An unusual instrument to teach about in your music class
Thursday, March 18th, 2010Have a look at the length of the string, and discus the effect on its pitch Ask students to predict whether longer strings will create lower-pitched sounds or vice versa. Here is an interesting question to discuss with your students: Why do we use the word “high” to describe pitches of a higher frequency, when [...]
Teaching students about the orchestra and keyboard instruments in the music class
Thursday, March 18th, 2010The piano has several less known cousins which are important for us to introduce into the music classroom: the celesta, harpsichord and organ.
Show and talk about the different aspects and characteristics of the keyboard instruments. The keyboard instruments are related to each other in that they are controlled by a similarly laid-out key mechanism. Technically, [...]
Lesson ideas to teach students about Tuned Percussion Instruments.
Thursday, March 18th, 2010To help students understand how timpani can be tuned, demonstrate the effect of membrane tension on pitch. With a coffee can drum (see lessons on Untuned Percussion), pull on the edges of the drumhead to put varying degrees of tension on it, while a student plays a steady drumbeat on it. If the students have [...]
Lesson planning ideas about the Harp
Sunday, March 14th, 2010Here’s just a few ideas for writing a music lesson plan about the Harp.
Discuss the effect of string length on pitch. Have the students guess if longer or shorter strings will produce higher or lower sounds. Here is an interesting question to discuss with your students: Why do we use the word “high” to describe [...]
Classroom Music ideas for teaching about the flute and piccolo
Saturday, March 13th, 2010The Flute and Piccolo are important instruments to learn about in music class, but no so easy if you can’t play them yourself, so here is a few ideas to get you started. This is part of a
Classroom learning about tuned percussion instruments
Saturday, March 13th, 2010Students will enjoy learning about how the timpani are tuned by exploring the effect of the skins tightness on its pitch. With a simple home made drum, you can often vary the tension of the skin by simply pressing or pulling at the edges of the skin, while another student hits the drum in steady [...]
Learn about the Symphony Orchestra in Music Class
Saturday, March 13th, 2010Here are a few ideas for lesson planning a lesson all about a Symphony Orchestra
Arrange the student’s seats as if they were an orchestra. Place the names of instruments on the appropriate desks, or affix name stickers to individual students. Allow students to be different instruments on different days.
Have a class discussion about [...]
Lesson planning ideas for learning about the clarinet
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Here are a few lesson planning ideas that you can use when learning about the clarinet in the music class.
You can Make rudimentary single-reed instruments. Gather the following pieces of paper and plastic combs, about 5cm x 5cm (two inches by two inches) To play it simply place the paper on the comb in line [...]
Learning about the Harp in music class
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010These are just a few ideas for writing a music lesson plan about the Harp.
Have a look at the length of the string, and discus the effect on its pitch Have the students guess if longer or shorter strings will produce higher or lower sounds. Ponder this with your students: Why do you think [...]
How to have a lesson about a classical orchestra
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010This is a few lesson plan ideas that you can use when learning about the Symphony Orchestra
Arrange the student’s seats as if they were an orchestra. Place the names of instruments on the the students desks, or affix name stickers to individual students. Allow students to be different instruments on different days.
Discuss different [...]