Hold a limp rubber band between your fingers and have a student pluck it. Of course no sound will happen. The student should continue to pluck the rubber band as you stretch it out. The class should be able to hear the pitch change as the rubber band gets stretched tighter. Explain that they are hearing the vibrations.

Discuss:

• All musical instruments are based on some type of vibration.

• A musician controls the vibration in some way to play any instrument.

• The bigger the instrument the lower the sound it makes.

• Changing lengths within the instrument changes the note it plays.

Show the TV Program  - What We Play is Life: Musician

 

Discuss:

• Composers use different instruments to create different sounds.

• The sounds created by a collection of instruments can create images for an audience.

• You may want to play excerpts from musicals such as the overture from “West Side Story” or a symphonic movement like Copeland’s “Appalachian Spring” and have students describe the images they hear in the music.

Introducing the types of musical instruments:

 

Brass instruments
You will need a trumpet and a trombone for this demonstration. Refer back to the rubber band and explain that as it got tighter the vibrations got faster creating a higher note. Have everyone purse his or her lips and blow air out to create a buzzing sound. Explain that their lips are doing the same thing as the rubber band did, - as they make their lips tight or loose, the pitch of the sound changes.

Now show them the trumpet and trombone mouthpiece. Ask them which will create the lowest sound and why? (To use the trumpet mouthpiece your lips will be stretched much tighter thus creating a higher note.)  Now introduce the instruments and explain that the length of the instrument also determines how high or low the instrument plays. Use the slide on the trombone to demonstrate that the longer path the vibrations travel within the instrument the lower the pitch. Have the students explore the trumpet to determine if pressing a valve lengthens the route that vibrations travel through the instrument.

Write on the board that a trumpet has 12 feet of tubing, a trombone 16 feet, and a tuba 22 feet. At this point the students should be able to tell you which instrument will play the lowest and highest notes.

Discuss what images come to mind when they hear this type of instrument played.

 

Woodwind Instruments
This demonstration uses a clarinet, saxophone, and a flute. These instruments also use vibrations to make their sound. Take the flute apart and blow across the top part like you would a pop bottle. The trapped air inside the flute vibrating causes the sound you hear. Put the flute together and play notes as you close the keys. Have the students explain why the pitch gets lower the more keys you close (It creates a longer column of air to vibrate.)

The second type of woodwind is the clarinet. Blow through the mouthpiece and ask if anyone can explain where the squawk comes from. (The reed vibrating.) Put the mouthpiece back on the instrument and play notes as you close the keys. Ask the students to explain why the pitch gets lower the more keys you use. (The longer the air column, the lower the note.) Do the same demonstration for the saxophone. 

Discuss what images come to mind when they hear this type of instrument played.

 

Stringed Instruments
You will need a violin and a viola for this demonstration. Before you make a sound with either instrument the students should be able to tell you which will have the lower pitch. (The viola because it’s bigger.) Compare the length of the strings and ask which will produce the highest notes. (The violin because its strings are shorter.) You can also point out that the strings are different thicknesses and the students should be able to explain that the thicker the string, the lower the pitch it will produce. Either pluck the strings or use the bow and demonstrate how you create higher pitches by using your fingers to shorten the strings.

Discuss what images come to mind when they hear this type of instrument played.

 

Percussion Instruments
Anything that gives off a sound when it is struck is a percussion instrument. The size of each instrument determines how low the notes will be. It’s easiest to show this with a xylophone. Show that the larger the bar, the lower the pitch when they’re struck. You can also point out that the piano is a percussion instrument because it has hammers that strike the strings.

Discuss what images come to mind when they hear this type of instrument played.

 

Each student will construct a musical instrument. For example, a shoebox and rubber bands make a stringed instrument, a set of bottles with water in them makes a multi pitched flute, a funnel and a piece of tubing make a trumpet, a can with a balloon stretched over the top makes a drum, and different lengths of hard wood strung on a string makes a good percussion instrument (like a wind chime).

Student should demonstrate and describe their instrument to the class. Each student should explain what type of instrument it is, how they change the pitch, and why the size of the instrument dictates whether it generates a low, medium, or high pitched sound. They should also explain what images come to their mind when they hear this type of instrument. The explanation should be written out so you can construct a class display of the instruments.

Just for fun, have the students classify the instruments by low medium and high pitches. Have them group themselves together by pitches and start the basses playing a repeating rhythm. Add each group until your full orchestra is playing. You can have each section play different rhythms or they can all play the same one. Let them experiment and compose their own symphony.