Kelsey Clinton
Unit Topic: Introducing the Instruments of the Orchestra
This unit will continue to help develop students’ critical listening skills, and
primarily enable them to identify the different instruments and instrument families of the
Western orchestra by sight and sound. Each individual “lesson” of this unit will encompass
the listening activity for the daily lesson plan. The students will fully explore and
understand the general aesthetics of Western orchestral music. This knowledge will be
applicable in later units when students learn about various instruments from multiple
cultures around the world, and compare them to instruments from the West. At this point
in the their music education, students have a knowledge of and have performed on pitched
and non-pitched percussion instruments, through Orff activities. This unit will incorporate
listening activities of diverse styles, introducing the students to a wide scope of orchestral
repertoire.
Unit Goals
1. Recognize the four instrument families of the (Western) orchestra: strings,
woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
2. Recognize the characteristics of each family of instruments of the orchestra.
3. Recognize each individual instrument of the orchestra visually and aurally.
4. Develop critical listening skills.
5. Appreciate orchestral music.
Time Frame
8 week period; 15 minute lessons
Grade: Third; General Music
NAfME National Standards for Music Education
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines
outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Standards of Learning
3.4
The student will respond to music with movement.
4. Perform choreographed and non-choreographed movements.
3.12 The student will identify the four orchestral families (woodwind, string,
brass, percussion), using sight and sound.
3.14 The student will exhibit respect for the contributions of self and others in a
music setting.
2. Contribute to a group effort of listening to music.
Essential Skills and Content/Objectives
1. List the instrumental families in orchestral music.
2. Classify the instruments that belong to each family.
3. Identify each instrument of the orchestra visually, and aurally (through listening
to orchestral pieces).
4. Compare and contrast the sounds and timbres of each instrument and
instrument family of the orchestra.
5. Explore different styles of orchestral pieces through listening and movement.
6. Compare and contrast how to play instruments from different families/sections
of the orchestra.
Essential Vocabulary
Strings
Brass
Woodwinds
Reed
Double reed
Percussion
Violin
Viola
Cello
Bass
Harp
Flute
Oboe
Clarinet
Bassoon
Trumpet
Trombone
Tuba
French horn
Pitched percussion
Non-pitched percussion
Timpani
Bass drum
Cymbals
Snare drum
Assessment/Evaluation
1. Informal assessment/observation
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Materials
PowerPoint with images
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of participation in discussions,
movement activities,
performance activities, etc.
2. Questioning
3. Exit slip
4. BINGO game
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YouTube.com, CDs, MP3s of musical
recordings
Markers
Paper
Scarves
Plastic (soda) bottles
Repertoire to be played:
-Enterprising Young Men, Michael Giacchino
-The Hebrides Overture, Op. 26, Mendelssohn
-String Symphony No. 4 in C minor,
Mendelssohn
-Fantasie, Op. 95, Saint- Saëns
-A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
(Fugue), Britten
-Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Dukas
-Swan Lake Overture, Tchaikovsky
-Imperial March, John Williams
-Jurassic Park main theme, John Williams
-Manteca, Boston Brass
-Rhapsody in Blue, Gershwin
-Ride of the Valkyries, Wagner
Day 1: Introduction to the Orchestra (15 minutes): Pre-Test
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Pre-Test: SW listen to an example of orchestral music [Enterprising Young Men, by
Michael Giacchino, from the soundtrack to Star Trek].
o TW ask the students to close their eyes when they are listening.
o TW play the piece a second time, and the SW write down, with the help of a
partner, any instruments that they think they hear. TW collect the lists from
the students.
SW open their eyes and watch a Youtube.com video of an orchestra play: The
Hebrides, Op. 26 (“Fingal's Cave” Overture) by Felix Mendelssohn.
o TW tell the students that they just heard two examples of an orchestra.
o TW ask the students if they recognize any instruments. SW share their
answers.
o TW tell the students that an orchestra is a large instrumental ensemble
(group) that has existed for hundreds of years, and we are going to learn all
about the orchestra.
Day 2: String Family (15 minutes)
*Focus instruments: violin, viola, cello, bass, harp
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SW listen to String Symphony No. 4 in C minor by Mendelssohn
o Students will walk to the beat.
After a few minutes, the TW display a PowerPoint presentation with pictures of each
individual string instrument (violin, viola, cello, bass). TW display a picture of the
instrument and play a short excerpt of a solo feature of each individual stringed
instrument. TW explain that the strings are similar, which is why they are in the
same instrument family, but they are different in size and sound.
TW have a large picture of each instrument, and four students will place the four
pictures on the wall; the wall will already have labels/names, and will essentially be
a giant map of the general layout/seating chart of an orchestra (in traditional arc
formation). Every day, when the students learn a new instrument, they will add a
picture of it to the wall.
TW introduce the students to the last string instrument: harp (will place picture on
wall).
Students will dance with scarves Fantasie, Op. 95, by Camille Saint-Saëns.
Day 3: Woodwind Family (15 minutes)
*Focus instruments: flute and clarinet
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TW review the string section of the orchestra.
o Questioning
o Who can describe the music we listened to last class?
SW be introduced to the Woodwind family by listening to A Young Person's Guide to
the Orchestra: Fugue by Benjamin Britten.
After listening, TW discuss the flute and clarinet and play solo excerpts of these
instruments. [Use Rhapsody in Blue (George Gershwin) for clarinet]. SW place
pictures of the clarinet and flute on the wall.
TW will distribute empty plastic soda bottles to each student, and will demonstrate
how to blow across the bottle to get a sound; this method of blowing air is how you
play the flute!
Day 4: Woodwind Family (continued) – 15 minutes
*Focus instruments: oboe and bassoon
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TW review the flute and clarinet.
o Questioning
o Which instrument is played by blowing across a hole, similar to a soda
bottle?
Students will listen to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas.
o Students will pat the beat to the music somewhere on their body.
TW tell students about the bassoon; SW will place the picture of a bassoon on the
wall.
SW listen to the Swan Lake Overture to Act II (Tchaikovsky), focusing on the
opening oboe solo.
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o Students will draw the melody [melodic contour] with a marker on a sheet of
paper.
Students will place a picture of the oboe on the wall.
Day 5: Brass Family (15 minutes)
*Focus instruments: trumpet and French horn
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TW review the oboe and bassoon.
o Questioning
o Why are these instruments considered woodwind instruments?
SW listen to the Imperial March (John Williams).
o SW move around the room however they wish, but they must move to the
beat.
o TW tell the students that the piece, which they may have already heard, has
many brass instruments.
SW listen to the main theme from Jurassic Park.
o SW choose two separate movements, one for woodwinds and one for strings.
When they hear each section, they will perform a different movement.
o TW then focus on the French horn solo in the beginning.
SW listen to what a trumpet sounds like, then place pictures of both the French horn
and trumpet on the wall.
The teacher will ask students to close their eyes, and guess which instrument they
hear.
o TW select repertoire featuring various solos; TW “quiz” the students on
every instrument learned so far.
Day 6: Brass Family (continued) – 15 minutes
*Focus instruments: trombone and tuba
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SW listen to and watch the Boston Brass performance of Manteca.
SW put the pictures of the trombone and tuba on the wall.
The teacher will read the story “Tubby the Tuba”.
o TW ask questions to check for understanding and review all of the
instruments of the orchestra.
Day 7: Percussion (15 minutes)
*Focus instruments: snare drum, bass drum, xylophone, cymbals
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Since students know what these instruments are already, TW briefly review
percussion with a PowerPoint presentation; students will put the pictures of the
instruments on the wall.
TW point to each child, and assign him/her a section of the orchestra.
SW listen and then the Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner.
o Move only when you hear your section play!
Day 8: Review and Post-Test
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Instrument BINGO
SW play two games of BINGO: Game 1 = Instrument Families, Game 2 = Instruments.
Game 1: TW play excerpts of pieces featuring specific sections of the orchestra and
also ask factual questions about each section of the orchestra.
Game 2: TW play musical excerpts of pieces featuring individual instruments of the
orchestra, and display pictures of each individual instrument of the orchestra.
For both games, SW mark their answers on their BINGO cards.
Each game will ask questions pertaining to identifying instruments/families by
sound and sight and characteristics of each instrument (high/low).
This website is great for creating BINGO card templates!
http://thebingomaker.com/index.php/bingo-cards/art-and-music-bingocards/orchestra-instruments-bingo-cards.html