Whimsical Woodwinds and Boisterous Brass Woodwinds and Brass    

Lesson 33: Tuba - Hands Across the Sea

by John Philip Sousa

Performer: United States Army 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 or topic category.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

This lesson continues the study of the tuba, a brass instrument. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Hands Across the Sea,' by John Philip Sousa, is accompanied by the low boomp of the tuba. Listen to a lone tuba playing in Activity 5 for reference. The painting included in the lesson, 'The Musical Experiment,' by German artist Adolf Schreitter von Schwarzenfeld, shows a woman playing a tuba for a man in uniform and a woman covering her ears.

Vocabulary

Brass: A yellow alloy made of copper and zinc.
Alloy: A metal made by combining two or more metallic elements, especially to give greater strength or resistance to corrosion.
Brass Instrument: A wind instrument, such as a trumpet or trombone, typically made of brass.
Valve: A cylindrical mechanism in a brass instrument that, when depressed or turned, admits air into different sections of tubing and so extends the range of available notes.
Water Key: Also known as spit valve, used to drain liquids from the trumpet.

Category

1. Music lessons over the next two years group musical instruments into five major categories: strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.
2. Brass instruments include trumpets, trombones, horns, tubas, and didgeridoos.
3. Brass instruments are often made of brass, a metal alloy of copper and zinc. Study the components of brass.

4. Brass instruments produce sound through the vibration of air within tubes. See the tubes of a brass instrument called a French horn.

5. Musicians change the sounds made by brass instruments by moving valves or slides to change the length of the tubes in which the air vibrates. See the valves of a brass instrument called a French horn.

6. Brass musicians also alter the sound by changing how hard they blow and the tension of their lips.
7. See a musician holding the slider of a brass instrument called a trombone. The musician can slide it back and forth to change the sound.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Review the Parts of a Tuba

Review the parts on the labeled picture of the tuba.

Activity 2: Review How to Hold and Play a Tuba

• Examine the picture of the man playing the tuba and answer the following questions:
• How does the man use his right hand?
• How does the man use his left hand?
• What do the man's fingers press down?
• How does the man use his mouth and lips?
• How does the man change which sounds the tuba plays?

Activity 3: Quiz Yourself: Identify Tuba Parts

Quiz yourself, and identify the following parts from memory on the tuba diagram:

• Mouthpiece
• Bell
• Valves
• Water Key
• Main Tube

Activity 4: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'The Musical Experiment,' by Adolf Schreitter von Schwarzenfeld, and find the following:

• Tuba
• Woman Covering Her Ears
• Umbrella
• Satchel
• Dish and Spoon
• Covered Pitcher or Kettle
• Painting of Madonna and Child
• Stein
• Basket
• Two Glass Bottles
• Bench
• Footstool

Activity 5: Listen to a Tuba

Listen to the recording of a tuba:

Review

Question 1

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

1 / 5

Answer 1

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

1 / 5

Question 2

Which instrument category does this lesson feature?

2 / 5

Answer 2

This lesson features the brass category.

2 / 5

Question 3

Which instrument does this lesson feature?

3 / 5

Answer 3

This lesson features the tuba.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the tuba?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the tuba include the mouthpiece, the valves, the main tube, the water key, and the bell.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do musicians create different sounds with tubas?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Musicians press the tuba's valves to create different sounds. They also change how hard they blow and the tension of their lips.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. What are the five major categories of instruments listed in the lesson? The five major categories of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.
2. Which instrument category does this lesson feature? This lesson features the brass category.
3. Which instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the tuba.
4. What are the major parts of the tuba? Major parts of the tuba include the mouthpiece, the valves, the main tube, the water key, and the bell.
5. How do musicians create different sounds with tubas? Musicians press the tuba's valves to create different sounds. They also change how hard they blow and the tension of their lips.

References

'Brass instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Tuba.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.