Plucky Strings and Peppy Percussion Strings and Percussion    

Lesson 22: Mandolin - Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

by Traditional Carol

Performer: Will Taylor

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 category.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

This lesson introduces the mandolin, a stringed instrument of the lute family. Mandolins typically have a wooden body with one or more sound holes, between eight to twelve strings arranged in four to six pairs, and a long neck. Mandolins are typically played with a plectrum (pick). The musical composition for this lesson, 'Oh Little Town of Bethlehem,' a traditional carol, features the music of a mandolin. The painting included in the lesson, 'The Sleeping Gypsy,' by Henri Rousseau, shows a man sleeping next to a mandolin.

Vocabulary

Mandolin: A musical instrument resembling a lute, having paired metal strings plucked with a plectrum.
Lute: A plucked stringed instrument with a long neck bearing frets and a rounded body with a flat front that is shaped like a halved egg.
Pair: A set of two things used together or regarded as a unit.

Category

Music lessons over the next two years group musical instruments into five major categories: strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.

String instruments produce sound through the vibration of strings. Strings may be plucked or strummed with fingers, hit with hammers, or rubbed with a bow.

See a picture of strings below. Note that some strings are thicker and some are thinner.

The sound produced by a string depends in part on its thickness, its length, its tightness, and its material.

Instruments have multiple strings of varying thickness. Musicians playing instruments turn pegs to tighten or loosen the strings and change their sounds. Musicians also press their fingers against the strings to control the length of strings that vibrate and produce sound. Strings are made from materials such as nylon or steel.

String instruments include violins, violas, cellos, double basses, guitars, ukuleles, sitars, mandolins, banjos, and depending on who you ask, pianos.

Study the images of strings.

1. Viola Strings

2. Cello Strings

3. Guitar Strings

Enrichment

Activity 1: Study the Parts of a Mandolin

• Study the parts on the labeled picture of the mandolin, which are similar to the other studied stringed instruments.

Activity 2: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'The Sleeping Gypsy,' by Henri Rousseau, and find the following:

• Sleeping Gypsy
• Lion
• Mane
• Tail
• Moon and Stars
• Vase
• Mountains
• Walking Sticks
• Mandolin
• Mandolin Tuning Pegs
• Mandolin Neck
• Mandolin Strings
• Mandolin Bridge

Review

Question 1

What are the five major groups of instruments listed in the lesson?

1 / 5

Answer 1

The five major groups of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.

1 / 5

Question 2

Which string instrument does this lesson feature?

2 / 5

Answer 2

This lesson features the mandolin.

2 / 5

Question 3

How many strings do mandolins typically have?

3 / 5

Answer 3

Mandolins typically have between eight to twelve strings arranged in four to six pairs.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the mandolin?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the mandolin include the neck, tuning pegs, strings, frets, nut, sound hole, body, and bridge.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do musicians make sounds with a mandolin?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Musicians use one hand to strum the strings and the other to shorten and lengthen the strings to change the sound.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. What are the five major groups of instruments listed in the lesson? The five major groups of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.
2. Which string instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the mandolin.
3. How many strings do mandolins typically have? Mandolins typically have between eight to twelve strings arranged in four to six pairs.
4. What are the major parts of the mandolin? Major parts of the mandolin include the neck, tuning pegs, strings, frets, nut, sound hole, body, and bridge.
5. How do musicians make sounds with a mandolin? Musicians use one hand to strum the strings and the other to shorten and lengthen the strings to change the sound.

References

'String instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Mandolin.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.