Lesson Plans January 2-4
Elements of music: Brass Family
Core Content 4.1
AH-05-1.1.1Students will analyze or explain the use of elements of music in a variety of music.
Elements of music:
Rhythm - time signature (2/4, 3/4, 4/4), bar lines, rhythmic durations (whole, half, quarter, eighth notes and rests), measure
Tempo - steady beat, slow, fast
Melody - shape, direction (pitches move up, down, by step, by skip, stay the same), treble clef sign, pitch notation (notes from
middle C to F at top of treble clef staff), high notes vs. low notes (pitches)
Harmony - parts (notes performed together to create harmony), major/minor (aurally); unison (non-harmony)
Form - call and response, two-part (AB), three-part (ABA), round, verse/chorus, repeat signs
Timbre (tone color) - recognize different qualities of musical sounds, orchestral instruments by family - brass, woodwind, string,
percussion, how instrument sounds are produced, human voices (high voices, low voices)
Dynamics - soft (piano - p), medium soft (mezzo piano - mp), medium loud (mezzo forte - mf), loud (forte - f)
Program of Studies Skills and Concepts
AH-5-PA-S-Mu1Students will be actively involved in creating, notating, improvising and performing simple melodies
(melodic shape/contour, meter), alone and with others
AH-5-PA-S-Mu2Students will sing and play simple rhythmic or tonal patterns by reading music notation, alone, and in small
and large ensembles.
Learning Targets
 I can describe how the term timbre means the different sounds people and instruments make
 I can explain how to create a sound on a brass instrument
 I can list instruments in the brass family
 I can play my recorder homework assignment with good pitch, rhythm, steady beat, tone quality and hand position.
 I can write a true story about a time I was hurt.
Materials Needed:
Vocabulary:
Elements: One of the simple, basic parts of something
 Trumpet
Timbre: An element of music; the way a particular
 French Horn
instrument sounds
 Trombone
Trumpet
 Brass Family posters
French Horn
 McGraw-Hill Texts, Glossary & CDs
Trombone
 Voyetra Instruments Software
Tuba
Activities
1. Begin with lesson overview and vocabulary discussion
2. Introduce the four families of instruments, and then concentrate on the brass family.
3. Talk about what distinguishes this family:

Each instrument is made of hollow, twisted metal tubes.

Each instrument has a bell.

Each instrument has a round mouthpiece,

Each instrument is played by buzzing lips,
4. Have the students learn and play the buzzing brass embouchure, using their fingers as a mouthpiece.
5. Name each instrument in the brass family and play an example of each on the synthesizer. Note that larger instruments
play lower notes, while smaller instruments play higher ones.
6. Show a picture of each instrument while talking about it.
7. Pass around the trumpet, french horn and trombone and explain the slide on the trombone..
8. Play musical instruments, with students marching around pictures of the brass instruments to a Bach Brandenburg
Concerto. When the music stops, the student must identify the instrument he/she is standing by.
9. Watch Silver Burdette and Ginn Brass video.
10. Listen to McGraw Hill Brass instruments CD.
11. Recorder classes will perform individual playing tests in music class.
12. Writing classes will write a true story about a time they were injured.
Learning Targets
 I can describe how the term
timbre means the different
sounds people and instruments
make
 I can explain how to create a
sound on a brass instrument
 I can list instruments in the
brass family
 I can play my recorder
homework assignment with good
pitch, rhythm, steady beat, tone
quality and hand position.
 I can write a true story about a
time I was hurt.