3 different musical pieces on their mixed-media paper.
- The “Inner Joy” Chat: While we paint, we’ll talk about what our “inner joy” sounds like—is it a loud, bright yellow splash or a soft, blue wavy line?
- The Gallery Reveal: At the end, we’ll lay them all out to see how the same song inspired totally different masterpieces from everyone.
OUR STUDIO MATERIALS
At our studio, we believe every artist needs the right foundation to grow. We provide recycled white craft paper for bold experimentation and ‘practice runs,’ allowing kids to play without the fear of wasting ‘good’ paper. For their final masterpieces, students graduate to heavyweight mixed media paper that holds pigment beautifully and won’t buckle under ink. We use high-quality, student-safe inks that provide rich color without the toxic fumes of traditional solvents. This balanced approach keeps our classes accessible while ensuring the final results are something your child will be proud to hang on the wall.
