Name ______Class ______

THE PERCUSSION FAMILY AND INSTRUMENT REVIEW (June 8-12) Ferndale 3rd-5th Elementary Music: Lesson 5 Paper Supplement

DIRECTIONS: If you have access, an online version of this lesson is available through the link on the Ferndale School District website. You can also access the online version directly through this link: https://sway.office.com/FdpWGpv68zPNjp9z?ref=Link&loc=mysways

Complete the Exit Ticket at the end, and your answers will be recorded online for your music teacher to see. If this paper version works best for your family, we hope to provide you with the same information as best we can. We look forward to making music together soon and thank you for working with your children!

THE PERCUSSION FAMILY: There are many instruments in the percussion family that we will study closely. Beginning percussionists play in the 6th grade band in middle school. They will likely learn to play keyboard instruments (like the xylophone and glockenspiel) as well as snare drum and bass drum, so piano skills make the percussion instruments much easier to understand.

We want you to know: 1. How percussion instruments make their sounds 2. How pitched percussion are different from unpitched percussion 3. And out of all the instruments we studied, which instrument you like the best

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With a name that means "the hitting of one body against another," instruments in the percussion family make sounds when they are struck, shaken, or scraped. Often, the instrument itself, or a part of the instrument, creates a vibration such as a drumhead, the metal body of a triangle, or the beads within a maraca. In large ensembles, the percussion section provides a variety of rhythms, textures and tone colors, and percussion instruments are classified as either pitched or unpitched. Pitched instruments play specific pitches or notes, just like the woodwind, brass and string instruments. Unpitched instruments produce a sound with an indefinite pitch, like the sound of a hand knocking on a door. The percussion instruments make up a diverse international family, with ancestors from Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas, and they represent musical styles from many different cultures.

UNPITCHED PERCUSSION: The snare drum joined the orchestra nearly 200 years ago. It has two calfskin or plastic drumheads stretched tightly over a hollow metal frame. The player strikes the top head with wooden sticks. The bottom head, or snare-head, has metal wires, called snares, stretched tightly across it. When this unpitched drum is struck on the top head, the snares add a rattling sound as they vibrate against the bottom head.

The famous composer, Mozart, added the deep, booming, unpitched sound of the bass drum to the orchestra in 1782. Constructed like a snare drum, but without snares, the bass drum is much larger and is played on its side, so that either head may be struck. The beater or mallet for a bass drum is large with a soft material such as sheep's wool covering the end.

Cymbals are made from two large, brass plates with leather hand straps. When the player crashes them together, only the edges touch, because the plates are curved. Different sized cymbals make a wide range of sounds. Some are so small that they are played with just the fingers, and they make a high “ding”. You can also play one cymbal at a time with drumsticks or mallets while the cymbal is suspended on a string or stand.

The guiro (pronounced “wee-roe”) comes from South and Central America. Guiros were first made from gourds (large fruits with hard skins) that were carved or notched to create a ridged surface. A player scrapes the guiro with a stick. Modern guiros can be made of plastic, metal or wood.

PITCHED PERCUSSION: The xylophone is made with hardwood bars. Longer bars make a lower sound. As the bars get shorter, the pitches also get higher. With the larger, lower bars on the left, the notes of the xylophone are laid out much like a piano keyboard. Striking the bars with hard mallets produces a bright, sharp sound. The xylophone was originally modeled after an African instrument and its name is Greek, meaning "wood sound".

Timpani, or kettledrums, were the first drums to be added to the orchestra over 300 years ago. They are made of a large copper bowl with a drumhead stretched across the top. When struck with felt-tipped wooden mallets, timpani produce a specific pitch that is determined by the drum's size. That pitch is fine-tuned as the player tightens the head with foot pedals. Most ensembles use three or four timpani of different sizes.

DISTANCE LEARNING REVIEW: BAND, STRINGS, CHOIR AND THE INSTRUMENT FAMILIES We have studied the brass, woodwind, string, and percussion families, and we began these online lessons learning about the choices you may have in middle school. Do you know which class to take after deciding which instrument you like the best? If you want to sing, sign up for choir. Brass, woodwind, and percussion players take band, and string players take strings. We would be so excited to see you in a concert some day!

Choir Band Strings

Voice Brass Woodwinds Percussion String Family Soprano Trumpet Flute Drums Violin Alto French horn Clarinet Xylophone Viola Tenor Trombone Saxophone Cymbals Cello

Bass Tuba And more! Double Bass

Each of your music teachers picked her instrument for a different reason. Mrs. Dooley wanted an instrument to fit inside her backpack, and Mrs. Saxman was inspired by movie music. Mrs. Smith’s grandma gave her a guitar and the music to Yesterday by the Beatles. Mrs. Barnreiter wanted a fun instrument she could take anywhere and could play many styles. Mrs. Bianco didn’t know any of the instruments, so she just copied her best friend. What will you choose?

CHALLENGE: Label the pictures on this page. Use the word bank for help.

Instrument Puns

Directions: Fill in the blanks by selecting one of the vocabulary words below.

accordion symphony reed tuba recorder piano composer organs conductors French horn guitar uke

1. How do you fix a broken ______? With a tuba glue.

2. Why did the ______player keep banging his head on the keys? He was playing by ear.

3. Why are saxophones and clarinets so smart? They ______a lot!

4. I always try to be encouraging so I say, “ ______can do it!”

5. If you don’t like these music puns, you have my ______.

6. ______to a recent survey, replacing words with names of instruments often goes unnoticed.

7. Why can’t skeletons play church music? Because they don’t have ______!

8. How many ______does it take to change a light bulb? Nobody knows. No one ever watches the conductor!

9. An angry ______player said he would hit me with the neck of his instrument. I asked, “Is that a fret?”

10. Did you hear about the ______who ran away? He didn’t even leave a note.

11. What do a ______and a lawsuit have in common? Everyone is happier when the case is closed.

12. What do you call a cow that can play a ______? A Mooosician!