Unit 2 Instruments & Ensembles
Episode 5
The Keyboard Fa
mily
Development, function, and other key traits
1
OVERVIEW
Keyboard instruments have been the bedrock of music and composition
for 350 years. When Jeremy Tuning Fork, keyboard salesman extraordinaire, bursts into the shop, Quaver gets all keyed up to explore the piano,
harpsichord, organ, and accordion. We meet Cristofori, the inventor of
the pianoforte, and explore a modern-day piano to see how it works.
From Bach to Boogie, the keyboard plays an essential part of almost every style of music.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
Students will learn:
• How to identify the members of the keyboard family by design and
timbre.
• How one keyboard instrument can perform many musical functions
at the same time.
• How the pattern of black and white keys on a keyboard helps to
find notes.
• How the piano was invented, and why it is unique.
• How the organ, accordion, piano, and harpsichord produce sound.
• How keyboard instruments can convey feelings and emotions.
Vocabulary
Bass
Chords
Melody
Plectrum
Pianoforte
Hammers
Stops
Pedals
Organ pipes
© Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music •
1-1
Unit 2 Instruments & Ensembles
MUSIC STANDARDS IN LESSON
2: Playing instruments*
3: Improvising melodies
4: Composing and arranging music
5: Reading and notating music
6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
8: Understanding the relationship between music and the other arts
9: Understanding music in relation to history, style, and culture
Complete details at QuaverMusic.com
Key Scenes
What they teach
Music
Standard
1
Jeremy Tuning Fork sells the
piano!
A keyboard instrument can perform many musical
functions at the same time: melody, chords, rhythm,
and bass. It is a self-contained music ensemble.
6
2
Finding notes on a keyboard
The keys on a keyboard are organized in a pattern of
black and white keys to make it easier to find specific
notes.
2, 6
3
Cristofori invents the pianoforte
The piano is unique among keyboard instruments due
to its ability to play loud and soft – hence the name
pianoforte.
6, 9
4
Experimenting in the lab with
grass, piping, and an old piano
Simple illustrations demonstrate how an accordion,
piano, and organ produce sound.
6
5
Song: You’re Never Alone with a
Piano
This reprise summarizes the unique characteristics of
keyboard instruments.
1, 6
2
LESSON INTRO Introducing the episode
Create two columns on a white board, chalkboard, or a large sheet of paper. Label them as shown. Have students brainstorm kinds of machines that belong under the two headings.
Examples:
Requires skills
Push a button / key
driving a car
riding a bike
putting up a tent
operating an elevator
turning on a TV
turning on a light
The piano, organ, harpsichord, and accordion are musical machines, perhaps the most complicated pieces of
machinery ever made for man to operate. This episode looks at their sound, range, uniqueness, and construction.
1-2
• QuaverMusic.com
* concepts included in the Teacher Guide, but not in the DVD
The Keyboard Family
Discussion Points
3
PLAY EPISODE
• Which is the only keyboard instrument that can be played loudly and softly?
the piano
by air traveling through pipes of different lengths
By plucking strings
• How is sound produced on the organ?
• How does the harpsichord make its sound?
• Name several musical functions you can perform all at the same time on the
piano?
form chords; provide melody, harmony, rhythm, and bass; control
dynamics
4
CLASS ACTIVITIES
Listen and Move It
Purpose: Differentiating between high and low notes
Play one high piano key. Instruct students to stand up.
Play a higher key. Have students raise their arms.
Play one low key. Have students touch the floor.
Try to challenge students by playing several high pitches in a
row, then a low pitch, etc. The faster in succession the notes are
played, the more fun the students will have!
10 Questions, Keyboard-Style
Purpose: Familiarity with various keyboard instruments
Invite one student to think of one of the keyboard instruments
that has been studied (piano, harpsichord, organ, accordion). Let
the other students take turns asking 10 yes-or-no questions to
see if they can guess the correct instrument.
You Can’t Go Wrong with This Song!
Purpose: Improvisation and familiarity with the piano
Play a short pattern over and over on the low black keys of
a piano, keeping a steady beat. Invite students one at a time
to join you and improvise on higher black keys. Reassure
students that they cannot make a mistake unless they play
the white keys.
Note: The five black keys are actually a five-note
scale called a pentatonic scale.
1-3
Unit 2 Instruments & Ensembles
IWB 1
Track 1
VIDEO REPLAY
You’re Never Alone with a Piano
Purpose: Reinforcing fundamental qualities of the keyboard
Ask students to name all the things a piano can do simultaneously
that other single instruments cannot. Then join in with the amazing
Jeremy Tuning Fork on his piano song, You’re Never Alone with a
Piano (Track 1). It’ll stick in your brain like no other!
You’d be surprised how many people have instruments
in their attics. Why not send a letter home to see if anyone has an accordion they will loan to your class?
5
WEB ACTIVITIES
QComposer
Students can select individual notes on
the keyboard and drag them to the staff
to create a melody. When the play button
is clicked, the piano keyboard will play
their melody. Students can change and
save their melodies as may times as they
want or get help from the Chord Builder.
QGrooves
Students can create five tracks by combining musical loops featuring different
instrumental sounds: keyboards, synth/
brass, drums, percussion, and basses.
Loops can be dragged onto each track
enabling the student to make music.
Keyboard sounds include acoustic,
dyno, and electric pianos...very groovy!
IWB
1-4
• QuaverMusic.com
Play activities on your
INTERACTIVE White Board
The Keyboard Family
6
HOMEWORK
Piano Assembly
Worksheet # 1
Purpose: Remembering the pattern of the keyboard
PRINT
PRINT
WORKSHEET
WORKSHEET
Give students this piano jigsaw worksheet to take home. The best practice is to photocopy it onto card stock so the pieces are sturdier. Instruct
students to cut it out and re-assemble it at home. If desired, ask them to
time themselves and report back how long it took.
My Instrument File
Worksheet # 2
Purpose: Reinforcing the names and uses of keyboard instruments
Copy the keyboard worksheet for students to take home and color.
They can fill in the names of each keyboard instrument. When completed, this worksheet can be added to the other instrument family
worksheets.
Additional session activities
7
ASSESSMENT
Tracking the Keyboard
Tracks 2, 3, 4 & 5
Worksheet # 3
Ask students to listen to these tracks. Instruct them to write
down which keyboard instrument is being played.
PRINT
PRINT
WORKSHEET
WORKSHEET
Track 2
Track 3
Track 4
Track 5
Delibes’ Pizzicato - piano
Harpsichord Jig - harpsichord
Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D-minor - organ
Rhine Cruise - accordion
Assess the students’ recognition of each keyboard instrument
using the worksheet, and discuss their answers as a group.
1-5
Unit 2 Instruments & Ensembles
8
CROSS-CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES
Art
Pictures of pianos in history illustrate different art styles and periods (Rococo, Deco, contemporary, etc.). Challenge students to draw an original keyboard instrument and name it - like Quaver’s piani-skate. What are the
unique attributes of their invention? Have them label those characteristics.
PRINT
PRINT
WORKSHEET
WORKSHEET
Science
Worksheet # 4
Show students pictures of organ pipes. Bigger, wider pipes make lower sounds and smaller,
thinner pipes make higher sounds. Discuss this idea in reference to the different lengths of
colorful tubes such as Boomwhackers® or contrast a piccolo and flute. If you have access to
a piano, take the cover off as Quaver did, and look at the string sizes.
Materials
Needed
- Colored pencils
- Different lengths of colorful tubes
Piano Style
Tracks 6, 7, 8 & 9
Purpose: Showing the versatility of keyboard instruments
9
DIGGING DEEPER
The piano is amazingly versatile as is demonstrated by these selections. Ask students how these pieces make them
feel, and why? Encourage students to use musical terms and vocabulary.
Track 6
Track 7
Track 8
Track 9
Chopin’s Fantasy Impromptu - a very difficult piece of Classical music
Boogie-Woogie - a great beat and a repeated left-hand pattern
Angels - a piece of Jazz where the piano teams up with the bass and drums
Joplin’s The Entertainer - Ragtime, a piano style with a great beat
Which style do students like best? Which style do they think is most difficult to play?
PRINT
PRINT
WORKSHEET
WORKSHEET
I Can Play the Keyboard!
Worksheet # 5
Purpose: Playing simple tunes on the keyboard
Using the worksheet and the paper piano, students can learn four pieces of simple
music. Drawing upon knowledge gained from the notation episodes (Unit 1, episode 7-12), ask them to write the letter names of the notes under the score. Then
practice on their paper keyboards – if you have a real one, even better! Remind students that practicing slowly and accurately is better than playing faster but with
mistakes.
1-6
• QuaverMusic.com
The Keyboard Family
Featured
Instruments
TEACHER NOTES
Piano
Organ
Harpsichord
Accordion
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