Listening Lesson: 'The Little Train of the Caipira'

PREPARE to listen to The Little Train of the Caipira

In The Little Train of the Caipira, Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was inspired by the sounds of little trains that travel through the Brazilian countryside.

Think about trains. They make a lot of different sounds. Can you make a list of all the sounds a train makes? Use words or sentences to describe as many train sounds as you can. Draw a quick picture of a train and label any parts that make a sound.

LISTEN to The Little Train of the Caipira

Listen and watch The Little Train of the Caipira. In the video, you will see images of these trains, as well as pictures from the Brazilian countryside.

If you want to see musicians playing the sounds you heard in the first video, watch this video.

ENHANCE The Little Train of the Caipira with an activity

1. Maybe you noticed a wind-up sound, especially at the beginning. That's a percussion instrument called the ratchet.

   

2. Did you notice that the tempo, or speed of the music, starts slow in the beginning and then speeds up, like a train gaining steam? In music, that's called an accelerando (ah-chel-er-ahn-doe). Can you try saying that? When the music slows down at the end, like a train pulling into the station, musicians call that ritardando (ri-tar-DAN-doe.) Try saying ritardando.

3. If you can find some sandpaper, make some homemade sandpaper blocks. Here are instructions:

   • Find two small boxes. Empty soap boxes work very well.

   • Cut out two rectangles of sandpaper to the size of the front of the box.

   • Tape, glue, or staple the sandpaper to the front of the box.

   • Rub the boxes gently back and forth, sandpaper on sandpaper, to get a great sound.

   

4. Sandpaper blocks make a great "chugga chugga" train sound. Use your sandpaper blocks to make an accelerando, like a train starting off, and then use them to make a ritardando, like the train coming to a stop.