Keyboard instruments have been the bedrock of music and composition for 350 years. When Jeremy Tuning Fork, keyboard salesman extraordin-aire, bursts into the shop, Quaver gets all keyed up to explore the piano, harpsichord, organ, and accordion. We meet Cristofori, the inventor of the pianoforte, and explore a modern-day piano to see how it works. From Bach to Boogie, the keyboard plays an essential part of almost ev-ery style of music.

OVERVIEW

Students will learn:• How to identify the members of the keyboard family by design and

timbre.• How one keyboard instrument can perform many musical functions

at the same time.• How the pattern of black and white keys on a keyboard helps to

find notes.• How the piano was invented, and why it is unique.• How the organ, accordion, piano, and harpsichord produce sound.• How keyboard instruments can convey feelings and emotions.

LESSON OBJECTIVES

Unit 2 Instruments & Ensembles

Episode 5The Keyboard Family

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© Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music • 1-1

VocabularyBassChordsMelodyPlectrumPianoforte

HammersStopsPedalsOrgan pipes

Development, function, and other key traits

1 Jeremy Tuning Fork sells the piano!

A keyboard instrument can perform many musical functions at the same time: melody, chords, rhythm, and bass. It is a self-contained music ensemble.

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2 Finding notes on a keyboard The keys on a keyboard are organized in a pattern of black and white keys to make it easier to find specific notes.

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3 Cristofori invents the pianoforte The piano is unique among keyboard instruments due to its ability to play loud and soft – hence the name pianoforte.

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4 Experimenting in the lab with grass, piping, and an old piano

Simple illustrations demonstrate how an accordion, piano, and organ produce sound.

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5 Song: You’re Never Alone with a Piano

This reprise summarizes the unique characteristics of keyboard instruments.

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MUSIC STANDARDS IN LESSON2: Playing instruments*3: Improvising melodies4: Composing and arranging music5: Reading and notating music6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music8: Understanding the relationship between music and the other arts 9: Understanding music in relation to history, style, and culture

Complete details at QuaverMusic.com

Music StandardWhat they teach

Create two columns on a white board, chalkboard, or a large sheet of paper. Label them as shown. Have stu-dents brainstorm kinds of machines that belong under the two headings.Examples:

2LESSON INTRO Introducing the episode

Unit 2 Instruments & Ensembles

The piano, organ, harpsichord, and accordion are musical machines, perhaps the most complicated pieces of machinery ever made for man to operate. This episode looks at their sound, range, uniqueness, and construc-tion.

Requires skills Push a button / key

driving a carriding a bike

putting up a tent

operating an elevatorturning on a TV

turning on a light

1-2 • QuaverMusic.com

Key Scenes

* concepts included in the Teacher Guide, but not in the DVD

Listen and Move ItPurpose: Differentiating between high and low notes

Play one high piano key. Instruct students to stand up. Play a higher key. Have students raise their arms. Play one low key. Have students touch the floor.

Try to challenge students by playing several high pitches in a row, then a low pitch, etc. The faster in succession the notes are played, the more fun the students will have!

10 Questions, Keyboard-StylePurpose: Familiarity with various keyboard instruments

Invite one student to think of one of the keyboard instruments that has been studied (piano, harpsichord, organ, accordion). Let the other students take turns asking 10 yes-or-no questions to see if they can guess the correct instrument.

You Can’t Go Wrong with This Song!Purpose: Improvisation and familiarity with the piano

Play a short pattern over and over on the low black keys of a piano, keeping a steady beat. Invite students one at a time to join you and improvise on higher black keys. Reassure students that they cannot make a mistake unless they play the white keys.

Note: The five black keys are actually a five-note scale called a pentatonic scale.

Discussion Points

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3PLAY EPISODE

The Keyboard Family

• Which is the only keyboard instrument that can be played loudly and softly? the piano• How is sound produced on the organ? by air traveling through pipes of different lengths• How does the harpsichord make its sound? By plucking strings• Name several musical functions you can perform all at the same time on the

piano? form chords; provide melody, harmony, rhythm, and bass; control dynamics

CLASS ACTIVITIES

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VIDEO REPLAY You’re Never Alone with a PianoPurpose: Reinforcing fundamental qualities of the keyboardAsk students to name all the things a piano can do simultaneously that other single instruments cannot. Then join in with the amazing Jeremy Tuning Fork on his piano song, You’re Never Alone with a Piano (Track 1). It’ll stick in your brain like no other!

Track 1

You’d be surprised how many people have instruments in their attics. Why not send a letter home to see if any-one has an accordion they will loan to your class?

QGroovesStudents can create five tracks by com-bining musical loops featuring different instrumental sounds: keyboards, synth/brass, drums, percussion, and basses. Loops can be dragged onto each track enabling the student to make music. Keyboard sounds include acoustic, dyno, and electric pianos...very groovy!

QComposerStudents can select individual notes on the keyboard and drag them to the staff to create a melody. When the play button is clicked, the piano keyboard will play their melody. Students can change and save their melodies as may times as they want or get help from the Chord Builder.

WEB ACTIVITIES5

1-4 • QuaverMusic.com

IWB 1

Play activities on your INTERACTIVE White Board

IWB

Unit 2 Instruments & Ensembles

Piano AssemblyPurpose: Remembering the pattern of the keyboardGive students this piano jigsaw worksheet to take home. The best prac-tice is to photocopy it onto card stock so the pieces are sturdier. Instruct students to cut it out and re-assemble it at home. If desired, ask them to time themselves and report back how long it took.

My Instrument FilePurpose: Reinforcing the names and uses of keyboard instrumentsCopy the keyboard worksheet for students to take home and color. They can fill in the names of each keyboard instrument. When com-pleted, this worksheet can be added to the other instrument family worksheets.

7ASSESSMENT

Tracking the KeyboardAsk students to listen to these tracks. Instruct them to write down which keyboard instrument is being played.

Track 2 Delibes’ Pizzicato - pianoTrack 3 Harpsichord Jig - harpsichordTrack 4 Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D-minor - organTrack 5 Rhine Cruise - accordion

Assess the students’ recognition of each keyboard instrument using the worksheet, and discuss their answers as a group.

6HOMEWORK

PRINTWORKSHEET

PRINTWORKSHEET

PRINTWORKSHEET

Worksheet # 1

Worksheet # 2

Tracks 2, 3, 4 & 5

PRINTWORKSHEET

PRINTWORKSHEET

PRINTWORKSHEET

Worksheet # 3

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Additional session activities

The Keyboard Family

ArtPictures of pianos in history illustrate different art styles and periods (Rococo, Deco, contemporary, etc.). Chal-lenge students to draw an original keyboard instrument and name it - like Quaver’s piani-skate. What are the unique attributes of their invention? Have them label those characteristics.

9DIGGING DEEPER

Piano StylePurpose: Showing the versatility of keyboard instrumentsThe piano is amazingly versatile as is demonstrated by these selections. Ask students how these pieces make them feel, and why? Encourage students to use musical terms and vocabulary.

Track 6 Chopin’s Fantasy Impromptu - a very difficult piece of Classical musicTrack 7 Boogie-Woogie - a great beat and a repeated left-hand patternTrack 8 Angels - a piece of Jazz where the piano teams up with the bass and drumsTrack 9 Joplin’s The Entertainer - Ragtime, a piano style with a great beat

Which style do students like best? Which style do they think is most difficult to play?

CROSS-CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES8

Tracks 6, 7, 8 & 9

ScienceShow students pictures of organ pipes. Bigger, wider pipes make lower sounds and smaller, thinner pipes make higher sounds. Discuss this idea in reference to the different lengths of colorful tubes such as Boomwhackers® or contrast a piccolo and flute. If you have access to a piano, take the cover off as Quaver did, and look at the string sizes.

PRINTWORKSHEET

PRINTWORKSHEET

PRINTWORKSHEET

Worksheet # 4

I Can Play the Keyboard!Purpose: Playing simple tunes on the keyboardUsing the worksheet and the paper piano, students can learn four pieces of simple music. Drawing upon knowledge gained from the notation episodes (Unit 1, epi-sode 7-12), ask them to write the letter names of the notes under the score. Then practice on their paper keyboards – if you have a real one, even better! Remind stu-dents that practicing slowly and accurately is better than playing faster but with mistakes.

PRINTWORKSHEET

PRINTWORKSHEET

PRINTWORKSHEET

Worksheet # 5

1-6 • QuaverMusic.com

MaterialsNeeded- Colored pencils- Different lengths of colorful tubes

Unit 2 Instruments & Ensembles

Organ

TEACHER NOTESFeaturedInstruments

Piano

Accordion

Harpsichord

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The Keyboard Family