MUSIC
WORKS
Resource Kit
Bob Bickerton
Copyright © Bob Bickerton 2001
All rights reserved. No part of this resource kit may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, without prior written permission from the publisher, with
the exception that parts may be copied for school’s internal use for educational
purposes only.
First published in 1995 by Bob Bickerton.
Second edition published in 2001 by Bob Bickerton.
Todd’s Valley, RD1, Nelson, New Zealand.
Phone 03 545-0125
Fax 03 545-2030
Mobile 025 384-048
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.bickerton.co.nz
Music Works - Page 2
Index
4
CD Track List
17
Stringed Instruments
5
Introduction
18
Guitar
5
How To Use The Kit
19
‘In The Bush’ - Song
6
Arts Curriculum Links
20
Violin/Fiddle
8
Folk Music
21
Harp
9
Whistles And Flutes
22
Percussion Instruments
10
Panpipes And Pitch
22
Bodhrán
12
Koauau
23
Bones
13
Tin Whistle
23
Brass
13
Swanee Whistle
24
Card Games
14
Flute
31
Review The Performance
14
Reed Instruments
31
Newspaper Orchestra
15
Highland Bagpipes
32
Make Your Own Orchestra
16
Irish Bagpipes
33
Music Works Homework Sheet
17
Harmonica/Accordion
35
Frequently Asked Questions
17
Kazoo
36
About Bob Bickerton
Music Works - Page 3
CD Track List
1
Multi-Instrumental Track (Summer, Summer/Lark In The Morning/
Sailor’s Bonnet), instrument order: Harp, Tin Whistle, Fiddle, Bodhrán,
Irish Pipes, Bones, Flute, Guitar.
2
Panpipes
3
Koauau
4
Tin Whistle
5
Swanee Whistle
6
Flute
7
Bagpipe Chanter
8
Irish Bagpipes
9
Harmonica
10
Accordion
11
Kazoo
12
Guitar
13
Fiddle
14
Harp
15
Bones
16
Bodhrán
17
‘In The Bush’ - Song
Individual instrument tracks are designed for use with the card games on page 24
and take the format of the description of the instrument, followed by its sound
before the name is announced.
Music Works - Page 4
Introduction
My ‘Music Works’ programme has been performed to schools for over twenty years. It is
designed to provide a general introduction to a wide variety of musical instruments
whilst at the same time introducing basic concepts of music.
Many concepts introduced in the performance and supported in this resource kit apply
directly to the Arts Curriculum.
This resource kit follows the form of the live programme and is designed as a reference
kit for teachers. As you read through each instrument/concept in the kit you will find
helpful hints and projects designed to assist with your delivery of this subject area.
May I take this opportunity to thank Paul Wheeler, Helen Wilberg and Rahda Wardrop
for their encouragement and suggestions over the years.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further suggestions for the kit.
How To Use This Resource Kit
This resource kit is designed to provide follow up to my Music Works live performance
and in addition provide project suggestions which will further enhance contributions
made by this programme to the Arts Curriculum.
On page six you will find an overview of how the programme contributes to the curriculum as well as a specific curriculum reference table that shows specific links between this
programme, its follow-up projects and the curriculum. Curriculum links are detailed in
the body of the resource kit and are shown in grey type.
Music Works - Page 5
Arts Curriculum Links
Whilst the Music Works live performance and resource kit provides contributions to
most disciplines in the Arts Curriculum its main focus is on the music discipline. This
programme makes broad contributions to the four strands in the discipline of music,
meeting achievement objectives at levels 1 through to 4. It makes particularly strong
contributions to the ‘Developing A Practical Knowledge In Music’ strand.
In addition to the contributions from the live performance, substantial learning
outcomes can be achieved through undertaking the 18 projects in this kit.
General curriculum links to the live performance are noted below and the table on the
next page indicates the specific links established by the individual projects. Individual
projects also have the curriculum links noted in the text after the project in grey.
I have adopted the strands code from the curriculum in this resource, i.e. Developing
Practical Knowledge in Music - PK, Developing Ideas in Music - DI, Communicating
and Interpreting Music - CI and Understanding Music in Context - UC.
Links From The Live Performance
PERFORMANCE 1: FOLK MUSIC DISCUSSION
Opening discussion on folk music and folk dancing, discussion on nursery rhymes.
STRANDS: UC
LEVELS: 1 - 4
PERFORMANCE 2: LISTENING TO INSTRUMENTS
Listening to different instruments, hearing how pitch is changed, looking at how they
work, talking about how they are used and where the students may have heard them.
STRANDS: PK, CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 4
PERFORMANCE 3: KEEPING THE BEAT
Clapping to the beat in 4/4, 6/8, 9/8, and 2/4 time signatures.
STRANDS: CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 2
Music Works - Page 6
PERFORMANCE 4: SINGING A SONG
Singing a song, making bird sounds.
STRANDS: CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 3
PERFORMANCE 5: IDENTIFYING INSTRUMENTS
Listening critically to multi-instrumental track, identifying instruments and pretending
to play them. (This can also be repeated as a follow-up project).
STRANDS: PK, CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 4
Links Table
STRANDS
NAME
DESCRIPTION
LEVELS
PAGE
PK
DI
CI
UC
1
2
3
4
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Performance 1
Folk Music Discussion
6
Performance 2
Listening To Instruments
6
Performance 3
Keeping The Beat
6
Performance 4
Singing A Song
7
Performance 5
Identifying Instruments
7
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Project 1
Folk Song Discussion
8
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Project 2
Learning By Ear
8
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Project 3
Exploring The Word 'Vibrate'
9
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Project 4
Exploring The Word 'Pitch'
10
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Project 5
Bottled Water
11
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Project 6
Make Your Own Panpipes
11
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Project 7
Make A Bird Caller
11
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Project 8
Make A Koauau
12
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Project 9
Make A Reed Instrument
14
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Project 10
Make A Stringed Instrument
18
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Project 11
Exploring Volume/Dynamics
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Project 12
How To Play The Bodhran Drum
22
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Project 13
How To Play The Bones
23
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Project 14
Card Games
24
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Project 15
Review The Performance
31
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Project 16
The Great Newspaper Orchestra
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Project 17
Make Your Own Orchestra
32
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Project 18
Music Works Homework Sheet
32
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Music Works - Page 7
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Folk Music
Most of the music performed in Music Works is folk music. Here are some ideas about
what folk music might be:
You can dance to some of it, when you dance to folk music it’s called
folk dancing.
Folk songs often tell stories about people or events.
Each country has its own type of folk music.
Folk music is music that anyone can participate in.
Folk music is handed down from one person to another, to another,
etc., so we don’t know where it comes from, it’s just part of who we
are.
The music I play tends to come from the countries of Ireland and Scotland: this is
known as Celtic music.
PROJECT 1: FOLK SONG DISCUSSION
Discuss folk music, how does it differ from rock, hip-hop, jazz or classical. Use nursery
rhymes as examples. Where did students first hear ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’, who did they
learn it from? Who did that person learn it from?
STRANDS: PK, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 3
PROJECT 2: LEARNING BY EAR
Folk music was traditionally learnt by ear, consequently the music changed as it was
passed down because learning by ear is not very reliable! We can only imagine what the
music was like a long time ago.
Here’s a fun game to play:
Sit students in a large circle, with the teacher as part of the circle.
Teacher whispers a sentence to the first student in the circle.
Each student whispers the sentence to the next until it comes back to
the teacher.
Has the sentence changed?
STRANDS: PK, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 3
Music Works - Page 8
Whistles and Flutes
The first range of instruments I use in the performance make their sound by air being
blown across a sharp edge, just like blowing across the top of a bottle. What happens is
that when the air hits the sharp edge, some of it goes inside, some of it goes over the top
and the air inside starts to shake or vibrate. It is this shaking or vibration which comes
through the air to our ears as sound.
PROJECT 3: EXPLORING THE WORD ‘VIBRATE’
Start with the word shake. What other
words mean shake? List them.
Vibrate is the word we use when we talk
about air shaking to make sound.
Compare air vibration to waves on a pond
or puddle. Go to a pond or puddle, drop
in a stone, watch the waves spread out.
Sound happens in just the same way, but
you can’t see the waves, you can only hear
them.
Sound takes time to travel through the air,
just like waves take time to travel along
water. Get someone to make a loud sound
at a distance and watch them. Is there a
delay between seeing the sound made and
hearing it?
STRANDS: PK
LEVELS: 1 - 2
Get someone to make a loud
sound at a distance!
Music Works - Page 9
Pan Pipes And Pitch
The pan pipes is an ancient instrument, commonly associated with Greece and more
latterly South America. They make their sound in just the same way as the bottle and
give a graphic demonstration of how pitch varies with pipe length.
PROJECT 4: EXPLORING THE WORD: ‘PITCH’
Ask students to say ‘This is high’ in a high voice followed by the words ‘This is low’ in a
low voice. As they say ‘This is high’ they can point upwards and when they say ‘This is
low’ they can point downwards.
Play Fire Engines:
All stand with teacher at the front.
Teacher makes a sound like a fire engine and students follow,
moving arms upwards for the high sounds and downwards for the
low sounds.
Try tricking students (by keeping arms low, false moves etc.)
Make little fire engine sounds and just move hands up and down.
Use this exercise to explore how pitch changes in steps (i.e. a scale). Find a soft toy, preferably with a two syllable name (I use an elephant called Nellie). Sing the following
words going up a major scale (do, reh, me...):
Nel - lie’s Go - ing Up The Sta - irs
And then down the scale:
Nel - lie’s Co - ming Down The Sta - irs
As you sing this move the toy up and down the stairs and ask the students to copy the
movement and song.
STRANDS: PK, CI
LEVELS: 1 - 2
Music Works - Page 10
PROJECT 5: BOTTLED WATER
Find five or six identical bottles and fill them with various amounts of water. Now either
blow over the top or lightly hit the bottles and listen to the pitch change as more water is
put in. Talk about why this happens. Draw a picture on the whiteboard showing a bottle
with a wave representing the air shaking inside. Make up a tune and play it on the
bottles.
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI
LEVELS: 1 - 3
PROJECT 6: MAKE YOUR OWN PANPIPES
Panpipes are really easy to make. You’ll need some plastic plumbing pipe, some corks or
neoprene foam to fit inside the pipe, a hacksaw and a sharp knife.
Cut lengths of pipe with the hacksaw.
Clean off the ends with the sharp knife (you need a sharp edge to
blow against to generate the sound)
Cut the corks/foam so that they slide into the end of the pipe and
make an airtight seal.
Move the cork inside the pipe to tune (use an electronic tuner).
Cut off any spare pipe once the cork is positioned.
Rather than making bound sets of pipes, make individual pipes which can be played by
individual students. You could then create music by having one student ‘conducting’ the
group by pointing at individual players. What would you call this ‘human’ instrument?
A similar project involves using plastic drain pipe which can be cut into different lengths.
These can be played by simply dropping the tubes onto a carpet or by hitting the end
with a jandle.
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI
LEVELS: 1 - 4
PROJECT 7: MAKE A BIRD CALLER
A variation on making your own panpipes is the bird caller. Use garden irrigation pipe
and cut a length 20 - 30mm long. Block one end and blow across it like the panpipes.
Vary the pitch by moving the chin in and out. This is a great device to try in the bush as
bellbirds and tui check you out to make sure you are not competition! Explore which
sounds are best for attracting birds, use the instrument in a song.
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 4
Music Works - Page 11
The Koauau
These traditional Maori instruments were made from bone
(moa, albatross, dog, human), wood and stone. The
playing technique is similar to the panpipes only instead of
blowing over the top, you blow from the side, however,
because it is open at both ends it is more difficult to play.
Pitch is altered using a combination of finger holes and
altering the mouth (like when you whistle).
Detail of carving on koauau
PROJECT 8: MAKE A KOAUAU
Making a koauau is very straightforward. Although bamboo was not available to Maori
in ancient times, it nevertheless makes an excellent source material for koauau.
Select dead bamboo and cut into about 150mm lengths between the nodes. (Bore diameters between 12mm and 20mm are recommended to begin with).
Cut strips of 120g sandpaper approximately 20mm x
200mm and use them to round the ends of the
koauau (select the larger end as the blowing end and
be careful to get a sharp edge without curving into the
straight cut).
It is recommended to learn blowing technique at this
stage as it is easier to do this without the finger holes.
Drill 2.5mm holes at about 36mm, 60mm and 82mm
from the bottom end. (A 3mm drill can be used for
larger bores). Countersink these to make them easier
to locate while playing.
Cleaning the bore of its papery lining with a round
file will improve the instrument’s sound and sanding
the outside makes it look and feel better.
A hole near the bottom end and on the other side to
the finger holes will not affect the sound and will give
a place to tie on a cord if you wish to wear it.
Bamboo koauau can be easily made
Explore the sounds of the instrument. Make up some music to accompany a traditional
Maori legend or story.
Construction notes by Brian Flintoff.
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI, UC
LEVELS: 3 - 4
Music Works - Page 12
Tin Whistle
Occasionally referred to as the penny
whistle, this instrument is ideal for
the beginner who wishes to play Irish
music.
It’s not a toy and in the hands of an
experienced player can sound really
wonderful.
The sound is generated by blowing
through the end. When the air hits
the straight edge or fipple, it starts to
vibrate. A column of air vibrates
between the fipple and the first open
hole. The pitch is varied by fingering
the holes. The more fingers down,
the longer the column of air vibrating
and the lower the pitch.
‘Not Just An Instrument For Kids’
The higher octave is produced by
overblowing the instrument. Why
does the pitch rise when you overblow
the instrument? Well the wave inside
splits into two and half the wave
length gives an octave rise in pitch.
Longer whistles sound lower in pitch.
Recorders make their sound in much the same way.
Swanee Whistle
These days the swanee whistle is often played by clowns or people having fun. But a
hundred or so years ago, it was a more serious instrument and people used to play
beautiful music on it.
Instead of having finger holes, the swanee whistle has a plunger inside the tube. When
the plunger is moved up the tube, the amount of air that can vibrate in the tube reduces
and the pitch becomes higher.
Music Works - Page 13
Flute
The wooden flute, as played
in Irish music, was the
standard flute used in
orchestras before the
modern “Boehm’ system of
metal keyed flute was
invented in the middle of
the nineteenth century.
The sound is produced by blowing across the hole at one end of the flute called the
embouchure (just like blowing across the top of the bottle).
Pitch is varied in a similar way to the tin whistle.
The older style of simple system wooden flute:
The modern Boehm system flute:
Reed Instruments
Reed instruments make their sound by vibrating reeds. The reeds can be made of cane,
metal or plastic and instruments in this family can be blown by mouth or by bellows.
PROJECT 9: MAKE A REED INSTRUMENT
The easiest way to make a reed instrument is to take a wide piece of grass and place it in
the hole made when you put your thumbs together. The top and bottom of the grass
should be secured by your knuckles. Now blow!
Here’s a way of making a more sophisticated reed instrument:
You’ll need a piece of garden irrigation hose, a round margarine
container, a cork or neoprene foam, some sticky tape and a drill.
Cut two blades for the reed from a curved part of a round
margarine container, 15mm wide and 50mm deep and shape them
as per the diagram.
Cut a 50mm length of straw.
Music Works - Page 14
Tape the narrow end of the blades half way down the
straw as per the diagram, making sure both blades
are lined up with concave sides facing in. After
taping, the sides of the blades should be touching
giving an airtight seal, but there should still be a
small gap between the blades.
Cut a 300mm length of irrigation pipe.
Select a cork or cut some foam that will block off the
end of the pipe and drill a hole through its centre so
that the straw sits tightly.
Place the reed in the hole and blow!
Drill holes in the irrigation pipe to change pitch.
Make up your own music, does it sound Celtic?
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI, UC
LEVELS: 3 - 4
Highland Bagpipes
The highland bagpipe chanter has a
reed positioned in its head which
vibrates when air is blown through the
chanter.
Because there is greater resistance to
the air, the chanter is hard to blow.
Pitch is varied in a similar way to the
tin whistle.
Music Works - Page 15
Irish Bagpipes
or Uilleann Pipes (Pronounced ‘ill-en’)
The traditional bagpipe of Ireland is the most
sophisticated bagpipe in the world, having a two
octave range on the chanter. As well as having
drones, a full set of uilleann pipes has a set of
regulators, which are normally closed keyed
chanters that sit above the drones on which the
piper plays chords with his/her wrist.
The air is supplied to the bag by a bellows which
sits under one arm. The bag is placed under the
other arm and when pressure is applied to the
bag, the air travels through to the various reeds.
The chanter, which is used to play the melody,
has a very sensitive reed as the top octave is
achieved by overblowing the reed using bag
pressure. Each drone (and each regulator on a full
set) has its own reed too.
Different pitches are obtained with finger holes on the chanter in a similar way to the tin
whistle/flute, but with the bottom of the chanter normally resting on the leg. The lowest
note is played by lifting the chanter off the leg!
Music Works - Page 16
Harmonica/
Accordion
The harmonica is a mouth blown reed instrument.
Inside each hole there are two reeds, one that
vibrates when you blow and another that vibrates
when you suck. The size of the reed determines
the pitch of the note.
You can experiment by flicking a ruler on the
edge of a desk. The longer the piece of ruler, the
lower the pitch of the note. Take a harmonica
apart and have a look at the reeds inside.
The accordion works in a similar way to the
harmonica, but it uses a bellows to pump the air
in and out. Accordions come in different shapes
and sizes and use different fingering systems.
They have buttons or piano style keys on one side
for playing melody and buttons on the other side
for playing bass notes.
Kazoo
These are definitely fun! They consist of a membrane of tissue paper stretched across a cavity,
which vibrates in sympathy to sounds in close vicinity, i.e. the player has to make their own sound
as well.
Try making a kazoo by wrapping tissue or greaseproof paper around a comb. Pull the paper tight,
move it up to the lips and hum!
Stringed Instruments
These instruments make their sound by the vibration of a string after being plucked or bowed.
However, the vibration of the string is not of sufficient volume to be heard well and requires a
means of amplification.
Amplification can be achieved in two ways. In an acoustic situation the vibration from the string
passes through a bridge to the sound board and then into the sound box. With an electrical system
the vibration of the string is turned into an electric current by a pick-up, which is then sent to an
amplifier and speakers. Examples of these two systems are given in this diagram:
String
Bridge
Soundboard
Sound-box
String
Pick-up
Amplifier
Speakers
Music Works - Page 17
PROJECT 10: MAKE A STRINGED INSTRUMENT
There are many ways of making simple stringed instruments.
The easiest way would be to stretch rubber bands over an ice-cream container, but a
really cool instrument to make is the bush bass:
You’ll need a wooden plywood box (an old tea chest is best), a small
piece of MDF board, a broom handle, some string, a washer, a few
nails, a hammer, a drill and some scissors.
Turn the box upside-down and drill a hole in the centre of the
bottom.
Take an 80mm x 80mm piece of MDF board and drill or carve a
hole in it to take one end of the broom handle. Nail this into a
corner of the bottom (now top) of the box.
Cut a metre of broom handle and drill a hole in one end.
Thread the string through the hole in the box and attach the washer
(so the string does not pull through). Thread the other end of the
string through the hole in the handle and adjust the length so that
you can adjust the tension of the string by pulling the handle (when
the other end of the stick is in the MDF support).
Now pluck - you are playing a bush bass! Play along with other
people or recordings, make up your own song using the bush bass.
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 4
Guitar
The guitar is probably the most popular
instrument played in New Zealand today. It
normally has six strings made from steel or
nylon which are plucked with the fingers or
played with a pick. The vibrating length of
the string can be shortened by placing fingers
over the strings on the fretboard. Reducing
the vibration length raises the pitch of the
note. Also strings need to be tuned. When a
string is made tighter, it’s pitch goes higher.
Guitars are played in many styles of music
including classical, rock, jazz, folk and country.
Music Works - Page 18
In The Bush
Words and Music ©Bob Bickerton 1995
Guitars are great for playing along with people who are singing. Here’s the song from the
Music Works live performance:
C
In the
bush
F
bush I heard a
I heard a
we- ka
we- ka call
call
a
C
we- ka call
a
F
G
ve- ry
spe- cial
C
C
sound
we- ka call In the
a
7
C
F
In the bush
F
In the bush
G
In the bush
In the bush
C
I
heard
them
call
In the bush I heard a weka call, a weka call, a weka call,
In the bush I heard a weka call, a very special sound.
In the bush (sound of bird), In the bush (sound of bird),
In the bush (sound of bird), In the bush.
Second verse: In the hills - Kea
Third verse: At night - Ruru
Fourth Verse: In the bush - Kokako
I heard them call.
Try using your own words, use different birds, give them ailments (e.g. hiccups), have fun!
PROJECT 11: EXPLORING VOLUME/DYNAMICS
Some of the bird sounds in the above song may be softer or louder than others. Emphasise the
volume of these sounds and sing the entire verse soft or loud.
Ask the students to say ‘This is soft’ in a quiet whispering way, then ask them to say ‘This is loud’
in a loud voice alternate these. A great way of exploring dynamics is to sing ‘Old McDonald’s
Farm’, but before hand, ask the students to identify ‘soft’ and ‘loud’ animal noises. Sing the verses
either softly or loudly depending on the animal.
STRANDS: PK, CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 2
Music Works - Page 19
Violin/Fiddle
The violin is another
instrument which is
found in many different
types of music. In folk
music it is often referred
to as the fiddle.
The sound is produced
by drawing the bow
(which is made from
the hair of a horses tail)
across the strings.
Because the bow has a
sticky substance on it
called rosin, the hair catches the string and makes it vibrate.
The vibrations travel through the bridge and into the body of the instrument where they
are amplified.
The fiddle has four strings and pitch is varied by shortening the effective length of the
string with the fingers, as with the guitar.
The violin is the smallest member of the family of string instruments which forms the
strings section of the orchestra.
The next size up is the viola, which still sits under the chin. Next is the cello, which sits
between the players legs and finally comes the double bass, which is so big you have to
stand next to it the play it!
Music Works - Page 20
Harp
It is said that the Irish developed the
present form of the harp (with the
fore pillar) in or around the 8th
century AD, although pictures of
primitive harps in Egypt have been
dated back 4,000 years. The Irish have
certainly adopted the instrument and
it is the national instrument of that
country.
The harp I play has 34 strings made
from sheep-gut, all of which have to be tuned on a regular basis. The harp is balanced on
the right shoulder, leaving both hands free to pluck the strings. Red coloured strings
mark the notes of ‘C’ and black strings mark the notes of ‘F’.
The small levers at the top of each string shorten the amount of string that is vibrating
and raises the pitch of the string by a semi-tone, allowing the performer to play in
different keys. If the levers are set to the key of C natural, then all the strings on the harp
would correspond to the white notes on the piano.
The harp used in orchestras is larger, has more strings and has a mechanical system for
changing key using foot-pedals. The ancient harps of Ireland had strings made of wire
and were plucked with the finger nails instead of the flesh of the finger giving a bell-like
sound.
Music Works - Page 21
Percussion
Instruments
Percussion instruments can take many
forms and are easy for students to play.
Here are two percussion instruments
found in traditional Irish music.
Instructions for playing these instruments
are included.
Bodhrán
(pronounced Bow-Rawn)
The bodhrán is a shallow one sided drum,
of a type found in many cultures around
the world. It is traditionally made from
goat skin and is played with a small stick,
often called a tipper. It is said that in times
gone by the tipper of a Bodhrán was made
from the bones of an Englishman!
PROJECT 12: HOW TO PLAY THE BODHRÁN DRUM
Hold the drum with left hand (if right-handed), by
wedging the hand between the handle and the skin.
Hold the tipper in the right hand like a pencil and
concentrate on the ‘writing’ end.
Hold the right arm horizontal and with a loose
wrist (but holding the tipper firm in the fingers)
shake the tipper in an arc (as though you are trying
to shake blue tack off the writing end).
Now move the tipper until it starts to hit the drum.
The writing end of the tipper should trace out an
arc on the skin of the drum.
Now make up a song, perhaps a rap, using the
Bodhrán as accompaniment.
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 4
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Bones
The bones consist of two rib bones which are
shaken in the hand. Some people play the
spoons like this.
PROJECT 13: HOW TO PLAY
THE BONES
Place one bone between the first two
fingers of the hand and hold firmly
with the thumb.
Place the next bone between the
middle and third fingers. This bone
will be floppy in the hand.
Shake the hand so that the floppy
bone hits the firmly held bone.
Make up a song that uses the bones
as accompaniment.
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 4
What No
Brass?
I’m sorry to say I don’t play a
brass instrument, so I’m afraid
the brass instrument family is
not represented in this resource.
Brass instruments work by the
player blowing a raspberry into
a tube with their lips. The
vibration of the lips creates the
sound.
You can make a simple brass
instrument out of a length of
garden irrigation tube.
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PROJECT 14: CARD GAMES
There are a number of learning games which can be played using the following cards and
tracks off the CD.
There are three sets of cards on the following pages for each instrument covered in Music
Works:
Photograph Cards
Description Cards
Name Cards
Photocopy these pages on to card, cut them out using the crop marks and, if you wish,
laminate them. The format of the instrument tracks on the CD is:
Description Of Instrument
Sound Of Instrument
Name Of Instrument
Here are some games that can be played with this section of the resource:
Match the description cards with the photograph and name cards
(Individual or small group)
Match the cards to the tracks on the CD (Individual and small
groups)
Draw a picture of the instrument on the name card (Younger
individuals)
Cut the description cards up into statements and rematch them.
Cut the picture cards up (like a jig saw puzzle) and rematch the
pieces.
Play the CD and pause before the instrument’s name is announced
and ask what the instrument is or ask students to pretend to play the
instrument they think it is (Large group). Play the tracks randomly.
Use description cards to play ‘Who Am I?, i.e. “I am made from
many different sized tubes, strapped together.....” (Large group)
Please let me know if you invent any other games.
STRANDS: PK, CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 4
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This Instrument:
This Instrument:
This Instrument:
is made of many
different sized tubes
strapped together
is played up to the
lips so that air splits
on the far edge
is played by blowing
into the end
is played by blowing
across the top of each
tube (just like the
bottle)
is open at both ends
is commonly played
in South America
has been played in
New Zealand for many
hundreds of years
used to be made out
of tin
This Instrument:
This Instrument:
This Instrument:
makes its sound by
air being split on a
sharp edge in the
mouth piece
makes its sound by
air being blown
across a hole in the
side of the tube
is very hard to blow
makes high and low
sounds by a plunger
being moved up and
down inside the barrel
is held out to the side
of the head
has finger holes
is commonly played
by clowns
is usually made of
bone
has finger holes and
or keys
makes its sound by
air being split on a
sharp edge in the
mouth piece
has six finger holes
makes its sound
using a reed
is commonly played
in Scotland
can be made out of
metal or wood
This Instrument:
This Instrument:
This Instrument:
makes its sound
using reeds
is played by the
mouth
uses a bellows to
blow air into a bag
has two reeds in each
hole in the front
uses a bellows to
blow air through the
reeds
uses a bag to supply
air to the reeds
makes a different note
depending on
whether you blow or
suck
uses a chanter to play
the tune and also has
drones
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has a reed under each
button or key
comes in many
different shapes and
sizes
This Instrument:
This Instrument:
This Instrument:
has a piece of paper
inside that shakes
when it gets close to
another sound
has six strings
has four strings
can be plucked with
the fingers or played
with a pick
is played with a bow
can be used to make
sounds like buzzy
bees and chainsaws
is often played by
clowns
uses a soundboard to
make the sound
louder
sits under the chin
when played
uses a soundboard to
make the sound
louder
is good for playing
along with people
who are singing
is used in all sorts of
music
This Instrument:
This Instrument:
This Instrument:
has thirty four strings
is a percussion
instrument
is a percussion
instrument
is made from bones
is held in one hand
and hit with a stick in
the other
is balanced against
the shoulder to play
is plucked with the
fingers of both hands
is often heard in
videos and cartoons
when magic or fairies
are featured
is shaken in one hand
sometimes people
play the spoons like
this instrument
Music Works - Page 28
has a skin stretched
across a round frame
Panpipes
Koauau
Tin Whistle
Swanee Whistle
Flute
Bagpipe Chanter
Irish Bagpipes
Harmonica
Accordion
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Kazoo
Guitar
Violin
Harp
Bones
Bodhrán Drum
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PROJECT 15: REVIEW THE PERFORMANCE
This can be done in different ways. Older students could read some reviews in the
newspaper and then write a review of the live performance of Music Works.
Younger students may take a different approach. Ask them which aspects of the show
they liked, which aspects they didn’t like. Perhaps ask them to make drawings of their
favourite instrument from the show and their least favourite instrument. Ask them why
they were their favourite/least favourite instruments.
STRANDS: CI
LEVELS: 1 - 4
PROJECT 16: THE GREAT NEWSPAPER ORCHESTRA
This is great fun but very messy! All you’ll need is a pile of newspapers.
Explore all the sounds you can make from a newspaper, here are some ideas:
A tearing sound
A rubbing sound
A wrinkling sound
A taught sound (by pulling the paper taught)
A flicking sound (by flicking the paper with your fingers)
Now you are ready to form an orchestra:
Create different ‘sections’ of the orchestra by asking one group of
students to make one sort of sound (it’s a good idea to swap sections
now and then).
Create some newspaper orchestra music using symbols on a whiteboard (weather symbols can be good for this).
Now appoint a conductor to conduct a piece of music by pointing
the symbols on the whiteboard.
Examples of this would be representing thunder with the taught pulling sound,
representing rain with the flicking sound.
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI
LEVELS: 1 - 4
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PROJECT 17: MAKE YOUR OWN ORCHESTRA
This can be a fun classroom project or an easy homework project.
Having seen how all these different instruments make their sounds, ask the students to
invent their own instruments using commonly found materials. The instruments could
be combinations of ideas they have seen, e.g. wind and string. Ask them to come up with
exciting names for their new instruments.
Explore the instrument’s sounds, form a band or orchestra and make music:
Create sections of instruments.
Create sequences of sounds that can be put together to make a
musical story.
Create a series of large cards with instructions on them like Fast,
Slow, Soft, Loud, High, Low and ask some to conduct by pointing
to sections and using these cards.
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI, UC
LEVELS: 1 - 4
‘Ask students to invent their own instruments.’
PROJECT 18: MUSIC WORKS HOMEWORK SHEET
The next two pages may be copied back to back for each student and used as either a
classroom or homework resource.
STRANDS: PK, DI, CI,
LEVELS: 3 - 4
Music Works - Page 32
Music Works Fun Sheet
Instrument Mix Up
The instruments and names have got mixed up, can you sort them out? Draw a line
between the instruments and their names.
Guitar
Fiddle
Harp
Panpipes
Bones
Tin Whistle
Wordfind
Happy Families
Can you find the following words in the
wordfind grid? Words can go down, across,
diagonally and backwards! Put a line through
the words when you find them and cross them
off the list:
Each instrument belongs to a
family. Instruments you blow
belong to the wind family,
instruments with strings belong
to the string family and
instruments you hit belong to the
percussion family. Write the
wind, strings,
family name (wind,
percussion
percussion) next to the
instrument name:
Pitch
Fiddle
Panpipes
Soundboard
Buzzy Bee
Chanter
Soft
Bones
Loud
Fast
Slow
Vibrate
B
S
O
W
E
B
U
V
R
O
P
D
U
O
L
B
O
Z
R
A
X
A
T
L
Z
F
O
N
R
D
F
A
N
S
S
I
Z
T
E
H
C
T
I
P
U
Q
A
O
Y
S
J
E
D
D
I
A
K
R
F
U
B
K
O
U
A
P
U
F
I
D
D
L
E
O
C
B
E
P
V
I
B
R
A
T
E
B
M
S
E
G
C
H
A
N
T
E
R
I
K
S
O
U
N
D
B
O
A
R
D
E
Panpipes ___________
Guitar ___________
Bodhrán Drum ___________
Flute ___________
Fiddle ___________
Bones ___________
Harp ___________
Word Match
Match the words to the sentences below by writing each one of these words into the
right space:
pitch
1.
soundboard
horse hair
reeds
vibrates
The fiddle bow has ____________ on it.
2. Air ____________ to make sound.
3. The ____________ is how high or low something is.
4. The guitar has a ____________ which makes the strings sound louder.
5. The accordion has ____________ which shake when it is played.
Loud and Soft
High and Low
Write the word ‘Loud’ or ‘Soft’ next to
each of these names depending on
whether you think they make a loud
sound or a quiet sound:
Write the word ‘High’ or ‘Low’ next to
each of these sounds depending on
whether you think they make a high
sound or a low sound:
Jet ________
Mouse’s Squeak ________
Lion’s Roar ________
Giant’s Yawn ________
Mouse’s Squeak ________
Smoke Alarm ________
Bomb ________
Thunder________
Snake’s Hiss ________
Child’s Scream ________
Rock Band ________
Long String ________
Leaves Rustling ________
Short String ________
Words That Shake
How many words can you think of that mean the same as shake? Write them here:
Which is the word we use when we talk about air shaking to make sound? Write it
here:
__________________________
Design A New Instrument
Design and make a new instrument and give it a crazy name. Will it have strings? Will
you blow it? Will you hit it? Make up a piece of music on it and play it to your class.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here’s a few of the frequently and not so frequently asked questions with answers:
How long have you been playing music? - Twenty six years (in 2001).
How old were you when you started to play music? - I was 21 years old when I started
to play music, which is quite old. Most people start to play music when they are your
(student’s) age.
Why did you start to play music? - Well, I always liked to listen to music, then I
discovered that playing music is much more fun.
Do you like playing music? - Do you like eating ice-cream? I think playing music is lots
of fun, just like eating ice cream, but you can do it as much as you like and you never get
fat!
What instrument did you start on? - The guitar, and I had so much fun, I went on to
learn all the others.
What do you do for a job? - Well this is my job, I’m a musician, isn’t that great?
How often do you practice? - Well, I tend not to think of it as practice, I tend to think
of it as enjoying playing music, even if it’s tricky. If you enjoy something you want to do
it a lot of the time and music’s like that. I play music everyday if I can. It’s amazing, that’s
all you need to do is play a little bit of music each day and you can’t help yourself, you
just naturally get better at it!
Are you married? - Yes
Do you have children? - Yes, a daughter aged 10 (in 2001).
How many schools have you been to? - Hundreds now, I’ve lost count.
How long have you been playing music in schools? - About twenty years or so, full-time
for the last seven years (in 2001).
What are all the instruments worth? - About $15,000.
How much is the harp? - About $5,000.
What are the strings on the harp made out of? - Sheep guts!
Why are there different coloured strings on the harp? - Well if all the strings on the
harp were the same colour, I wouldn’t know which one to play. By colouring certain
strings red and others black, I can find my way around.
What colour is your van? - White.
Do you have fake eyebrows? - No (thinks; why do you ask?).
Music Works - Page 35
Bob Bickerton
Specialising in Celtic music, Bob
Bickerton has performed at most
major concert venues and folk
festivals around New Zealand.
He has performed to over 120,000
students in schools over the last 20
years, where he has received critical
acclaim for the quality of his
educational programmes as well as
his ability to engage children in a
positive, disciplined and inspiring
way.
He has worked under the Performing Arts In Schools scheme and has presented student
programmes for the New Zealand Chamber Music Festival.
As Director/General Manager of the Nelson School Of Music, he encouraged the development of community programmes, with particular emphasis on children. He has given
workshops and classes in Irish music and has studied uilleann pipes, flute and fiddle in
Ireland.
He has performed with contemporary, classical and ethnic groups, and has recorded as a
session musician on numerous albums, as well as for radio and television. His debut CD
‘ Music In The Glen’ was a finalist in the prestigious Music and Entertainment Awards.
For more information on Bob, visit his website at: www.bickerton.co.nz
Music Works - Page 36