Learn about the Symphony Orchestra in Music Class

Here are a few ideas for lesson planning a lesson all about a Symphony Orchestra

Arrange the student’s seats as if they were an orchestra. Place the names of instruments on the appropriate desks, or affix name stickers to individual students. Allow students to be different instruments on different days.

Have a class discussion about the similarities and differences between different musical groups. What do Rock Bands and Symphony Orchestras have in common?

Discuss the relationship between the traditional sections of the orchestra and the Hornbostel-Sachs instrument classifications. (Strings are chordophones; woodwinds and brass are aerophones; some percussion instruments are membranophones, others are idiophones.)

What you could do is have a long term assignmore for the students to research and comment on the Hornbostel-Sachs categories of Chordophones, aerophones etc)

Discuss the science of musical instruments – the connection between vibration and sound

An excellent listening activity is to listen to Benjamin Britten’s Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra A great activity is to have certain students stand up or do actions when their particular instrument or instrument family is heard This is a relatively lengthy composition (over 17 minutes) so you may want to do different sections on different days.

For more information on music lesson plans please contact the Fun Music Company