Dynamics, Tempo, Form

Dynamics, Tempo, Form
Sing the song changing tempos on different sections, phrases, or

measures
Sing the song changing dynamics on different sections, phrases, or

measures
Sing the song alternating phrases or sections between two groups of

singers
Body Percussion
Add a beat or ostinato by clapping
Add a beat or ostinato by patsching
Add a beat or ostinato by tapping
Instruments
Add a beat or ostinato on an unpitched percussion instrument
Add a bordun ostinato or drone on a pitched percussion instrument
Add more than one bordun on multiple instruments
Play only metal instruments, or wood instruments, etc.

Conclusion
Do endless combinations of all of the above
Creative Exploration of Classroom Instruments

Inspiration can come from anywhere, including the arsenal of classroom and
children’s instruments available. Classroom instruments are much more than
noisemakers to accompany songs. There are many creative ways to use these
inexpensive instruments to help and inspire you, and which will fire up a child’s
imagination. Here are a few instruments typically found in classrooms, or that can be
purchased inexpensively at a music store or online. This list is by no means
exhaustive, but it does provide a wide range of commonly used instruments from
Western and world cultures.
Typical classroom instruments

Xylophones Metallophones
Glockenspiels Boomwhackers
Recorders Slide whistles
Jingle bells Kokoriko
Castanets Bells
Agogo bells (African double bell) Shekere (African gourd shaker)
Maracas Triangle
Cymbals (finger, crash,

Tambourines
suspended)
Timpani Gongs
Bongos Temple blocks
Steel drum Hand drum

Conga drums Claves
Cowbell Djembe
Rainmaker Rhythm blocks
Sand blocks Panpipes
Ocarina Piano
Mbira (thumb piano) Guiro
Tick tock Tone block
Vibra slap Wood block
Guitar Violin
Chimes
Thinking about the source of sound production and materials will lead you to the field
of organology, or the classification of musical instruments. Instruments all over the
world can be grouped into five categories based on the Sachs-Hornbostel instrument
classification system. This system groups the instruments by the way in which sound
is produced. They are:
Aerophones: Instruments that produce sound by using air as the primary

vibrating means. (e.g., flutes, horns, whistles).
Membranophones: Instruments that produce sound by means of vibrating a

stretched membrane (e.g., drums)
Chordophones: A term used for stringed instruments. Refers to an instrument

sounded by bowing, plucking, or striking a string that is stretched between two
fixed points. (e.g., violins)
Idiophones: Instruments that produce sound from the material of the instrument
itself. Idiophones produce sounds from the following methods and represent the
largest category of classroom instruments.
 Percussion: instrument caused to vibrate by striking it with a non-vibrating

object such as a mallet or stick
 Shaken: sound produced by small particles contained within the instrument
 Scraped: sound produced by scraping the instrument with a stick
 Plucked: instruments with a flexible tongue that is plucked to vibrate
 Concussion: two similar objects struck together to create sound
 Stamping: striking the object on a hard surface to vibrate the object
Electrophones: Refers to electronic instruments that either have their sound

generated electronically or acoustic instruments that have their sounds amplified
The Sachs-Hornbostel list, however, is only one way to think about instruments.
Children often come up with very imaginative ways to group instruments based on
characteristics other than sound production. Children can explore the timbre,
production, and material of the instruments to come up with their own ways of
categorizing them. After students explore and group instruments, they can develop
their own instrumentation for a piece, then vary it. Below is a list of other ways to
think about instruments besides the way the sound is produced, such as its timbre or
similar sound; physical attributes, etc.
Examples of different ways children can categorize

instruments.
Terminology Explanation
For younger children, one of the most obvious

types of recognition belongs to color, shape,
By Physical and size—attributes they are identifying in
round, tube, big, medium,
Attributes: small, rectangular, long, short,
other subjects. They may want to group
instruments by their color, how big or small,
hollow, solid, jingles, ridges,
and their shape. Musically, the shape of the
skin/membrane, brown, silver,
instrument is important since the shape is
e.g. Color, red, low pitch, high pitch
directly related to sound and sound
size, shape production. The smaller the instrument, the
higher the pitch, for example.
Metal, wood, metal and wood, This type of grouping brings students to
plastic, wire, string, skin another level of understanding in terms of
discussing the sound of the instruments. What
By Material an instrument is made of has a direct effect on
its timbre. The challenge here is that some
instruments, such as the tambourine, contain
more than one type of material. Ask students
how they might label such instruments.
Rattly-sounding, woody, An instrument’s timbre is directly related to its

metallic, jingly, high, thin, size, material, and even shape. All of the
By Timbre low, loud, soft, hollow, above properties affect the sound production
smooth, rough of an instrument
Children may find other unique ways of

Melody- plays a song, doesn’t play a
classifying instruments such as whether the
instrument can play a melody. This
Making song; pitched, unpitched
classification concerns Pitched instruments or
Ability Unpitched instruments.
Another way of classifying is to know the

Culture of Sub-Saharan Africa, North country or culture of origin for the
America, South America instruments. This related to musical
Origin instruments and their community
While most classroom instruments only have

Multi- Used for activities other than
one use, there are many instruments that serve
other purposes such as for cooking. The
Purpose music making
cowbell, for example, is an instrument that has
Use another purpose besides its musical one.

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Dynamics, Tempo, Form

Sing the song changing tempos on different sections, phrases, or

Sing the song changing dynamics on different sections, phrases, or

Sing the song alternating phrases or sections between two groups of

Add a beat or ostinato by clapping

Add a beat or ostinato by patsching

Add a beat or ostinato by tapping

Add a beat or ostinato on an unpitched percussion instrument

Add a bordun ostinato or drone on a pitched percussion instrument

Add more than one bordun on multiple instruments

Play only metal instruments, or wood instruments, etc.

Do endless combinations of all of the above

Creative Exploration of Classroom Instruments

Typical classroom instruments

Recorders Slide whistles

Jingle bells Kokoriko

Agogo bells (African double bell) Shekere (African gourd shaker)

Cymbals (finger, crash,

Bongos Temple blocks

Steel drum Hand drum

Rainmaker Rhythm blocks

Sand blocks Panpipes

Mbira (thumb piano) Guiro

Tick tock Tone block

Vibra slap Wood block

Aerophones: Instruments that produce sound by using air as the primary

Membranophones: Instruments that produce sound by means of vibrating a

Chordophones: A term used for stringed instruments. Refers to an instrument

 Percussion: instrument caused to vibrate by striking it with a non-vibrating

Electrophones: Refers to electronic instruments that either have their sound

Examples of different ways children can categorize

For younger children, one of the most obvious

Rattly-sounding, woody, An instrument’s timbre is directly related to its

Children may find other unique ways of

Another way of classifying is to know the

While most classroom instruments only have

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