Plucky Strings and Peppy Percussion Strings and Percussion    

Lesson 30: Piano - Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor 'Pathetique'

by Ludwig van Beethoven

Performer: Paul Pitman

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 piano, a keyboard instrument. Pianists produce sounds by pressing keys with their fingers, which trigger a mechanism that strikes strings with little hammers. Musicians also press pedals with their feet to control the sound. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Pathetique,' by Ludwig van Beethoven, features the music of a piano. The painting included in the lesson, 'Liszt at the Piano,' by Josef Danhauser, shows a group of people listening to Liszt, the famous composer, play the piano.

Vocabulary

Pathetique: With lots of emotion or passion.

Category

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

Keyboards include instruments played using a set of keys. Keys are levers pressed by the musician's fingers.

Keyboard instruments include harpsichords, pianos, and organs.

Examine the picture of a keyboard.

Examine a closeup of keys below.

See another picture of a keyboard below. Find the keys and find the strings.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Review the Parts of a Piano

• Review the parts on the labeled picture of the piano.

Activity 2: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'Liszt at the Piano,' by Josef Danhauser, and find the following:

• Liszt Playing the Piano
• Bust
• Sheet Music
• Portrait
• Rug
• Flowers
• Piano
• Piano Keyboard
• Piano Bench
• Piano Leg
• Music Rack

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 instrument group does this lesson feature?

2 / 5

Answer 2

This lesson features the keyboard group.

2 / 5

Question 3

Which keyboard instrument does this lesson feature?

3 / 5

Answer 3

This lesson features the piano.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the piano?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the piano include the keyboard, the strings, the music rack, the legs, the bench, the lid, the lid prop, and the pedals.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do musicians make sounds with a piano?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Pianists press keys with their fingers, which trigger small hammers to hit and vibrate strings.

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 instrument group does this lesson feature? This lesson features the keyboard group.
3. Which keyboard instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the piano.
4. What are the major parts of the piano? Major parts of the piano include the keyboard, the strings, the music rack, the legs, the bench, the lid, the lid prop, and the pedals.
5. How do musicians make sounds with a piano? Pianists press keys with their fingers, which trigger small hammers to hit and vibrate strings.

References

'Keyboard instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Picture of Keyboard and Strings (CC BY-SA 3.0).' Wikipedia. File:MDMB 418, detall de clavicèmbal, Christian Zell, Museu de la Música de Barcelona.jpg. n.p.