Plucky Strings and Peppy Percussion Strings and Percussion    

Lesson 9: Cello - Cello Suite No. 1 in G major

by Johann Sebastian Bach

Performer: Colin Carr

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

The next four weeks introduce a new string instrument called a cello. Like violins and violas, cellos typically have a wooden body, a long neck, and four strings that musicians pluck with their fingers or rub with a bow. However, cellos are much larger than violins or violas and produce a sound even mellower and lower than violas. In addition, musicians do not tuck cellos beneath their chins as with violins and violas. Instead, musicians sit to play the cello and hold the cello between their knees. A rod extends from the bottom of the cello, called an endpin, and rests on the ground. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Cello Suite No.1 in G major,' by Johann Sebastian Bach, features the cello. As you enjoy the music, identify the sounds of the cello. Listen to a lone cello playing in Activity 5 below for reference. The painting included in the lesson, 'Interior with a Cello,' by Carl Holsøe, shows a cello propped up in a room.

Vocabulary

Endpin: The thin rod that extends from the body of a cello to rest upon the floor.
Interior: Situated within or inside; relating to the inside; inner.

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 Cello

• Study the parts on the labeled picture of the cello.
• Note the introduction of a new part - the endpin.

Activity 2: Compare and Contrast a Violin, a Viola, and a Cello

Examine the picture of the violin, the viola, and the cello.

• Which instrument has a scroll?
• Which instrument has a neck?
• Which instrument has a body?
• Which instrument has knobs?
• Which instrument has pegs?
• Which instrument has a chin rest?
• Which instrument has a bridge?
• Which instrument has f-holes?
• Which instrument has a tailpiece?
• Which instrument has an endpin?
• Which instrument is the smallest?
• Which instrument is the largest?

Activity 3: Quiz Yourself: Identify Cello Parts

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

• Neck
• Body
• Four Strings
• F-Holes
• Tail Piece
• Bridge
• Endpin
• Bow

Activity 4: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'Interior with a Cello,' by Carl Holsøe, and find the following:

• Cello
• Cello Scroll
• Cello Neck
• Cello Body
• Cello F-Holes
• Cello Tail Piece
• Stove
• Chair
• Rug

Activity 5: Listen to a Cello

Listen to the recording of a cello:

Review

Question 1

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

1 / 6

Answer 1

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

1 / 6

Question 2

Which instrument group does this lesson feature?

2 / 6

Answer 2

This lesson features the string group.

2 / 6

Question 3

Which instrument does this lesson feature?

3 / 6

Answer 3

This lesson features the cello.

3 / 6

Question 4

How many strings do cellos have?

4 / 6

Answer 4

Cellos have four strings.

4 / 6

Question 5

What are the major parts of the cello?

5 / 6

Answer 5

Major parts of the cello include the scroll, pegs, neck, body, strings, bridge, f-holes, tailpiece, and endpin.

5 / 6

Question 6

Which part does a cello have that a violin and a viola do not have?

6 / 6

Answer 6

Cellos have an endpin. Violins and violas do not have endpins.

6 / 6

❮ ❯

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 string group.
3. Which instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the cello.
4. How many strings do cellos have? Cellos have four strings.
5. What are the major parts of the cello? Major parts of the cello include the scroll, pegs, neck, body, strings, bridge, f-holes, tailpiece, and endpin.
6. Which part does a cello have that a violin and a viola do not have? Cellos have an endpin. Violins and violas do not have endpins.

References

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

'Cello.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.