Plucky Strings and Peppy Percussion Strings and Percussion    

Lesson 28: Piano - Moonlight Sonata

by Ludwig van Beethoven

Performer: Paul Pitman

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Recite the composer and composition names.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the instrument category.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

This lesson continues the study of the piano. This course classifies the piano as a keyboard instrument. Other classifications categorize pianos as string instruments, as pianos have strings. Still other classifications group pianos into the percussion group, since pianos have small hammers that strike the strings to create sounds. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Moonlight Sonata,' by Ludwig van Beethoven, features the music of a piano. The painting included in the lesson, 'Piano Practice,' by G. G. Kilburne, shows a little girl pushing a single key of a piano.

Vocabulary

Hammer: A part of a mechanism that hits another part to make it work.
Practice: Repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it.

Category

Music lessons over the next two years group musical instruments into five major categories: strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.

Keyboards include instruments played using a set of keys. Keys are levers pressed by the musician's fingers.

Keyboard instruments include harpsichords, pianos, and organs.

Examine the picture of a keyboard.

Examine a closeup of keys below.

See another picture of a keyboard below. Find the keys and find the strings.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Review the Parts of a Piano

• Review the parts on the labeled picture of the piano.

Activity 2: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'Piano Practice,' by G. G. Kilburne, and find the following:

• Little Girl
• Bonnet
• Sash
• Doll
• Bust
• Mirror
• Portrait
• Sheet Music
• Furry Rug
• Piano
• Piano Keyboard
• Piano Stool
• Piano Legs

Review

Question 1

What are the five major groups of instruments listed in the lesson?

1 / 6

Answer 1

The five major groups of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.

1 / 6

Question 2

Which instrument group does this lesson feature?

2 / 6

Answer 2

This lesson features the keyboard group.

2 / 6

Question 3

Which keyboard instrument does this lesson feature?

3 / 6

Answer 3

This lesson features the piano.

3 / 6

Question 4

To what other classifications other than keyboards might a piano be assigned?

4 / 6

Answer 4

Some classifications assign pianos to the strings group, since pianos contain strings. Other classifications assign pianos to the percussion group, since pianos have small hammers that strike the strings.

4 / 6

Question 5

What are the major parts of the piano?

5 / 6

Answer 5

Major parts of the piano include the keyboard, the strings, the music rack, the legs, the bench, the lid, the lid prop, and the pedals.

5 / 6

Question 6

How do musicians make sounds with a piano?

6 / 6

Answer 6

Pianists press keys with their fingers, which trigger small hammers to hit and vibrate strings.

6 / 6

❮ ❯

1. What are the five major groups of instruments listed in the lesson? The five major groups of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.
2. Which instrument group does this lesson feature? This lesson features the keyboard group.
3. Which keyboard instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the piano.
4. To what other classifications other than keyboards might a piano be assigned? Some classifications assign pianos to the strings group, since pianos contain strings. Other classifications assign pianos to the percussion group, since pianos have small hammers that strike the strings.
5. What are the major parts of the piano? Major parts of the piano include the keyboard, the strings, the music rack, the legs, the bench, the lid, the lid prop, and the pedals.
6. How do musicians make sounds with a piano? Pianists press keys with their fingers, which trigger small hammers to hit and vibrate strings.

References

'Keyboard instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Picture of Keyboard and Strings (CC BY-SA 3.0).' Wikipedia. File:MDMB 418, detall de clavicèmbal, Christian Zell, Museu de la Música de Barcelona.jpg. n.p.