Whimsical Woodwinds and Boisterous Brass Woodwinds and Brass    

Lesson 10: Clarinet - Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115

by Johannes Brahms

Performer: William McColl

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 week continues the study of the clarinet. Like flutes and bassoons, clarinets are woodwinds in which the musician makes sound by blowing to cause the air inside the instrument to vibrate. Like bassoons, clarinets are played with a reed. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115,' by Johannes Brahms, features the clarinet. As you enjoy the music, listen for the clarinet. The painting included in the lesson, 'Clarinet, Guitar and Compotier' by Georges Braque, shows a man playing the clarinet for a kitchen maid.

Vocabulary

Quintet: A group of five people playing music or singing together.
Compotier: Dish for compote, fruit preserved or cooked in syrup.

Category

1. Music lessons group musical instruments into five major categories: strings, keyboards, percussion, woodwinds, and brass.
2. Woodwind instruments in an orchestra typically include flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons.
3. Woodwind instruments produce sound when the musician blows across an opening or through a tube to vibrate air inside the instrument.
4. Most woodwind instruments incorporate a reed to produce their distinctive sounds. Study the two clarinet reeds and their clear cases.

5. Reeds are attached to the mouthpiece of instruments, where musicians blow to vibrate the reed and the air inside the instrument.

6. Woodwind instruments also have keys or open holes that musicians press to alter the sound. See keys and holes on the clarinet.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Review the Parts of a Clarinet

Review the parts on the labeled picture of the clarinet.

Activity 2: Review How to Hold and Play a Clarinet

Review the picture of the clarinetists in a parade and answer the following questions:

• How do the clarinetists use their right hands?
• How do the clarinetists use their left hands?
• What do the clarinetists' fingers press down?
• How do the clarinetists use their mouths and lips?
• How do the clarinetists change which sounds the clarinet plays?

Activity 3: Quiz Yourself: Identify Clarinet Parts

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

• Bell
• Mouthpiece
• Lower Joint
• Keys
• Upper Joint
• Reed
• Barrel Joint

Activity 4: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson still life painting, 'Clarinet, Guitar and Compotier' by Georges Braque, and find the following:

• Clarinet
• Mouthpiece
• Holes
• Clarinet Bell
• Letters

Activity 5: Make Your Own Clarinet

Materials: Several Straws, Scissors

Directions:

• Cut the top of a straw into a V-shape.
• Practice blowing through the clarinet to make sounds.
• Make a second clarinet, but cut off the bottom end to make it shorter. How does the pitch change?
• Make a third clarinet, but put two straws together to make it longer. How does the pitch change?
• Make a fourth clarinet, but cut a few holes in the side of the straw. Cover the holes with your fingers. How can you make the pitch higher? How can you make the pitch lower?

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 woodwind category.

2 / 5

Question 3

Which instrument does this lesson feature?

3 / 5

Answer 3

This lesson features the clarinet.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the clarinet?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the clarinet include the bell, the mouthpiece, the lower joint, the upper joint, the barrel joint, the reed, and the keys.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do musicians create different sounds with woodwinds?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Musicians press woodwind keys or open holes to create different sounds. They also change how hard they blow to manipulate the volume.

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 woodwind category.
3. Which instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the clarinet.
4. What are the major parts of the clarinet? Major parts of the clarinet include the bell, the mouthpiece, the lower joint, the upper joint, the barrel joint, the reed, and the keys.
5. How do musicians create different sounds with woodwinds? Musicians press woodwind keys or open holes to create different sounds. They also change how hard they blow to manipulate the volume.

References

'Woodwind instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Clarinet.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.