Plucky Strings and Peppy Percussion Strings and Percussion    

Lesson 3: Violin - Violin Sonata No. 9 'Kreutzer', Op. 47

by Ludwig van Beethoven

Performer: Chris Borovas and Georgia Tsolaki

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 violin, a string instrument. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Violin Sonata no. 9 'Kreutzer', Op. 47,' by Ludwig van Beethoven, features the violin. As you enjoy the music, identify the sounds of the violin. If desired, review the sound of a lone violin playing in Activity 5. The still life painting featured in the lesson, 'The Violin Case,' by French painter Suzanne Valadon, uses vivid colors to depict a violin within a protective case.

Vocabulary

Pluck: Take hold of (something) and quickly remove it from its place; pick.
Still Life: A painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects, typically including fruit and flowers and objects contrasting with these in texture, such as bowls and glassware.
Violin Case: A container designed to hold or protect a violin.
Vivid: Of a color intensely deep or bright.

Category

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

String instruments produce sound through the vibration of strings. Strings may be plucked or strummed with fingers, hit with hammers, or rubbed with a bow.

See a picture of strings below. Note that some strings are thicker and some are thinner.

The sound produced by a string depends in part on its thickness, its length, its tightness, and its material.

Instruments have multiple strings of varying thickness. Musicians playing instruments turn pegs to tighten or loosen the strings and change their sounds. Musicians also press their fingers against the strings to control the length of strings that vibrate and produce sound. Strings are made from materials such as nylon or steel.

String instruments include violins, violas, cellos, double basses, guitars, ukuleles, sitars, mandolins, banjos, and depending on who you ask, pianos.

Study the images of strings.

1. Viola Strings

2. Cello Strings

3. Guitar Strings

Enrichment

Activity 1: Review the Parts of a Violin

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

Activity 2: Review How to Hold and Play a Violin

Examine the picture of the man playing the violin below and answer the following questions:

How does the man use his right hand?

How does the man use his left hand?

What do the fingers of the man's left hand press down?

• How does the man use his chin?
• How does the man use his shoulder?
• How does the man make sounds with the violin?
• How does the man change which sounds the violin plays?

Activity 3: Quiz Yourself: Identify Violin Parts

Quiz yourself, and identify the following parts from memory on the violin below:

• Scroll
• Neck
• Body
• Chin Rest
• Four Strings
• Pegs

Activity 4: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'The Violin Case,' by French painter Suzanne Valadon, and find the following:

• Violin
• Violin Scroll
• Violin Neck
• Violin Strings
• Violin Body
• Violin Pegs
• Bow
• Violin Case
• Book
• Vases
• Flowers
• Legs

Activity 5: Listen to a Violin

Listen to the recording of a violin:

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 string group.

2 / 6

Question 3

Which instrument does this lesson feature?

3 / 6

Answer 3

This lesson features the violin.

3 / 6

Question 4

What are the major parts of the violin?

4 / 6

Answer 4

Major parts of the violin include the scroll, pegs, neck, body, strings, and chin rest.

4 / 6

Question 5

How many strings do violins have?

5 / 6

Answer 5

Violins have four strings.

5 / 6

Question 6

How do musicians use violin cases?

6 / 6

Answer 6

Musicians use violin cases to protect and carry violins.

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 string group.
3. Which instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the violin.
4. What are the major parts of the violin? Major parts of the violin include the scroll, pegs, neck, body, strings, and chin rest.
5. How many strings do violins have? Violins have four strings.
6. How do musicians use violin cases? Musicians use violin cases to protect and carry violins.

References

'String instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Violin.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.