Perfect Pitch WebVisit · 1. As your class enters, play a recording of “Take Me Out to the Ball...

A Wide World of WebVisits 2012 Supplemental Lessons

Perfect Pitch is an interactive website designed by the Kennedy Center’s ArtsEdge to introduce students to the instrument “all stars” of the orchestra. The site is divided into three sections:

• “Meet the Players”: Students learn about the instruments of the baroque, classical, romantic, and modern orchestras. This section contains a large amount of information about each instrument, including “Basics” (instrument family, when the instrument was invented, materials used to construct the instrument, and sound clips), “All Stars” (famous players), “Fun Facts” (general information about the instrument and historical events that occurred when the instrument entered the orchestra), and a “Seating Chart” (a sample layout of the orchestra and orchestral sound clips).

• “Create a Lineup”: This section contains general information about orchestras and major composers of each musical period. The students see and listen to how a composer of the period arranged the music and can create their own “mix.” The students may listen to each instrument alone and select an instrument for each part (i.e., solo, melody, countermelody, harmony, etc.). The included music from each period is:• Baroque: Concerto in E Major, Allegro, “Spring,” by Antonio Vivaldi• Classical: Symphony No. 32 (K318) by W.A. Mozart• Romantic: Symphony Fantastique, the fourth movement, “March to the Scaffold,” by Hector Berlioz• Modern: The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky

http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/interactives/perfectpitch

• a recording of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”• a presentation computer with Internet access, a

projector, and a screen or an IWB• Instruments of the Orchestra worksheet • Parts of a Composition Vocabulary worksheet• Create a Lineup worksheet

Website

Materials WebVisit Objective

• Students will learn about the families of the orchestra and how the orchestra has changed throughout history and musical time periods.

Overview

Perfect Pitch WebVisitLesson Suggestions by Phyllis Thomas Suggested Grade Levels: 4–6


• “Play Ball!”: This multiple-choice quiz game has three levels: “Junior Varsity,” “Farm Team,” and “The Big League.” Correct and incorrect answers are acknowledged verbally, and an explanation is given. The questions do not change each time the level is played, and they include identifying instruments aurally, general information about the instruments, and correlating historical information.

• Use the home plate button in the lower left corner of the page to move to another area of Perfect Pitch. Adjust the volume by touching the speaker icon in the upper right corner.

• Exploring Perfect Pitch lends to large-group lessons that are well suited to the interactivity of an IWB, and the site also works well on individual computers in a classroom, computer lab, or home setting. For the WebVisit, the students and the teacher explore the “Meet the Players” section together as a class; students “Create a Lineup” individually, in small groups, or as a homework assignment; and the students come together as a class to share their instrument ensemble mixes and for one or more games of “Play Ball.”

Lesson Suggestions

Session 1: Meet the Players1. As your class enters, play a recording of “Take Me Out

to the Ball Game.”

2. Tell your students they will be taking a WebVisit to the “ballpark” to learn about the instruments of the orchestra and find out how the orchestra has changed over the years.

3. If you have not already done so, quickly review the instrument families of the orchestra. Explain to your students that, in order to score the most runs for their team, they need to remember as much information about the instruments as possible.

4. Display the Perfect Pitch homepage and click the Take the Field button to proceed. Read the caption on the title page. Tell your students that today you are going to meet the players on the four teams of orchestras from four periods of music history. Click the arrow on the title page to enter the site.

5. Read the caption on the “Meet the Players” page. Read the name of the first musical period listed (Baroque), and ask a student to read the names of the three remaining periods.

6. Click Baroque. Read the beginning and ending dates of the Baroque period as well as the caption. Ask a student to click an instrument, touch the play arrow to play the sound clip, and read the “Basics” information (the instrument family, when the instrument was invented, and the materials used to construct the instrument).

7. Select another student to click All Stars to read the names of famous players. Ask another student to click Fun Facts, and then read some general information about the instrument and a few historical events that occurred when the instrument entered the orchestra. Choose another student to click on Seating Chart to find out where the instrument is placed in the orchestra and play an orchestral sound clip.

8. Work through the rest of the instruments of the Baroque period in the same manner, replaying the sound clips frequently so the students remember the sounds of the instruments.


9. Distribute the Instruments of the Orchestra worksheet and pencils. Ask the students to name the instruments of the orchestra of the Baroque era (violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, oboe, trumpet, harpsichord). These are the first eight instruments on the worksheet. Ask the students to mark those instruments with an X in the Baroque column and to fill in the instrument family to which they belong. Refer to the Perfect Pitch website as necessary.

10. Work through the instruments of the Classical, Romantic, and Modern periods in the same manner, filling in the worksheet as you do so. You may wish to continue this portion of the WebVisit on another day.

11. When all the instruments of all the musical periods have been discussed, ask the students to think through the four musical periods studied and identify if there were any instruments that “retired” from the lineup.

Session 2: Create a Lineup1. Before the class begins, decide if the students will work

alone at the classroom or lab computers at school, will work with a partner at school, or will take the worksheet home as homework.

2. As your class enters, play a recording of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Ask the students to recall the four musical periods that were studied in the previous class.

3. Distribute the Parts of a Composition Vocabulary worksheet with the crossword puzzle. For each of the four periods of music, discuss the roles that the instruments play in a composition. Allow time for the students to complete the crossword in class. Ask the students to refer to their worksheets as the class proceeds in the WebVisit to “Create a Lineup.”

4. Display the “Create a Lineup” title page and read the caption.

5. Select Baroque, and read the beginning and ending dates as well as the caption. Click the Create a Lineup button.

6. Click the green Play/Stop button to hear the sound of the Baroque orchestra. Then, click the Solo radio button to hear the instruments in each of the parts. Demonstrate how to select a different instrument for each part (click the orange button with each instrument name to use the instrument drop-down menu). Click the Play/Stop button again to hear the new arrangement. Ask a student to choose another instrument using the instrument drop-down menu, and listen to the new arrangement.

7. Distribute the Create a Lineup worksheet. Explain to the students how they will experiment with instrument combinations in the musical period of their choice, creating their own instrument “mix.” If this activity is to be completed in class, allow plenty of time for exploring and experimenting.

8. Explain to your students that, in the next class meeting, they will be sharing their arrangements.


Session 3: Play Ball!1. As your class enters, play a recording of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

2. Display the “Create a Lineup” page on the Perfect Pitch website, and ask the students to share their arrangements from their Create a Lineup worksheets.

3. Click the home plate icon on the lower left corner of the page and proceed to the Play Ball! quiz. Note there are three levels: Junior Varsity, Farm Team, and The Big League. Explain that each level contains nine questions about the orchestra—one question per inning. The students have three chances to answer the question. A correct answer on the first pitch scores three runs; a correct answer on the second guess, two runs; and a correct answer on the third guess, one run. After that, the batter had three strikes and is out, and play proceeds to the next question. (Depending on the number of students in each class, you may choose to give each student one chance to answer a question, for a possible three students per question; or you may give students one chance at bat, with three chances to answer the question.) For the three levels, there are a total of twenty-seven questions.

4. Choose your lineup and level, and play ball!

• For more information, click the Meet Your Orchestra button on the lower left of the Perfect Pitch homepage. The link takes you to a page that describes the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in Washington, D.C. The next link, for the NSO, takes you to http://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/orchestra/meet_musicians/?mode=home, where students can learn about the professional musicians of the National Symphony and the instruments they play.

Extension Activity

Name: _____________________________ Classroom Teacher: __________________________________

The original purchaser of A Wide World of WebVisits 2012 (30/2739H) has permission to reproduce this page for use in his or her classroom. © 2012 Heritage Music Press, a division of The Lorenz Corporation. All rights reserved.

The original subscriber to Activate! has permission to reproduce this page for use in his or her classroom. © 2012 Heritage Music Press, a division of The Lorenz Corporation. All rights reserved.

Name: _________________________ Classroom Teacher: _______________________ Date: _____________

| August/September 2012

The Instruments of the OrchestraGo to “Meet the Players” on the Perfect Pitch website. Use “Basics” to find the instrument family and “Seating Chart” to find the musical eras when the instrument participated in the orchestra. Write the instrument family and place an X in the column for the correct musical era.

Instrument Family Baroque Classical Romantic Modern

Violin String X X X X

Viola

Cello

Double bass

Flute

Oboe

Trumpet

Harpsichord

Clarinet

Bassoon

French horn

Timpani

Piccolo

Trombone

Tuba

Piano

Harp

Snare drum

Triangle

Xylophone

Alto saxophone

Prepared piano

Synthesizer

Harmonium

Toy piano

Vibraphone

Wind machine

Typewriter

Castanets

Cowbell

The Instruments of the Orchestra



Composers choose the instruments to play different parts of a composition, and each instrument has an important role to play.

In the Baroque period (1600–1750), composers selected instruments to play the:

• Descant (a melody that is written above the main melody),

• Melody (a tune),

• Countermelody (a secondary melody that is played with the main melody),

• Harmony parts (harmony is a combination of pitches that sound at the same time), and

• Bass (the lowest part in a piece of music).

During the Classical period (1750–1825), the parts of a composition included:

• Melody,

• Countermelody,

• Harmony parts,

• Bass, and

• Pitched percussion (percussion instruments that can be tuned to a specific pitch, like a timpani).

In the Romantic period (1825–1925) and the Modern period (1925–present), composers chose instruments to play the:

• Themes (a theme is a phrase that serves as the subject or melody of a piece of music),

• Harmony parts,

• Bass,

• Pitched percussion, and

• Non-pitched percussion (these are percussion instruments—like a triangle or castanets—that cannot be tuned to a specific pitch).

Parts of a Composition Vocabulary



The original subscriber to Activate! has permission to reproduce this page for use in his or her classroom. © 2012 Heritage Music Press, a division of The Lorenz Corporation. All rights reserved.

Name: _________________________ Classroom Teacher: _______________________ Date: _____________

| August/September 2012

Parts of a Composition CrosswordDirections: Use the clues below and your knowledge of the parts of a composition to complete the puzzle.

Across 1. a secondary melody that is played with the main melody 3. the musical era from 1925–present 6. a melody that is written above the main melody 7. a combination of pitches that sound at the same time 8. a tune 9. the musical era from 1750–182510. percussion instruments that can be tuned to a specific pitch, like a timpani11. the lowest part in a piece of music12. the musical era from 1600–1750

Down 2. percussion instruments—like a triangle or castanets—that cannot be tuned to a specific pitch 4. the musical era from 1825–1925 5. a phrase that serves as the subject or melody of a piece of music

1 2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Parts of a Composition Crossword



Select a musical period from the four we studied on Perfect Pitch and fill in the information below.

Musical period: _________________________________

Beginning and ending dates: ______________________

Important composers: 1. ______________________

2. ______________________

3. ______________________

Experiment with different instrument combinations in the “Create a Lineup” section of Perfect Pitch. Choose instruments for your musical arrangement and list them below. If a part is not present in your musical era, mark the blank with an X. If you chose to mute a part, write “mute” on the line next to the part.

Descant: _______________________________________ Theme 1: ____________________________

Melody: _______________________________________ Theme 2: ____________________________

Countermelody: _________________________________ Theme 3: ____________________________

Harmony 1: _____________________________________

Harmony 2: _____________________________________

Harmony 3: _____________________________________

Bass: __________________________________________

Pitched percussion: ______________________________

Non-pitched percussion 1: ________________________

Non-pitched percussion 2: ________________________

Create a Lineup

I teach this WebVisit over the course of four weeks, using each week for one instrument family and allowing students to fill in the Outstanding Orchestra Instrument Facts worksheet as we focus on each family. You could also teach this lesson by covering all the instrument families in one class period. I find that substitutes can follow this lesson easily, so it is a great substitute lesson to use as well.

1. Tell your students that you will be exploring a website to learn about instrumental families.

2. Using a projector and a screen or an IWB, go to http://www.sfskids.org. Click on Instruments of the Orchestra.

3. Read the text on the screen and then draw your students’ attention to the seating chart. Lead a discussion about where the instruments are located in the orchestra and why. Ask leading questions, such as “Why do you think the brass instruments are near the back of the orchestra?”

Instrument Discovery TimeBy Katie Grace Miller Suggested Grade Levels: 3–5

http://www.sfskids.org

• a presentation computer with Internet access, a projector, and a screen or an IWB

• Outstanding Orchestra Instrument Facts worksheet, one per student

• A Famil WebVisit: Orchestra Discovery yworksheet, one per student (optional)

• computers with Internet access, one per student (optional)

Website

Materials

WebVisit Objectives

• Students will identify families of the orchestra.

• Students will classify instruments into instrument families.

• Students will aurally identify orchestra instruments based on timbre.

• Students will identify similar characteristics of instruments in the same orchestra family.

Overview

Lesson Suggestions


Extension Activities

4. Distribute an Outstanding Orchestra Instrument Facts worksheet to each student, explaining that they will complete the worksheet as you work through the website together. (You may choose to have them complete it after you go over the website, but I find that the students are more successful when they fill it out as we go along.)

5. Decide what family you will begin with (the worksheet begins with the string family). Click on the family section to go to the instrument family page.

6. Read the text on the screen or choose students to read the text for the class. You can either work together to complete the worksheet or instruct the students to complete it as answers are revealed through the class discussion.

7. Take a few moments to show your students how they can learn more about individual instruments by clicking on them. Be sure to highlight how to navigate the scroll bar to see additional text about the instrument and how to navigate the tools to see the instrument from different angles and close ups. Click on the play icon to hear examples of each instrument. Discuss timbre.

8. Click on another section of the orchestra and continue exploring each section until the worksheet has been completed.

• This lesson focuses on only one section of the website. Explore the rest of the website to see if there is anything you could use to enhance other lessons in your curriculum.

• Rather than presenting this WebVisit in a whole-class format, you could assign individuals or partners to work on the worksheet at student computers after you have given the class basic instruction and demonstration on how to navigate the site.




Directions: Fill in the blanks below.

String Family Facts

1. The string family makes up over ___________________ of the players in the orchestra.

2. The five instruments in the string family are ___________________, ___________________, ___________________ , ___________________ and ___________________ .

3. The strings on string instruments could be made of ___________________ , ___________________ , or ___________________ .

4. The ___________________ is what players use to draw across the strings to create the musical sound.

Woodwind Family Facts

1. Woodwind instruments are not always made of wood. They can be made of ___________________, ___________________, or ___________________.

2. Most woodwind instruments use a reed to play. The ___________________ does not use a reed to be played.

3. Name two instruments that use a reed to produce sound: ___________________ and ___________________.

4. There are many family instruments in the woodwind family. List four instruments from this family: ___________________, ___________________, ___________________, and ___________________.

Brass Family Facts

1. Brass instruments are made of ___________________ .

2. Brass instruments are basically long metal __________________ that are bent and folded to create the instruments.

3. Brass players __________________ into the __________________ of the instrument to produce sound.

4. Four brass instruments are: __________________, __________________, __________________, and __________________.

Percussion Family Facts

1. An instrument in the percussion family has to be ___________________, ___________________, or ___________________ to produce a sound.

2. What are some of the roles of the percussion family in the orchestra? _________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Name three percussion instruments: ________________, _______________, and _______________.

Outstanding Orchestra Instrument Facts

Student’s Name: _______________________________________________________Who went on the WebVisit? ______________________________________________Date and time of visit: ___________________________________________________Student’s favorite part of the website: ______________________________________Adult’s favorite part of the website: ________________________________________Parent Signature: ______________________________________________________

Orchestra DiscoveryA Family WebVisit


Directions: • Go to http://www.sfskids.org/.• Click on Instruments of the Orchestra.• Choose an instrument family to explore and click on it. • Choose two instruments from the family and complete the table by writing the names of

your instruments in the first column and two facts about each in the remaining columns.

Instrument Family: ________________________________

Fact 1 Fact 2Instrument 1:

Instrument 2:

• Go back to the main page and click on Radio.• Click on channel 1 to hear music examples featuring the families of the orchestra. • Choose two examples to listen to and read about. Complete the information below.

1. Title: _________________________________________________________________________ Composer: _____________________________________________________________________ Instrument Featured: ____________________________________________________________

2. Title: _________________________________________________________________________ Composer: _____________________________________________________________________ Instrument Featured: ____________________________________________________________

Perfect Pitch WebVisit · 1. As your class enters, play a recording of “Take Me Out to the Ball...

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Transcript of Perfect Pitch WebVisit · 1. As your class enters, play a recording of “Take Me Out to the Ball...