Leo Geier introduces the viewers to Euterpe, the Greek muse of music and then introduces William Sebastian Hart, faculty member at the Peabody Conservatory and founder/musical director of the Gettysburg Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Hart states that the three artistic entities of music are the composer, the orchestra, and the conductor. The composer invents the music, which is made up of rhythm, melody, and harmony. He demonstrates each of these elements with the tune "Pop Goes the Weasel," which he also plays in the styles of Mozart, Bach, Mendelssohn, Debussy, and Prokofiev. Baltimore composer Sidney Shapiro wrote these variations for this broadcast. Next Dr. Hart describes the history of the orchestra and how instruments were added. He shows a chart of the orchestra seating for a 90-member symphony and explains how the sounds are balanced. Lastly, Dr. Hart explains how the conductor and his baton evolved from the church's choirmaster keeping time with his staff. He displays one page of a full orchestra score and explains each line written for different instruments. The conductor has many tasks, including controlling the orchestra's balance and timing, setting the pace, and unifying the whole, but most of all he must inspire the musicians.

Lynn Poole displays a chart of the orchestra sections: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Dr. William Hart, timpanist with the Baltimore Symphonic Orchestra and professor at the Peabody conservatory of Music, defines the elements of music: rhythm, melody, and harmony and demonstrates each of them on the piano, noting that the percussion instruments are the dispensers of rhythm. He gives a brief history of percussive music while showing instruments such as the timbro, castanets, cymbals, tambourine, and Chinese temple blocks. With the assistance of fellow timpanist Dr. William G. DeLeon, Dr. Hart demonstrates and explains the snare drum, the most common percussive instrument; the xylophone and its use in modern compositions such as the "Sabre Dance"; the cymbals and their contrasting use in Wagner's "Die Walkure" and Debussy's "Festivals"; and the kettle drums, or timpani, which can be tuned and which provide the heartbeat of the orchestra.