Why do you think harp makers placed the shorter strings closer to the player and not the other way around?

Have a look at this idea you can use to demonstrate the workings of the harps pedals.

A modern double action pedal harp has seven pedals. What happens is each pedal changes all the strings of one note name. Each pedal has three positions: top (flattens pitches by a semitone), middle (no change), and bottom (raises pitches by a semitone).There are three positions for each pedal: In the top position it lowers the pitch by a semitone, in the middle there is no change, and in the bottom it raises the pitch be a semitone. With all the pedals in the middle position, the harp plays a C major scale.

Draw up on the whiteboard seven pedals (represent them as simple ovals or rectangles), and name them from C to B. Play the C major scale on a piano or other instrument while students follow the pedals on the whiteboard. You can then play the scale again, and alter one note by either a semitone up or down. Ask the students which note was altereed, and in what direction it needs to be moved. You can then have one student run out the pedal in question and draw it again in the position you played. Repeat as desired with different notes altered. For a greater challenge, alter two or more notes.

You can demonstrate the need for a resonator quite easily if you have acces to both an electric and acoustic guitar. The electric guitar only uses electrical amplification instead of a resonator, so it produces only a faint sound if it is not plugged in. By contrast, an acoustic guitar is readily audible because the guitar body acts as a resonator. Similarly, the harp would be too faint to hear without a resonator, but with a resonator it projects a clear, pleasing sound.

These are just a few simple ideas for writing music lesson plans about the Harp.

Collect objects of different sizes, or gather pictures of such objects, or simply make a list of such objects (e.g., elephant, mouse, airplane, bicycle, etc.). Demonstrate the differences between the pairs of objects and ask the students to recognise the relative size of the instruments with the terms “viola” for large and “violin” for small. For example, “elephant, mouse” would be “viola, violin” and “bicycle, airplane” would be “violin, viola” This will help students remember the relative dimensions of the instruments, which students often struggle to remember.

Make a diddly bow (a rudimentary single-stringed blues instrument) by stretching some kind of instrument string or wire on a wooden plank. Insert objects beneath the string at either end to elevate the string and increase its tension. The diddly bow is an excellent tool as a teacher to demonstrate the effect of string length and string tension (press down on the string with a finger to effectively shorten the string. Higher sounds are created by greater string tension and shorter strings

To help students learn the parts of the instruments: play Pin the Parts on the Cello or or Double Bass (a variation on the classic party game called Pin the Tail on the Donkey). In this game, blindfolded participants attempt to pin paper instrument parts (e.g., endpin, scroll) on a picture of a double bass or a cello.

Another game they can play is to gather objects of different sizes, or collect pictures of such objects, or simply make a list of such objects (e.g., telephone, tree, beach ball, baseball, etc.)Show or speak pairs of objects, and have the students indicate the relative size relationships with the words cello (for small) and double bass (for large).For example, telephone, tree would be cello, double bass and beach ball, baseball would be double bass, cello. This will reinforce the relative sizes of these instruments, which may be a little tricky to remember. If you have already had a lesson on the violin and viola then you can extend this activity to include all four instruments, and have students compare the relative sizes of them all.

These games will make your Music Lesson Planning easy and fun!

Here are a few excellent pieces featuring the cello and double bass:

Camille Saint-Saens, Carnival of the Animals, V. The Elephants (featuring double bass section). Several commercial recordings are available.

Edgar Meyer, Double Concerto for Double Bass, Cello, and Orchestra (available on CD or as mp3 download from Amazon.com).

Dvorak Cello Concerto, first movement

Learning about the parts of the instruments is easy if you play this game: play Pin the Parts on the Double Bass or Cello (a variation on Pin the Tail on the Donkey). Simply have one student blindfolded and they have to pin the paper instrument parts (for example the scroll or endpin) on a poster of a cello or double bass.

Another fun game is to have the students collect objects or pictures of different sizes (e.g., tree, car, mobile phone, ball, train etc.)Show or speak pairs of objects, and have the students indicate the relative size relationships with the words cello (for small) and double bass (for large).For example, telephone, tree would be cello, double bass and beach ball, baseball would be double bass, cello. This will reinforce the relative sizes of these instruments, which may be a little tricky to remember. If you have already had a lesson on the violin and viola then you can extend this activity to include all four instruments, and have students compare the relative sizes of them all.

Here are a few excellent pieces featuring the cello and double bass:

Camille Saint-Saens, Carnival of the Animals, V. The Elephants (featuring double bass section). Several commercial recordings are available.

Pablo Casals plays J. S. Bach Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello (music begins at 0:53)

Dvorak Cello Concerto, first movement

firstly, compare the sizes of violins and violas with other objects of different sizes Demonstrate the differences between the pairs of objects and ask the students to recognize the relative size of the instruments with the terms “viola” for large and “violin” for small. For example, “elephant, mouse” would be “viola, violin” and ‚”bicycle, airplane” would be “violin, viola”  This will help students remember the relative dimensions of the instruments, which may be a little tricky to remember.

These ideas are just a few that are contained in our printable music lesson plan product.

You can make a home made diddly bow (a basic blues instrument with one string) by stretching a wire or string along a wooden plank.  You can place objects underneath the string at one of the ends to life the string up and alter its tension, and thus its pitch.  The diddly bow is an excellent tool as a teacher to demonstrate the effect of string length and string tension (press down on the string with a finger to effectively shorten the string.  Higher sounds are created by greater string tension and shorter strings

Learning about the parts of the instruments is easy if you play this game: play Pin the Parts on the Cello or or Double Bass (a variation on the classic party game called Pin the Tail on the Donkey). Simply have one student blindfolded and they have to pin the paper instrument parts (for example the scroll or endpin) on a poster of a cello or double bass.

Another fun game is to have the students collect objects or pictures of different sizes (e.g., tree, car, mobile phone, ball, train etc.)The students then have to speak or show their pairs of objects and indicate the relative size relationships with the words double bass(for large) or cello(for smaller)For example, telephone, tree would be cello, double bass and beach ball, baseball would be double bass, cello. This will reinforce the relative sizes of these instruments, which may be a little tricky to remember. If you have already covered the violin and viola, you can extend this game to include all four string instruments, i.e., comparing violin with cello and so on.

Here are a few excellent pieces featuring the cello and double bass:

Camille Saint-Saens, Carnival of the Animals, V. The Elephants (featuring double bass section). Several commercial recordings are available.

Edgar Meyer, Double Concerto for Double Bass, Cello, and Orchestra (available on CD or as mp3 download from Amazon.com).

Elgar’s Cello Concerto, first movement

These are just a few of the ideas in our music lesson plans product