Program Description

“Instrumental Character”
Chicago’s Fifth House Ensemble, a mixed-instrumentation chamber group, uses a variety of instruments and musical styles to introduce active listening. We encourage students to listen for images, pictures, or animals that help them connect to the music being performed. “Instrumental Character” is designed to help spark the imagination and to empower students to listen to music of all types. The program begins with an introduction of the instruments and demonstrations of how they each make sound. Members of Fifth House will play many different selections with various combinations of instruments to highlight the different types of images and characters possible within classical music. We even explore ways to make music without instruments, and play Steve Reich’s Clapping Music as an example. Students leave this experience with a greater understanding of classical instruments, chamber music, imagination in music, and the ability everyone shares to make their own music. A question and answer session concludes each presentation.

List of terms
Piano
Oboe
Violin
Flute
Woodwind
String
Tempo
Melody
Pizzicato
Imagery
Rhythm
Vibrato
Percussion
Chamber music
Orchestra

Musical selections include excerpts from the following:
Hue – Petite Piece
Dring – Trio for Piano, Flute, and Oboe
Martinu – Promenades for Flute, Violin, and Piano
Foote – Sarabande and Rigaudon
Cowell – The Banshee
Reich – Clapping Music
Telemann – Concerto in A Minor

GUIDELINES FOR FOLLOW-UP DISCUSSION
Q: What type of instrument is a flute?
A: A flute is a woodwind.

Q: Why is the flute a member of the woodwind family even though it is not made of wood?
A: Originally it was made out of wood. Although some wood flutes are still being made, most classical musicians play flutes made of silver or gold.

Q: What type of instrument is an oboe?
A: It is a woodwind, and also a reed. A reed is the piece of wood that the player vibrates to make sound in the instrument.

Q: What type of instrument is a violin?
A: A violin is a string instrument. The player draws a bow made of hairs across the strings to make them vibrate.

Q: Which type of instrument is a piano?
A: Different people answer this question in different ways. Some people call it a string because on the inside of a piano, strings vibrate when played. Others call it percussion because you strike the keys to make sounds.

Q: What makes sound that we hear?
A: Sound comes in the shape of waves that vibrate, like a rubber band.

Q: Why is it important to think about pictures or animals when listening to music?
A: Thinking about pictures or animals changes the way people listen to music. It helps develop the imagination, and we listen for different things. Usually, it is more fun to think about images for a piece of music than just to hear the notes.

Q: What is pizzicato?
A: Pizzicato is when a string is plucked. Usually, it refers to a string instrument like a violin or a cello. A piano can also do pizzicato, though. The pianist has to reach inside the piano to do it.

Q: What are extended techniques?
A: An extended technique is a way of playing an instrument in a way different than the usual. Flutes can play more than one note at a time. Pianists can play the insides of the piano. Lots of things can happen, even with old instruments!

Q: How can people who don’t play an instrument make music?
A: People who don’t play an instrument can make music in many different ways. Some people like to sing along. Others can clap. Some even tap dance to make music.

Q: Why is it important for everyone to make music?
A: Music makes people feel good. It can make you feel better after a bad day, or celebrate something wonderful that has happened. Many people like to play music to share with other people how they feel.

Q: What do we call a person who writes music?
A: A composer.

Q: Name three American composers.
A: Arthur Foote, Henry Cowell, and Steve Reich.

Q: What is chamber music?
A: Chamber music is when people come together to make music without a leader. A soloist plays music alone. An orchestra follows a conductor. A chamber group is a group of people who make decisions together.

GUIDELINES FOR STUDENT FEEDBACK

Ask your students to write to the International Music Foundation using some of the following questions or topics.
What was your favorite piece and why?
What was your favorite instrument and why?
What image do you see when you hear the violin?
What image do you see when you hear the oboe?
What image do you see when you hear the flute?
What image do you see when you hear the piano?
Why is creating a story or listening for images important?
A few things I have learned about classical music include…
The term chamber music refers to…