About This Lesson
American composer John Adams is known as a minimalist – a composer that achieves maximum musical effect by employing the simplest units of musical structure. Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a fanfare for a large symphony orchestra. The video shows him rehearsing the orchestra, as well as talking about his piece. Lessons invite students to use homemade instruments and vocal sounds to create their own version of this work, illustrate the texture of sounds as part of a music listening experience, and become more acquainted with the instruments in an orchestra and the tone and texture of each.
