Overview

Summary

This lesson introduces students to the instruments of the brass family. Students learn the types and parts of brass instruments and then create their own "brass" instrument. They will make predictions and explore how pitch changes based on the length of the air pipe.

Learning Objectives

Students Will:

• Design investigations that determine factors that affect the pitch of brass instruments based on the length of the tubes or crooks.
• Explore the factors that determine pitch fluctuation of brass instruments.

Teaching Approach

Arts Integration

Teaching Methods

• Large or Small Group Instruction
• Cooperative Learning
• Hands-On Learning
• Guided Listening

Assessment Type

Informal Assessment

Preparation

Lesson Setup

Teacher Background

General understanding of acoustics:

• Everything about the physics of sound
• Sounds from the Orchestra

General understanding of brass instruments:

• Brass instruments
• Podcast from Cambridge University with links to further information

Prior Student Knowledge

• A basic understanding of sound as waves and as energy.
• Some familiarity with orchestral instruments.
• Prior experience with science experiments.

Grouping

• Large Group Instruction
• Small Group Instruction

Staging

• Cue up listening passage(s).
• Cut garden hose to these lengths, providing one piece of each length for each group: 6", 9", 12", 15", 18", 21", 24"

Instruction

Engage

1. Review the members of the brass instrument family. Distribute and review the "Instrument Families of the Orchestra" handout located within the Resource Carousel.

2. Play instrument listening clips for the brass family from Perfect Pitch. Have students discuss what they hear and compare the sounds of the brass instruments to those of other instruments.

Build Knowledge

1. Have students explore the following sites to learn more about brass instruments, individually or in groups as availability of computers allows:

• ArtsAlive.ca Music: Instrument Lab: Brass
  here, students can learn more about string instruments and play clips
• ArtsAlive.ca Music: Brass Interviews
  students can read interviews with musicians and view demonstration videos
• DSO Kids: Families of the Orchestra
  students can hear a variety of instruments played in isolation, performing familiar tunes, and playing with the full orchestra
• Playmusic: Brass
  students can learn about the instruments, play clips, and play a matching game (requires Shockwave)
• Perfect Pitch
  students can learn about the instruments and try out different combinations of instruments and music styles.

2. Refer back to the Instrument Families of the Orchestra handout located within the Resource Carousel. As a class, share any information discovered in the course of the research, and review the relevant information in the "Brass" column of the handout.

Apply

1. Review the Scientific Process Guidelines For Brass Instruments and the Vocabulary handouts, both of which are available within the Resource Carousel, adding the following terms to the discussion:

• Air column: space within the air pipe of a brass instrument that experiences vibrations created by the player’s breath and lips. The tubing of the instrument is lengthened or shortened by pressing or releasing its valves. The speed of vibration, combined with length of tubing, determines the pitch of the note.
• Mouthpiece: a cup-shaped attachment used on brass instruments. The player’s lips act as a reed within the mouthpiece. Vibration occurs between the player’s lips and the mouth piece.

2. Review the process of forming a hypothesis and making a prediction.

3. Have students individually create a hypothesis relating the length of the air column to the pitch the instrument will create when played. Have students create a prediction based on this hypothesis, using the following format: “If our hypothesis is true, then the pitch created should be higher /lower when the air column is longer /shorter.”

4. Divide students into cooperative groups of four. Assign one student to each of the following duties:

1. Recorder: note taker
2. Group leader: decision maker, dispute settler, teacher liaison
3. Equipment adjuster: makes adjustments to test equipment
4. Tester: performs the tests (mouthpieces should be sanitized before and after use)

5. Test the hypotheses within the groups. Groups should discuss the hypotheses and predictions students have developed individually and choose one of each to use as they proceed with the experiment. Students will work in small groups completing the experiment, following the Procedural Guidelines for Creating A Brass Instrument handout. Have students fill in the data section of the Scientific Process Guidelines for Brass Instruments handout based on their experiments. Both handouts are available to you in the Resource Carousel.

6. Monitor student participation and accuracy in achieving results. When necessary, remind students of their roles within the cooperative group. Have students record their experimental data onto their own Scientific Process Guidelines for Brass Instruments handouts. Each student must complete the analysis section and the conclusion section independently.

Reflect

1. Discuss the following questions:

• What is the relationship between pitch, frequency, hertz, and the length of the air column?
  We measure frequency, or speed of vibrations in the air, in hertz. A high frequency (fast movement) makes a high pitch, and a low frequency makes a low pitch. Since a longer air column takes longer for the air to travel through and thus slows vibration, a longer air column makes a lower pitch.
• We changed the length of the air column by making the trombone longer. How do players of other brass instruments change the length of their air columns?
  By pressing valves which shorten or lengthen the air column in the instrument.
• What is the name of the branch of science that we have studied?
  Acoustics.

Assess

Assess the students' work using the "Assessment Rubric" located within the Resource Carousel.

Standards

The National Standards For Arts Education:

Music

Grade K-4 Music Standard 6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music

Grade K-4 Music Standard 8: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts

Language Arts

Language Arts Standard 4:
Gathers and uses information for research purposes

Language Arts Standard 9:
Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media

Science

Science Standard 9:
Understands the sources and properties of energy

Science Standard 11:
Understands the nature of scientific knowledge

Science Standard 12:
Understands the nature of scientific inquiry