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Teaching the Instruments of the Orchestra to Young Students using the San Francisco Symphony Kids’ Website
Using the San Francisco Children's Orchestra web site, first graders build listening and instrument identification skills. Each child wears head phones, listens to ID, and finds various instruments on the included worksheet.
Music Fun
Musical Instruments
Membranophones? Aerophones? How about strings? Percussion? You need not be a music instructor to benefit from a packet of 24 worksheets that introduce aspiring musicians to the various instrument families.
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The Ultimate Instrument!
Third graders identify the four instrument families of the symphony orchestra. They listen to the instruments and compare the similarities and differences of each of the four families. They design and create an instrument that belongs to...
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Meet the Instruments of the Orchestra
Students examine the characteristics of the four families of instruments. They read an eBook, unscramble instruments and categorize them in the correct families, take a quiz, and explore the San Francisco Symphony website.
Classics for Kids
Instrumental Sounds
What sound does a piccolo make? What's the difference between a violin and viola? What family does a timpani belong to? Take a tour through the different sections of an orchestra with an interactive reference tool.
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Investigating Brass Instruments and Pitch
Students observe the sounds of different brass instruments in order to understand how to create different pitches. In this musical lesson, students create a "brass" instrument from everyday household objects. The students discuss the...
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Musical Instrument Families
Using graphics, and an easy-to-understand format, this resource outlines the different kinds of instruments and their characteristics. This presentation could be used as an introduction to instruments for students getting ready to...
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The Role of the Opera Orchestra
Students listen to and examine a recording of the opera Don Pasquale and study the various musical instruments in an orchestra. They discuss the difference between a symphony orchestra and an opera orchestra. Finally they play the music...
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Orchestra: Focus on Rhythm and Arranging
High school orchestra is a great place to play music, like The Star Spangled Banner. Upper graders create new rhythms to the old song and perform them with the class. They rehearse their updated versions of the song using their...
Classics for Kids
Instruments Have a Family
Are the instruments in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in the same family as those in George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue? Elementary musicians work on their music theory and their instrumental ear as they listen to clips of famous...
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Instruments of the Orchestra
In this music worksheet, students find the words related to the musical instruments of an orchestra. The Answers are found at the bottom of the page.
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Instruments of the Orchestra Race
Students receive a musical instrument of the orchestra and the family it belongs to. They run when the teacher calls either the instrument or the family.
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Brass Instruments of the Orchestra
In this orchestra activity, 7th graders read about the brass instruments which include the French horn, tuba, trombone, and the trumpet. They fill in the blanks in 8 sentences about the brass section of the orchestra.
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The Orchestra
Elementary listeners learn about each section in the orchestra and the sounds they make. This would be a great introduction prior to a field trip or a visit from a real orchestra. Note: The audio does not appear to work.
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Brass Instruments
For this music worksheet, learners read about the 4 main brass instruments in the orchestra: trumpet, horn, trombone, and tuba. Students also write the missing words into 8 sentences.
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Exploring Musical Instruments of the Orchestra
Students listen to "The William Tell Overture," identify instruments, sounds and other characteristics of the music. They compare and contrast orchestra music to large band music. Students discuss the musical composition and how the...
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An Introduction To The Instruments Of The Orchestra
Students explore a variety of instruments to discover their sound. After watching an orchestra play, students discover the categories of instruments such as woodwinds, brass, strings, and percussion. In teams, they listen to music and...
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Design an Instrument
Young scholars design an instrument. In this sound, vibration and pitch lesson plan, students learn about the characteristics of sound, vibration and pitch. Young scholars design a guitar using the assembled craft materials and...
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Star Spangled Banner: For Orchestra
Middle schoolers practice playing "The Star Spangled Banner" while focusing on phrasing. They work with the instructor to mark the lyrics and music, then play the song using the phrasing indicated. Several cross-curricular extension...
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Be Sharp and Never Flat
An outstanding lesson on music awaits your young composers! They learn about patterns found in music, the different sections of an orchestra, and see the differences between musicians and a composer. Excellent streamed videos and good...
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Instruments of the Orchestra- Flute and Oboe
Students name the different families in an orchestra, name many of the instruments in each family, listen to an orchestral recording to identify the flute and oboe and listen to the melody of a piece.
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The Orchestra: Exploring the Instruments
Students explore the instruments of the orchestra. In this music appreciation activity, students discover the four families of instruments and research each of them using selected Internet sources.
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Music- Found-Object Orchestra
Young scholars construct simple musical instruments. In this music instructional activity, students read the text Max Found Two Sticks and construct their own instruments from classroom materials.
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Introduction To The Orchestra
Students listen to a book, "Meet the Orchestra." They observe a PowerPoint presentation, listen to the sounds in "Peter and the Wolf" and then match illustrations of instruments to their specific sound. Students identify instrument...