Here are a few Lesson Plan Ideas for learning about Brass instruments in the Music class.

Make a rudimentary brass instrument. You will need plastic beverage bottles (e.g. two-liter soda bottles) and sharp scissors or utility knife. Turn the bottle over and cut off the bottom so it is completely open Try to get different tones by Buzzing your lips into the neck of the bottle Experiment with different sizes and shapes of bottles. The bottom of the bottle can be used as a mute or hat as you will see trumpet players do to change the sound.

Here is one more music lesson plan idea:

You can have great fun by measuring things in “horns” and “trumpets.” An uncoiled trumpet would stretch about 6 feet or 1.8 meters. If a horn were rolled out it would stretch about 3.6 metres or twelve feet. Cut lengths of string into these dimensions and give them to groups of students. Students can then measure things in their classroom and around the school using their strings. For example, the back wall of the classroom might be 1.5 horns long and the chalkboard might be 2 trumpets long. Smaller things could be measured by folding the strings For example, if a trumpet string must be folded three times on a desktop, the desktop is 1/3 of a trumpet long. (Obviously, some estimation and rounding will be necessary for this exercise.) Students could even measure their bedrooms, hallways, cars etc for homework. This activity will focus students on the amount of tubing within the relatively compact brass instruments.

You may wish to show students this recording:Bartók, Concerto for Orchestra, II. Giuoco delle coppie (Game of Pairs)