Mr. McCaffrey's

6th Grade Instruments of the Orchestra & Music Cultures

    In my 6th Grade Instruments of the Orchestra class, we focus on learning the instruments of the western culture.  There are hundreds of instruments that are part of the western culture.   Therefore, this class is aimed towards the instruments of the orchestra broken down into the four major families of instruments (String, Woodwind, Brass, Percussion).   We learn to recognize the instruments by both sight and sound.  Students also learn where each instrument and there families sit in a typical orchestra seating arrangement.  They learn about the music alphabet, how to determine the I and V chords in any key, and what people are talking about when they mention a piece of music "is in the key of C".  This is all leading up to something called program music.  Students learn to recognize which families and what instruments in those families are used to represent certain objects.  We introduce program music with Peter and the Wolf and then listen to Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.  This piece is a great product of program music that is broken down into numerous short excerpts.  Finally, I have a Troll Day.  This is a day that was introduced to me by a former Arcola music teacher, Joyce Bustard.  It is about some stories from Norway; that were told from generation to generation.  Composer Edward Grieg turned some of the stories into program music.  Students first learn the story of Peer Gynt and his journey into the mountains, then we listen to the music In the Hall of the Mountain King.  We end our session by putting the two (story and music) together.  We also take a look at the music styles and instruments from various cultures.  This is done with hands on rhythm activities and videos.

    Grades   

    Students receive their grades thru: daily participation, folder materials, quizzes, a quest (harder than a quiz, easier than a test), and a test.

Study Helpers

•     Orchestra Instrument Sounds

                (Click on any instrument and listen to the sound.  This is a great way to study for the listening portion of this class.) 

•     Energy in the Air

                (Click on Energy in the Air: Sounds of the Orchestra) 

                (You may then choose any instrument in the orchestra to listen to the sound or view the picture).