Music for Fresh Ears

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Curriculum Guide for

"Music Makes the World Go Round"

VOCABULARY:

acoustic -- not using electricity.

acoustics -- The science of sound. Musical acoustics distinguishes between tones and noises. A tone of sustained and equal pitch is generated by regular and constant vibrations of the air, these being generated by similar vibrations in the tone-producing body; whereas a noise is caused by irregular and fluctuating vibrations.

bamboo -- special wood that grows in clumps and is used to make flutes.

bow -- a wooden stick, with horsehair on one side, that is used to play a string instrument.

composer -- someone who writes music.

courtship — a man and a woman getting to know each other & falling in love.

electronic -- using electricity.

ocarina -- small wind instrument, one of the world's oldest instruments made out of clay. Originates in the early days of pottery. Made in many sizes to play all the different pitches. Also called "little goose" and "sweet potato."

pennywhistle -- a wind instrument, played to the front, not transversely. Also known as tin whistle.

pizzicato -- plucking a string with the finger. The name comes from an Italian word meaning "pinched."

planxty -- Irish word for a song without words written for and dedicated to a specific person.

reed -- a tall swamp grass with jointed, hollow stalks. It also can mean a flexible strip of cane or metal used as a mouthpiece for a wind instrument.

shakuhachi -- a special ceremonial African reed instrument made out of bamboo.

strum -- when several strings on a string instrument are played at once (like a guitar is played.

transverse -- played to the side (how a flute is played).

Suggested Pre-performance Activities

♪      Locate the different countries we'll be visiting on a map.

♪      What are the four instrument families? (string, woodwind, percussion, brass) How do the instruments in each family sound? How are they played? How is the sound made?

♪      What are the elements of music? (rhythm, harmony, melody) Why is each important? Can you do each one? Clap your hands, stomp your feet, talk or sing to your friend, both of you talk or sing at once -- that's all the elements of music!

♪      What are your five senses? (sight, sound, taste, smell, touch) Why is it important to be very quiet when you listen to music? (so you can listen to it, not just "hear" it) How many of your senses does music affect? (sight, sound & sometimes touch)

♪         Do a sound experiment. Ask your class to name all the different sounds in the room (clocks ticking, horns blaring, feet rustling, someone sneezing, breathing, etc.), then have your class try to sit and listen to all those sounds for two minutes. Do the sounds get louder? Do you hear even more sounds? Can you "tune out" some noises and focus on others?

Suggested Follow-up Discussion and Activities

♪      What family of instruments is a cello in? Flute? How does each instrument make their sound?

♪      As a class, choose someone famous or someone that has influenced your life and write a planxty for them. Is this person sad? happy? did they make you feel happy or not?

♪      Play or sing your planxty for your parents, friends, teachers. Do they get the same feeling you wrote about?

♪      Why did the American Indians put symbols of horses and other animals on their flutes? Study the Indians use of symbolism: where else did they use symbols? what reasons did they have for using a particular symbol? did the symbols help them in their ceremonies?