Hello students!
I hope everyone has had a lovely start to the month of May. Although this isn't how we thought school would go, the end of the school year is almost here! Just as well, we're halfway through our families of instruments. Today, we're going to be looking at the family of String instruments. Take a listen to this string quartet playing "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles.
A string quartet is usually made up of four instruments. You'll find two violins, one viola, and one cello. However, these certainly aren't the only string instruments out there! I'm sure you could think of some more, on your own.
Watch this video all about string instruments and how they work. When you're finished, finish the quiz at the end! Feel free to try some of the crafts at home! You might have some good supplies lying around the house, to make your own string instrument.
0 Comments
Hello again, students!
I hope everyone has had another good week, learning and playing all week at home. If you were able to get your buzzing homemade woodwind instrument to work, I hope you didn't annoy the whole family with it. Now, we're moving on to a different group of instruments: The Brass Instruments. The brass family in the orchestra is typically made up of a Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone and Tuba. Take a listen to them in this performance of "Flight of the Bumblebee" by The Canadian Brass: Brass instruments come in all shapes and sizes, which create many different sounds! Just as well, there are many different ways to play them. You can learn more about these instruments, and their history, by watching the following video. Be sure to finish the quiz, after watching! Students and parents, Thank you for the great work that you put into your videos! Everyone's great work went into this "Grace Flows Down" video, and it turned out to be very nice! I cannot wait for the day that everyone is able to be back together in the classroom, to make music together. For now, its nice to see that students are putting in good work from home. For the next few days, I figured it would be good to get back to instruments. The other week we were learning more about Woodwind Instruments. From ancient times, people have been making instruments to make music together, using whatever they had. So, I have a project that you can do to make your own woodwind instruments at home! For this project, you'll need the following supplies: - Two popsicle sticks - Rubber bands - Paper - Tape - (If you don't have tape or paper, you can also use straws) There is an instructional video at the end of this blog post. 1. Wrap one rubber band around the length of one popsicle stick. It needs to go long ways! 2. Cut two 1" or 2" squares of paper, depending on how big your popsicle stick is. 3. Wrap tape around the paper, so the sicky part is on the OUTSIDE 4. Stick the tape to the ends of other empty popsicle stick 5a. Place the popsicle stick with the rubber band on top of the tape 5b. (If you don't have paper or tape, you can cut plastic straws to place between the popsicle sticks) 6. Hold the sticks together,place your mouth on it and blow hard enough for the rubber band to vibrate. Congrats! You have a rubber band harmonica! The popsicle sticks act like the woodwind's mouthpiece, while the rubber band acts like a reed. The reed vibrates, causing the air around the reed to vibrate with it. The vibrating air is the music that you hear! Here's a video with instructions. Have a great rest of your week! Hellooooo Students! I hope everyone is having a lovely Holy Week at home, learning, praying and spending time with family. As it is Holy Week, I figured we should take some time for some musical reflection. Some of you may know the song "Grace Flows Down" from last year. I often like to use this song for school masses during Lent. Since we can't be together during this time of year, I figured that we need a virtual way to sing and perform together. So, our assignment for this week is to create a music video! I want you to practice singing the song in this video, and learning the motions. When you're ready, take a video of yourself singing and performing the motions. Then, just email it to me! I'll put everyone's work into one big video. I'm hoping to get as many students in the video as possible! I expect some good stuff! Here's the Song:
Hello again, students!
I hope you've been doing well, and that you remember some of those basic ideas of sound. Simply put, sound is made of vibrations moving through the air, and is processed by our ears. People around the world have created all kinds of instruments that use this science to create many kinds of sounds. These sounds come together to create music! That music paints pictures, shows feelings, and tells stories. I want you to listen to this piece of music, and think about how this music makes you feel. What does it make you think of? Watch how the conductor moves with the music. That piece of music is called "Short Ride in a Fast Machine," and it was conducted by the fantastic Marin Alsop of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Did the music do a good job of painting that picture? Did it feel like a short ride in a fast machine? Did the conductor communicate that energy to the orchestra? Now that we're thinking musically, let's take a look at one section of instruments in that orchestra. This week, we'll be taking a look at the Woodwinds. Watch this video to learn all about the woodwinds! Feel free to try some of the crafts at home, if you have the materials! Get your parent's permission, of course! Once you're done with that video, answer the questions in the quiz below!
Welcome to Music Lessons from Home!
I'm going to take this opportunity of home learning to think about sounds and instruments. After all, we don't need to be in a music classroom to be surrounded by music and sound. We hear sounds all day at home, and we hear music from our electronic devices too. Watch this video from the BBC's House of Sound, all about how sound is made and how we hear it: https://youtu.be/En4Wlojjgxk
After watching the video, answer the questions on this google form at the end of this post!
Now that you've learned about how sound works, find some household objects to tap/hit to make some sound! Do pots and pans sound different? Wood surfaces? Metal surfaces? Explore your surroundings, with parental guidance! (Don't annoy your parents with loud, unexpected sounds, please!) Happy music making! -Mr. Cooper |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2020
Categories |