Whimsical Woodwinds and Boisterous Brass Woodwinds and Brass    

Lesson 21: Trumpet - Concerto for 2 Trumpets in C Major, RV 537

by Antonio Vivaldi

Performer: Michel Rondeau

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 shifts from the woodwinds to the brass family of instruments. Musicians play brass instruments by buzzing their lips against mouthpieces to vibrate air inside the instruments. Musicians change the sounds of brass instruments by altering their lip tension and pushing valves or slides to change the tube length in which the air vibrates. Many brass instruments, like trumpets and tubas, are made of brass, but others, like the didgeridoo, are made of wood. Confusing matters more, some woodwind instruments may be made of brass. This lesson introduces the trumpet, a brass instrument. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Concerto for 2 Trumpets in C Major, RV 537,' by Antonio Vivaldi, features two trumpets. The painting included in the lesson, 'The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets, Revelation 9:1-12,' by Matthias Gerung, depicts a scene from the Bible in which angels blow their trumpets a fifth and sixth time to cue events of the apocalypse.

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 an instrument.
Trumpeter: A musician who plays 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: Learn the Parts of a Trumpet

• Study the parts on the labeled picture of the trumpet.

Activity 2: Study How to Hold and Play a Trumpet

Examine the picture of the trumpeter and answer the following questions:

• How does the trumpeter use his right hand?
• How does the trumpeter use his left hand?
• What do the trumpeter's fingers press down?
• How does the trumpeter use his mouth and lips?
• How does the trumpeter change which sounds the trumpet plays?

Activity 3: Quiz Yourself: Identify Trumpet Parts

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

• Mouthpiece
• Bell
• Valves
• Water Key
• Little Finger Hook

Activity 4: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets, Revelation 9:1-12,' by Matthias Gerung, and find the following:

• Haloed God Watching Above
• Blue and Gold Winged Angels with Trumpets
• Star Falling from Heaven
• Opened Bottomless Pit Spewing Smoke
• Angels Smiting Mortals with Swords
• Face in the Smoke of the Bottomless Pit
• Imps Gathered Around the Bottomless Pit
• Flying Horses with Lion's Heads and Serpent's Tails Spewing Disease
• Soldiers of the Angels Riding Flying Horses
• Mortals Hiding in the Hills

Activity 5: Make Your Own Trumpets and Mutes

Materials: 2 Plastic Bottles of Different Sizes and Scissors

Instructions:

• Cut off the bottom third of the first bottle. Keep the bottom third to serve as a 'mute,' as shown in the picture.

• Practice buzzing your lips through the bottle mouth to make a trumpet sound.
• Some musicians use mutes to change the sound of their trumpets.
• Cover the bottom opening of your trumpet with your mute. What happens to the sound?
• Vary the tightness of your lips. What happens to the sound?
• Vary how hard you blow through the opening. What happens to the sound?
• Make a second trumpet with a larger or smaller plastic bottle. Does your second trumpet produce a higher pitch sound or a lower pitch sound than your first?

See in the picture a metal trumpet and a variety of mutes. Note the paper mute placed inside the bell of the trumpet.

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 trumpet.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the trumpet?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the trumpet include the mouthpiece, the valves, the little finger hook, the water key, and the bell.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do musicians create different sounds with trumpets?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Musicians press the trumpet'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 trumpet.
4. What are the major parts of the trumpet? Major parts of the trumpet include the mouthpiece, the valves, the little finger hook, the water key, and the bell.
5. How do musicians create different sounds with trumpets? Musicians press the trumpet'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.

'Trumpet.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Seven trumpets.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Trumpet Mutes Image by Mako098765 (CC BY-SA 3.0).' Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TrumpetMutes.jpg. n.p.