Have fun making this simple single reed instrument You will need: plastic combs and pieces of paper, about 2 inches by 2 inches (5 cm by 5 cm). To play it simply place the paper on the comb in line with the teeth and hold it with your thumbs. Simply blow to make a sound with your lips around the paper and the comb. Students will come to understand the idea of a single reed vibrating with this activity

Spotlight on clarinet players: Share this information with your class in the manner that best suits you. Alternatively, assign these musicians to groups of students for short-term projects and have them give presentations.

An American clarinetist, best known for his jazz musicianship was Benny Goodman. He was born in 1909 to jewish immigrants in Chicago While a teenager he learned the clarinet very quickly and became a professional musician In New York City in the twenties and thirties Goodman led his own band. They played a style of jazz called Swing, and Benny became known as “The King of Swing.” Benny Goodman is known as one of the best jazz clarinetists of all timse, as he continued to make recordings for the rest of his life He was one of the few jazz musicians to cross over to the classical realm and make recordings of well known classical pieces.

An important English Clarinetist was Thea King (1925-2007) She was the principal clarinetist of the English Chamber Orchestra from 1964 to 1999, and played with many other groups. She was inducted into the Order of the British Empire in 1985, becoming “Dame Thea King.”

Richard Stoltzman (born 1942) is a well known American classical clarinetist. He has also made some jazz recordings. He majored in both music and mathematics at Ohio State University. He is in high demand as a clarinet soloist with orchestras around the world.

Sabine Meyer, a German clarinetist born in 1959, was the first ever female member of the Berlin Philharmonic. She soon left when the other members didn’t accept her to become a full time clarinet soloist. She is also an accomplished Chamber Music player.

Saxophones are a very popular instrument, having uses in many genres of music, from Classical to Jazz and Rock. Saxophones are often featured in “big band” music.”Big Band” music often features the saxophone. The typical “big band” sax section consists of two altos, two tenors, and a baritone. Players typically double on other woodwind instruments in the saxophone section.

Here are a music lesson plan
ideas for learning the names of the saxophone family. Students can be divided into groups of four Left over students can be incorporated into groups of five. Within each group students can then arrange themselves by height, and then make cards or labels for a saxophone corresponding to their size – soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone (groups of five can continue onto bass saxophone). In other words, the shortest student will be the soprano saxophone, the next smallest the alto saxophone, and so on.

This activity could be repeated with other attributes like shoe size, length of hair and birthday if you wished.

If the students can read notes, distribute pieces of paper with single notes on them, and ask the students in each group to arrange the notes from lowest to highest and match them to the appropriate saxophones.

Students may respond to completing some of these tasks without speaking for a quieter classroom and an extra challenge.

An excellent piece of listening featuring the saxophone can be found in: World Saxophone Quartet, Metamorphosis album. Elektra Nonesuch 9 79258-2

A simple single reed instrument can easily be made in the classroom You will need: pieces of paper and plastic combs, about 5cm x 5cm (two inches by two inches) Instructions: Hold a comb with the teeth pointed toward you. Place a piece of paper on the comb in line with the edge of the teeth and hold it in place with your thumbs. Simply blow to make a sound with your lips around the paper and the comb. This activity should make clear the concept of a single reed vibrating to create sound.

Spotlight on clarinet players: Share this information with your class in the manner that best suits you. You could also give the students a class project to learn about one or more of these musicians/

An American clarinetist, best known for his jazz musicianship was Benny Goodman. He was born in 1909 to jewish immigrants in Chicago He learned the clarinet very quickly and worked as a professional musician while still a teenager. Goodman led a band in New York City in the 1920’s and 30‘s. Goodman even became known as “The King of Swing” as his music was very popular during the swing era Benny Goodman is known as one of the best jazz clarinetists of all timse, as he continued to make recordings for the rest of his life He was one of the few jazz musicians to cross over to the classical realm and make recordings of well known classical pieces.

Thea King (1925-2007) was an important English clarinetist. She played with many different groups, but perhaps her most significant position was principal clarinetist of the English Chamber Orchestra from 1964 to 1999. She was inducted into the Order of the British Empire in 1985, becoming “Dame Thea King.”

Richard Stoltzman (born 1942) is a well known American classical clarinetist. He has made both classical and jazz recordings Studying at Ohio State University, he majored in both Music and Mathematics He is in high demand as a clarinet soloist with orchestras around the world.

Sabine Meyer, a German clarinetist born in 1959, was the first ever female member of the Berlin Philharmonic. The other members didn’t accept her, however, and after a short time she left to become a full-time clarinet soloist. She is also very involved in chamber music (music for a small group of players).

A simple single reed instrument can easily be made in the classroom Gather the following pieces of paper and plastic combs, about 5cm x 5cm (two inches by two inches) Instructions: Hold a comb with the teeth pointed toward you. Place a piece of paper on the comb in line with the edge of the teeth and hold it in place with your thumbs. Place your lips around the paper and comb and blow to make a sound. This activity should make clear the concept of a single reed vibrating to create sound.

Spotlight on clarinet players: Share this information with your class in the manner that best suits you. Alternatively, assign these musicians to groups of students for short-term projects and have them give presentations.

An American clarinetist, best known for his jazz musicianship was Benny Goodman. He was born in 1909 to jewish immigrants in Chicago While a teenager he learned the clarinet very quickly and became a professional musician Goodman led a band in New York City in the 1920’s and 30‘s. Goodman even became known as “The King of Swing” as his music was very popular during the swing era Goodman continued to play and make recordings for the rest of his life, and is one of the best known jazz clarinetists of all time. He was one of the few jazz musicians to cross over to the classical realm and make recordings of well known classical pieces.

Thea King (1925-2007) was an important English clarinetist. She was the principal clarinetist of the English Chamber Orchestra from 1964 to 1999, and played with many other groups. She was inducted into the Order of the British Empire in 1985, becoming “Dame Thea King.”

A well known American classical clarinetist is Richard Stoltzman. He has also made some jazz recordings. He majored in both music and mathematics at Ohio State University. Orchestras around the world would love to have him as soloist

Sabine Meyer, a German clarinetist born in 1959, was the first ever female member of the Berlin Philharmonic. The other members didn’t accept her, however, and after a short time she left to become a full-time clarinet soloist. She is also an accomplished Chamber Music player.