Brass Instruments Uncoiled printable pdf download

Brass Instruments Uncoiled

Teaching Objective

Students will compare the length of objects in their environment with the extended length

of brass instruments.

Vocabulary

Predecessor - a thing that came before another

Evolved - developed gradually

Resources

"Brass Instrument Uncoiled" chart

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Pictures of a trumpet, trombone, French horn and tuba (available on the

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instrument section).

Yardsticks or rulers

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Dimensions of a football field - approximately 53 yards (159 ft.) wide and 100 yards

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(300 ft.) long

Pre-Assessment

Display pictures of the trumpet, trombone, French horn and tuba and challenge the class to

guess the length of the tubing of each instrument.

Teaching Sequence

Tell students that the oldest predecessor of brass instruments we know about is a

trumpet found in a drawing in King Tutankhamen's tomb in Egypt, dating to 1500 BC

- over three thousand years ago. The Egyptian trumpet was a long, straight tube

made of silver or bronze, and was four feet long. This instrument could produce only

a few tones. As the trumpet evolved over time, it became longer and was coiled to

make the instrument easier to hold. Later, valves and tubing were added to let the

players play all the notes in the scale.

2. Display the "Brass Instrument Uncoiled" chart, or make copies and distribute one to

each student.

Note to Teacher: Each brass instrument is found in many lengths but for the

purpose of this lesson, use the lengths found on the chart on page 12.

3. Challenge students to solve problems such as: How many trumpet lengths tall are

you? Our classroom is ___x___ ft. (let students measure the dimensions) How many

(choose an instrument) lengths is each side of the room? A football field is

____long and ____wide. How many (choose an instrument) lengths is the length?

Width?

Brass Instruments Uncoiled