Plucky Strings and Peppy Percussion Strings and Percussion    

Lesson 34: Bass Drum - Cadence B

by Unknown

Performer: United States Navy Band

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 features a percussion instrument called a bass drum. To make music, percussionists strike the bass drum with a large mallet. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Cadence B,' by an unknown composer, features the steady beat of a bass drum underneath the faster rhythm of a snare drum. As you enjoy the music, identify the sounds of the bass drum. Listen to a bass drum in Activity 3 for reference. The lesson painting, 'Klezmer Group,' by Mitaskim, shows a man and a boy playing snare drums on a civil war battlefield.

Vocabulary

Bass Drum: A large drum with a low pitch.
Mallet: A wooden or plastic stick with a rounded head, used to play certain percussion instruments such as xylophone and marimba.

Category

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

Percussion instruments include instruments played by striking with the hand or with a handheld or pedal-operated stick or beater, or by shaking, including drums, cymbals, xylophones, gongs, bells, and rattles.

Examine the images of percussion instruments below.

1. Drum

2. Gong

3. Tambourine

4. Xylophone

Enrichment

Activity 1: Study the Parts of a Bass Drum

• Study the parts on the labeled picture of the bass drum.

Activity 2: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson painting, 'Klezmer Group,' by Mitaskim, and find the following:

• Bass Drum
• Double Bass
• Plucking Fingers
• Hand Shortening and Lengthening the Strings
• Violin
• Violin Bow
• Double Bass Strings
• Double Bass F-holes
• Double Bass Scroll
• Double Bass Tuning Pegs
• Double Bass Tailpiece

Activity 3: Listen to the Beat of a Bass Drum

Listen to the solo bass drum beating.

Review

Question 1

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

1 / 5

Answer 1

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

1 / 5

Question 2

Which instrument group does this lesson feature?

2 / 5

Answer 2

This lesson features the percussion group.

2 / 5

Question 3

Which percussion instrument does this lesson feature?

3 / 5

Answer 3

This lesson features the bass drum.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the bass drum?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the bass drum include the shell, the head, and the rim.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do percussionists make music with the bass drum?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Percussionists strike the head of the bass drum with a mallet.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

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 percussion group.
3. Which percussion instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the bass drum.
4. What are the major parts of the bass drum? Major parts of the bass drum include the shell, the head, and the rim.
5. How do percussionists make music with the bass drum? Percussionists strike the head of the bass drum with a mallet.

References

'Percussion instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Bass Drum.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.