Plucky Strings and Peppy Percussion Strings and Percussion    

Lesson 35: Xylophone - Danse macabre Opus 40

by Camille Saint-Saëns

Performer: Kevin MacLeod

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 features a percussion instrument called a xylophone. To make music, percussionists strike the xylophone with two mallets, one held in each hand. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Danse macabre Opus 40,' by Camille Saint-Saens, features the tones of the xylophone. As you enjoy the music, identify the sounds of the xylophone (for example, at around 1:43 and 3:43). Listen to a xylophone in Activity 2 for reference. The lesson photo shows three xylophones and a mallet.

Vocabulary

Danse Macabre: Another term for dance of death.
Opus: A separate composition or set of compositions by a particular composer, usually ordered by date of publication.
Xylophone: A musical instrument played by striking a row of wooden bars of graduated length with one or more small wooden or plastic mallets.

Category

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

Percussion instruments include instruments played by striking with the hand or with a handheld or pedal-operated stick or beater, or by shaking, including drums, cymbals, xylophones, gongs, bells, and rattles.

Examine the images of percussion instruments below.

1. Drum

2. Gong

3. Tambourine

Enrichment

Activity 1: Study the Parts of a Xylophone

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

Activity 2: Listen to a Solo Xylophone Clip

Listen to the solo xylophone melody below.

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 percussion group.

2 / 5

Question 3

Which percussion instrument does this lesson feature?

3 / 5

Answer 3

This lesson features the xylophone.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the xylophone?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the xylophone include the bars, the sound box, the pins, and the carrying ends.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do percussionists make music with the xylophone?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Percussionists strike the xylophone with two mallets, one held in each hand.

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 percussion group.
3. Which percussion instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the xylophone.
4. What are the major parts of the xylophone? Major parts of the xylophone include the bars, the sound box, the pins, and the carrying ends.
5. How do percussionists make music with the xylophone? Percussionists strike the xylophone with two mallets, one held in each hand.

References

'Percussion instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Xylophone.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.