Katie Juarez-Olvera points out the bass pulsing out notes in Franz Joseph Haydn's piece nicknamed "The Clock Symphony."

Miles McCaskill likes listening to the sounds of Montagues and the Capulets, too. His musical training helped his ears pick up "all the angry rhythms" when he heard the music played by a symphony orchestra in October.

Bryant, Ovara and McCaskill are not serious students of music - yet.

They are fourth-graders, learning about classical music through a unique program offered to local elementary schools by the North Carolina Symphony.

Their music teacher, Mary Way, has relied on lessons suggested by the North Carolina Symphony Teacher Workbook for a number of years.

The curriculum, written in part this year by Carver Elementary School's Wynette Wilson, fits right into the school's promotion of music as a core subject, Way said.

Lessons include biographies and musical selections from musical greats such as Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy and Scott Joplin.

"He's one of ours," Way likes to tell students of Joplin. Unlike many foreign-born classical musical composers, Joplin not only was from the United States but was African-American.

Known as the King of Ragtime, Joplin composed "The Entertainer," among other songs well-known pieces.

As they learn about ragtime music, her fourth-graders learn to relax and flop their hands, playing notes on imaginary pianos.

Much of what the fourth-graders do in Way's music classroom is kinetic.

As students are introduced to "The Clock Symphony," Way shows them the insides of old-fashioned timepieces. "I showed them that clocks weren't always digital," Way says.

She points out the gears and the hands, telling them, "turn your body into that sound."

When Way gives her students wood blocks, Slinkies and other noisemakers, and starts the music, she encourages them to move their "instruments" and bodies to illustrate the movement of the music.

In addition to listening to Strauss's Accelerations Waltz, the youngsters wave colorful scarves to keep time with the musical notes.

The movement-based approach helps elementary-aged schoolchildren master concepts such as acceleration, beat and rhythm.

Students from Leah Spoonley's fourth-grade class were excited the day after they returned from a performance by the symphony.

They were intrigued that the music was louder than what they listened to in the classroom.

"I loved the conductor telling us how the instruments worked," Breja Smith said.

Tristen Cockman's favorite part was hearing the violins "that went deep, and played in almost every song."

Adrian Choate was pleasantly surprised when he heard his personal classical favorite, the Russian Sailors' Dance from Reinhold Gliere's The Red Poppy, played by a live orchestra.

"It was good," he said.

Way was probably as excited about the annual field trip as her students were.

She knew the music was getting through to students when the conductor turned to the audience of fourth-graders and said, "The next piece will be by Mozart, and all the kids (said), 'Ahhhhh!' "

"Many of our children will never see an orchestral symphony outside of this," Way said.

"I think everyone is enriched by fantastic art and fantastic music."