Lesson Overview:
In this lesson, students will become familiar with musical terms that express dynamics. They will hear instruments from the string family, and will be able to identify those instruments by sight and sound. Students will also discuss tempi and recognize Italian terms that relate to musical tempo.
Length of Lesson:
One 45-minute period
Instructional Objectives:
Students will:
- become familiar with musical terms that express dynamics: piano (soft) and forte (loud).
- demonstrate piano and forte using their voices, and using instruments.
- hear instruments from the string family, and identify those instruments by sight and sound.
- recognize and describe the harpsichord.
- recognize major and minor keys by sound.
- discuss tempi and recognize Italian terms that relate to musical tempo.
- make a tempo booklet with their own illustrations for key tempo words.
- analyze patterns and form in selected music. Students will follow rhythmic pattern maps for selected music.
Supplies:
- Sound System
- Small cards with "piano" and "forte" (for listening game)
- Pre-folded sheets of heavy paper (for illustrated tempo booklets)
- Small individual images of instruments of the string family
- Classroom Orff instruments
- Large cards with words "piano" and "forte"
- Chart with terms which relate to tempo
- Large images of instruments in the string family
- Pre-recorded tape with short segments of music in major and minor keys (for a listening quiz)
- Symphony No. 94 ("Surprise") Haydn: The Symphonies by Franz Joseph Haydn
- Vivaldi: The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi
Instructional Plan:
Procedure 1
Play the first selection from "Autumn," by Vivaldi (00:00 to 00:10) and ask students to describe what they heard. (Answers might vary depending on grade level.)
Ask students to listen again (00:00 to 00:10) and tell you which was first: loud or soft (forte or piano).
Explain the terms "piano" and "forte" and give each student a set of piano/forte cards. Ask the students to hold up the appropriate card for each section of the music. Play the music (00:00 to 00:23).
Sing some of the songs you have learned previously, but practice using your piano or forte singing voices. Have students design a dynamic layout for a song the class knows. Encourage them to do this by phrase, rather than randomly.
Procedure 2
Play a portion (about a minute) of "Adagio Molto" from Autumn, by Vivaldi.
Ask students how this music is different from the previous selection they had heard ("Allegro," from Autumn).
Ask students what instruments they hear. Ask them to listen to one instrument that sounds as if it is moving all the time. The instrument may be described as if it sounds like footsteps walking. (They might not know the answer - harpsichord). Tell them that this instrument is a harpsichord. Show them pictures of a harpsichord.
Listen to the music again. Ask students to move one finger at a time every time the harpsichord plays a note. They will be walking in space.
Write the words "Adagio Molto" on the board and explain that these are Italian words that describe the tempo (speed) at which the music is moving. Ask them if "adagio" is slower or faster than "allegro," the speed at which they heard the first selection from "Autumn." (Adagio is slower.)
Introduce other Italian vocabulary for tempo markings and have students illustrate these (in a pre-folded booklet) with pictures they either draw or cut from magazines.
Have students walk around the room taking steps when they hear the harpsichord notes.
After they have focused on the moving notes of the harpsichord, ask students to block out that part and listen to what is happening in the rest of the music. What instruments are playing? Are they playing slower or faster notes than the harpsichord? Talk about the string instruments at this time.
Divide the class into two groups:
Group 1 should follow the walking harpsichord notes and Group 2 should follow the string section. Have students move accordingly and then switch groups. (You may wish to have students hold the appropriate instrument picture as they move.)
At this time, reintroduce and highlight the section from the "Allegro" (Autumn, from 01:00) where the violin plays the notes of the scale in descending patterns (beginning around 01:07).
As enrichment, you may play other examples of harpsichord music (such as that of Domenico Scarlatti) and compare/contrast them to the "Adagio Molto."
Using this example, students could be introduced to broken chords.
Assessment:
Assessment Options:
Check the student-created tempo booklets to see if students understand tempo vocabulary.
Give students a short quiz to see if they can distinguish the sounds of a harpsichord from those of a violin. Alternatively, you may wish to have students create a short presentation on the differences and similarities of the harpsichord and the violin.
Pre-record short examples of "adagio" or "allegro" music and have students identify the correct tempo.
Sources:
Media:
- Haydn, Franz Joseph. Symphony No. 94 ("Surprise") Haydn: The Symphonies. Hungarica Philharmonia. B0000042DP. LI>
- Vivaldi, Antonio. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons. Seiji Ozawa. Boston Symphony Orchestra. B000003CSU.
Web:
Authors:
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Linda White, Music Teacher
Fairfax County Public Schools
Fairfax, Virginia
