New October Store Update - Happy Spooky Season!
Welcome to a Spooky October at Practice Space! This month, the Practice Space store is getting into the Halloween spirit with a new set of composer avatars whose music is filled with mystery, magic, and just the right amount of spookiness! From dancing skeletons to eerie soundscapes and ancient chants, these composers are perfect for helping students explore how music can create the mood and tell spine-tingling stories.
As always, avatars can be unlocked using Practice Gems—our in-app rewards that students earn by reaching their daily practice goals. It’s a fun way to stay motivated while discovering new composers and their unforgettable music.
October’s featured composers include Camille Saint-Saëns, Modest Mussorgsky, Krzysztof Penderecki, Hildegard of Bingen, and Béla Bartók. We’ve included YouTube listening links for each composer so your students can hear their most hauntingly beautiful works.
We’ve also put together a free PDF activity packet filled with fun facts, composer profiles, flashcards, quizzes, and more—all designed to help you bring spooky season into your music lessons in a meaningful and engaging way.
Check out the new avatars in the Practice Space store, and let’s celebrate the sounds of spooky season together—through practice, play, and a little bit of musical magic!
I’m Camille Saint-Saëns, a French composer and pianist with a big imagination. I loved writing music full of color and character, and my spooky piece Danse Macabre is perfect for Halloween!
Facts in app:
I used the xylophone in Danse Macabre to sound like rattling bones.
I was one of the first major composers to write original music for film.
I started composing when I was only three years old.
My piece Carnival of the Animals includes funny musical portraits of animals like donkeys, swans, and fossils.
Check out this performance of Danse Macabre:
Camille Saint-Saëns - La danse macabre - YouTube
I’m Modest Mussorgsky, a Russian composer who loved bringing legends and folk tales to life through music. I wanted my music to sound raw, real, and full of character—like Night on Bald Mountain, my witches’ dance!
Facts in app:
I first wrote Night on Bald Mountain for an opera that was never finished.
The version most people know today was completed by my friend Rimsky-Korsakov.
Before becoming a composer, I served as an officer in the Russian Imperial Guard.
My piece Pictures at an Exhibition was inspired by artwork made by a close friend who had passed away.
Check out this performance of Night on Bald Mountain:
Modest Mussorgsky - Night on Bald Mountain - YouTube
I’m Krzysztof Penderecki, a modern Polish composer who loved experimenting with sound. I created wild, emotional pieces using scary effects that still give people chills—especially my Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima.
Facts in app:
I used screeching, tapping, and tone clusters to create spooky textures in my music.
My Threnody was featured in horror films like The Shining and Twin Peaks.
I once said I was more inspired by fear than by melody.
I combined traditional instruments with new, experimental techniques.
Check out this performance of Threnody:
Penderecki: Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima - Urbański, FRSO - YouTube
I’m Hildegard of Bingen, a composer, mystic, and abbess from medieval times. I wrote beautiful, flowing chants for the women in my monastery and believed my music came from divine visions.
Facts in app:
I said my music and writing came from spiritual visions.
I wrote in a special style called plainchant, which has no harmonies.
I invented my own secret language for writing spiritual texts.
I’m one of the earliest known female composers in Western music history.
Check out this performance of O ignee Spiritus:
O ignee Spiritus- Hildegard von Bingen - Sous-Soul Sisters - YouTube
I’m Béla Bartók, a Hungarian composer and pianist who loved exploring unusual sounds and rhythms. I also collected folk songs from many countries and turned them into modern classical music.
Facts in app:
My piece Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta was used in the movie The Shining.
I studied and recorded thousands of Eastern European folk songs.
I liked writing with strange rhythms and eerie harmonies.
I once said, “Folk music is the embodiment of a nation’s soul.”
Check out this performance of Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta:
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta / Béla Bartók / Vasily Petrenko / Oslo Philharmonic - YouTube
Background Update
Some other fun additions
These all cheer the student on but also talk about tempo and other musical terms!
