Whimsical Woodwinds and Boisterous Brass Woodwinds and Brass    

Lesson 25: Trombone - Lassus Trombone

by Henry Fillmore

Performer: United States Marine 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 introduces the trombone, a brass instrument. Like the trumpet, the trombone is made from yellow brass. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Lassus Trombone,' by Henry Fillmore, features the trombone. The fresco included in the lesson, 'Detail of Trombone-Playing Angel,' by Filippino Lippi, depicts an angelic trombonist.

Vocabulary

Fresco: A painting done rapidly in watercolor on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling, so that the colors penetrate the plaster and become fixed as it dries.
Trombonist: A musician who plays the trombone.

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 Trombone

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

Activity 2: Study How to Hold and Play a Trombone

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

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

Activity 3: Quiz Yourself: Identify Trombone Parts

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

• Mouthpiece
• Bell
• Outer Slide
• Water Key
• Tuning Slide

Activity 4: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'Detail of Trombone-Playing Angel,' by Filippino Lippi, and find the following:

• Angel
• Trumpet
• Angel Wings
• Angel Halo
• Trumpet Bell
• Trumpet Outer Slide
• Tassels

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 trombone.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the trombone?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the trombone 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 trombone?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Musicians move the trombone's outer and tuning slides to change the noises made by the trombone. 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 trombone.
4. What are the major parts of the trombone? Major parts of the trombone include the mouthpiece, the valves, the little finger hook, the water key, and the bell.
5. How do musicians create different sounds with trombone? Musicians move the trombone's outer and tuning slides to change the noises made by the trombone. They also change how hard they blow and the tension of their lips.

References

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

'Trombone.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.