Whimsical Woodwinds and Boisterous Brass Woodwinds and Brass    

Lesson 32: Tuba - Sound Off

by John Philip Sousa

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 tuba, a brass instrument. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Sound Off,' by John Philip Sousa, is underscored by the weighty boomp of the tuba. Listen to a lone tuba playing in Activity 5 for reference. The painting included in the lesson, 'Instruments de musique,' by Hippolyte Perrin, shows a jumble of instruments including a cello, two trombones, a tuba, a French horn, a tambourine, a trumpet, an oboe, a clarinet, a flute, a violin, a triangle, a bassoon, bagpipes, an instrument case, a bow, a ribbon tied around a laurel wreath, and sheet music.

Vocabulary

Laurel: Any of a number of shrubs and other plants with dark green glossy leaves.
Wreath: An arrangement of flowers, leaves, or stems fastened in a ring and used for decoration.

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 Tuba

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

Activity 2: Study How to Hold and Play a Tuba

Examine the picture of the tuba player and answer the following questions:

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

Activity 3: Quiz Yourself: Identify Tuba Parts

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

• Mouthpiece
• Bell
• Valves
• Water Key
• Main Tube

Activity 4: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'Instruments de musique,' by Hippolyte Perrin, and find the following:

• Tuba
• French Horn
• Tambourine
• Trumpet
• Oboe
• Clarinet
• Flute
• Violin
• Triangle
• Bassoon
• Bagpipes
• Instrument Case
• Ribbon
• Laurel Wreath
• Sheet Music

Activity 5: Listen to a Tuba

Listen to the recording of a tuba:

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 tuba.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the tuba?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the tuba include the mouthpiece, the valves, the main tube, the water key, and the bell.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do musicians create different sounds with tubas?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Musicians press the tuba'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 tuba.
4. What are the major parts of the tuba? Major parts of the tuba include the mouthpiece, the valves, the main tube, the water key, and the bell.
5. How do musicians create different sounds with tubas? Musicians press the tuba'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.

'Tuba.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.