Canadian

Brass
STUDENT MATINEES
Thursday
Thursday,, 5/12/05
11 - noon, Virginia Beach
Town Center
Friday
riday,, 5/13/05
11 - noon,Williamsburg
Phi Beta Kappa Hall

T2-3 Annotated Table of Contents

1 What to Expect
2 Whos Who in Canadian Brass
3 The Brass Family
4 The Brass Quintet
5 Good Vibrations
6 Of Overtones...
7 Toronto
T4 Calendar of Events
 The back of each worksheet contains
lesson extensions and SOL connections.
WHAT TO EXPECT
If youre picturing
A brief that stodgy
introduction mustachioed brass
to the band, youd better
activity think again.
1 2
Here are some basics about
the show, as well as some
TEACHERS background on Canadian
OVERVIEW Brass. This ensemble finds
its roots in the brass bands
Connections of Europe, and if you go
and back a couple hundred more
approaches to years, Palestrina was
writing antiphonal brass
using the choir music to be performed
lessons in in St. Marks Cathedral in
16th century Venice. Have
your students track this lineage!
classroom
FURTHER SAILING
Listed here are
books and links
to get your class Trumpet and Brass
launched on the by Paul Archibald
waters of Brass
discovery! by Wendy Lynch
Brass
by Elizabeth Sharma
Brass
by Dee Lillegard
Brass instrument introduction
bubl.ac.uk/link/b/
brassinstruments
brassinstruments.htm
Complete SAILS are available online in PDF format at
www.virginiaartsfest.com/education.html
Virginia Arts Festival 2005
WHOS WHO IN THE BRASS
CANADIAN BRASS FAMILY
Who exactly are these
musical ambassadors
and what drives them to
root-a-toot-toot?
Meet the members of
Canadian Brass and learn a
little about the history of
this group, as well as the
standard brass quintet.
Students with a personal
musical interest in brass
quintets can research
companion groups in
America and other countries
while the mission of these
ensembles is usually the
same, the delivery is often
quite different. The
Canadian Brass website is a
great jumping off place
its extensive, to say the military history is also good
least.
Brass
by Roger Thomas
Brass Instruments
by Sharon Sharth
Playing the Trumpet and
Brass
by Paul Archibald
Woodwinds and Brass
by Barrie Turner
Canadian Brass Website
www.canadianbrass.com/
aboutus.html
T-2 Canadian Brass
From piccolo trumpet
on down to tuba, all
brass instruments are
related by two things:
The material used to
make the instruments
and the way you blow
into the mouthpiece to
produce a sound.
3
Heres some background info
into each instrument played
in a brass quintet. Expansion
exercises can include an
exploration into auxiliary
and historical brass
instruments like the
flugelhorn, alphorn, serpent,
or check out the saxhorn
(invented by Adolphe Sax,
the inventor of the
saxophone). Brass
instruments were in active
use long before they were
allowed on the concert
stage. Their hunting and
source for study.
Abracadabra Trumpet: Brass
by Alan Tomlinson
Woodwind & Brass
Instruments
by Robert Dearling
Trumpets
by Cynthia Klingel
Wynton Marsalis: Trumpet
Genius
by Leslie Gourse
History of brass instruments:
plato.acadiau.ca/courses/musi/
callon/2273/instr.htm
THE BRASS
QUINTET
Meet the four
instruments that make
up the brass quintet...
from their twisted
history to their
contemporary
personality.
4
Each instrument in the
brass quintet has a unique
sound, and varied solo
repertoire. To really
explore the sound of the
individual instruments,
select concertos or solo
pieces written for each
instrument. Have students
look at the different
generations of instruments
as they changed through
time. How did inventions
and new technologies
change the instruments?
Range of Brass
Instruments Activity
at www.vafest.com
How Does A Trumpet Work?
by Jim Pipe
Practical Hints on Playing
Tuba
by Donald C. Little,
Art of Tuba and Euphonium
by Harvey Phillips
Canadian Brass Website
www.canadianbrass.com/
aboutus.html
GOOD
VIBRATIONS
The Music Goes Round
and Round . . . and it
comes out here! Yes,
but how does that
how
work?
5 6
Here are some basics on
acoustics how sound is you more about the octave
produced. To help students
understand these concepts,
have them create their own
brass instruments using
paper towel tubes or PVC
pipe. Experimenting with
wide or narrow bores, long
and short tubing, and even
one tube within another
(played like a trombone)
yields lots of fun. Physics
and math have a big play in
acoustics as well.
Design Your Own
Brass Instrument
Activity at
www.vafest.com
Brass Instruments: Their
History and Development
by Anthony Baines
Tubas
by Bob Temple
The Trombone Masters: A
History of the Jazz
Trombone
by Steven Loewy
Brass Instruments
bubl.ac.uk/link/b/
brassinstruments.htm
Virginia Arts Festival 2005
OVERTONES,
PARTIALS...
Ever wonder how bugles
and other brass
instruments without
valves create those
clear, distinct notes?
Heres how it works!
This worksheet will tell
snapshot Toronto, past and
and its additional vibrating
overtones than you
probably want to know.
For students, recreating
French and British influences
the Greek Monochord, a
musical measuring
instrument with one string,
is a great hands-on activity
that will help clarify these
concepts.
Tipbook - Trumpet and
Trombone
by Hugo Pinksterboer
The Trombone: Its History
and Music, 1697-1811
by David M. Guion
Sound and molecules:
www.harmony-central.com/
Guitar/harmonics.html
Acoutics and instruments:
www.phys.unsw.edu.au/
~jw/brassacoustics.html
T-3 Canadian Brass
TORONTO
The cultural birthplace
of Canadian Brass has
a lot to offer.
7
This worksheet gives readers a
present. Canadas largest and
most culturally diverse city and
5 million people strong, this is a
town of superlatives. The
are always interesting research
areas, especially in comparison
to the United States own
historical roots. Another point
counterpoint is to examine the
two very different approaches
to healthcare, education and all
aspects of the Arts in Canada
vs. the United States.
Design a City Logo
Activity at
www.vafest.com
The Lobster Kids' Guide to
Exploring Toronto
by Natalie Ann Comeau
Toronto
by Percy Rowe
Toronto
by Barbara Radcliffe Rogers
Official Toronto Site
www.city.toronto.on.ca/
Commercial Toronto Site
www.toronto.com/
Canadian Brass What to Expect

If youre picturing that stodgy mustachioed brass

band dressed in those Sergeant Peppers Lonely
Hearts Club Band uniforms, loitering on the cupola
bandstand in the park a hundred or so years ago,
playing pleasant muted tones to your grandparents,
youd better think again.

Get ready for a Virginia Arts Festival matinee

performance that will change your mind about what
brass ensembles are all about. Whether youre going
to Phi Beta Kappa Hall in Williamsburg, or the new
Virginia Beach Town Center, expect a solid hour of
musical acrobatics, pyrotechnics and just plain good
music making. Canadian Brass repertoire spans
everything from solid European classical
arrangements, to jazz, be-bop, and goofy
arrangements of Flight of the Bumblebee. Anything
and everything is fair game whatever they pull out
of their hats, know itll be professionally executed to
the highest standard. With Canadian Brass, virtuosity
and fun are all part of the same package. So put
away your preconceived notions about what a brass
ensemble is supposed to be, and get ready to have
your eyes, ears and minds opened.

Virginia Arts Festival 2005 sails-1 Candian Brass

Whos Who in Canadian Brass
Who exactly are these musical ambassadors, and what
drives them to root-a-toot-toot?

Canadian Brass sprang onto the Toronto music scene in 1970

as an experimental five-member group, blending traditional
styles with an avant garde approach to their audiences. When
they first got started, the now standard brass quintet wasnt
really considered a serious concert ensemble Canadian
Brass was on the cutting edge of raising this genre into the
spotlight. This take-a-chance brass quintet has, over the past
Have fun exploring their 35 years, branched out into many different styles of music,
VERY comprehensive and has commissioned more than 200 new works. From
webpage at Vivaldi to Wagner, their unique approach and high musical
http:// standards catapulted and kept them in the international
www.canadianbrass.com/ spotlight. Theyve performed in pretty much every
frontpage.html major venue worldwide including our own Virginia
Arts Festival!
During the summers,
The group consists of five guys: Stuart Laughton,
Canadian Brass is on the trumpet; Charles Lazarus, trumpet; Jeff Nelsen, French
faculty at Music horn; Gene Watts, trombone; and Chuck Daellenbach on
Academy of the West, tuba. Three of these players are original members of
Santa Barbara and the group. The original five individuals, while all
Eastman Summer classically trained, had a vision that would not allow
Programs, Rochester, NY. their music to be restricted. In their formative years,
If youre interested in they broke down stylistic barriers only to discover that
their instruments had a vibrant life outside the
studying with them over
standards dictated by the staid classical music
the summer - heres the
community of the times. The rest, as they say, is
link for Music Academy musical history: Canadian Brass is a worldwide
of the West: phenomenon, breaking all the rules and delighting
http:// audiences everywhere.
www.musicacademy.org/
FacultyArtists/ Theyve got numerous recordings (more than 60 to date),
FacultyBios/brass.html ranging from Purcell, to Christmas tunes, to jazz and
popular recordings. Its interesting to note that after all
their musical adventuring and diversions, they continue
And for the Eastman
to gravitate back to J.S. Bach, as one of their favorite
School:
composers to perform. Check out their online store:
www.rochester.edu/ They have a CD called Amazing Brass, a DVD called
Eastman/summer Three Nights with Canadian Brass, a slew of songbooks,
and a line of Technicolor mouthpieces, all available
online. They also come with quite a following of fans,
even offering a monthly insider newsletter.

Virginia Arts Festival 2005 sails-2 Candian Brass


A brass quintet actually
consists of four instrument-
types: 2 trumpets, 1 French
horn, 1 trombone, and 1 tuba.
Like the string quartet and
woodwind quintet, these
instruments, taken from the
orchestra and band, have
evolved into a now standard
chamber ensemble that
composers write and arrange
for. Its early beginnings are
found both in 16th century
antiphonal music for the
church as well as on the
battlefield with bugle calls
(everyone knows Taps),
hunting signals, and 19th
century German brass
bands.
The Brass Family
From piccolo trumpet on down to tuba,
all brass instruments are related by
two things: The material used to make
the instruments and the way you blow
into the mouthpiece to produce a
sound.
Some background on brass
instruments humble beginnings:
Before getting historical, lets clarify a
couple key points: all
brass instruments are
made of, well, brass or
metal (except the
sousaphone which is
often constructed out
of fiberglass); and all
brass instruments
produce a sound by
having air blown
Greek salpinx
through a mouthpiece
into the instrument, with the players
lips buzzing as they blow. Brass
instruments have been around a long
time. Some of the earliest examples of
brass instruments were straight
trumpets made of wood, bronze, and
silver, such as the salpinx found in
Greece. Other early brass instruments
were horns made of bronze and animal
horns. The schofar (made from the
horn of a ram) is an ancient Hebrew
brass instrument which is still used in
Jewish ceremonies today.
Tthe world is full of long, round
cylinders, most of which are suitable
for making music. From bamboo to
hollow reeds and branches, there are
tons of natural material out there to
create musical sounds on. There are a
lot of ways to play such cylinders, but
the way you produce a sound with
these objects are what make flutes
flutes and horns horns: With flutes, you
blow a column of air into or across the
instrument. With all brass instruments,
as mentioned earlier, you buzz. The
flared bell and the bell-shaped
mouthpiece serve to amplify and focus
the mouth sound into a series of
pitches. By tightening your lips
Virginia Arts Festival 2005 sails-3
(embouchure), changing the speed and
volume of air, and depressing valves
(and practicing a lot), brass players can
achieve the full range of chromatic
pitches.
But what about all of that plumbing?
The tubing eems to wrap around itself,
sometimes multiple times. Instrument
inventors discovered that, with some
heating and bending of the metal, the
twelve-foot horns we see in Egyptian
tomb paintings or King Arthur movies
could be bent back on
themselveswithout sacrificing or
altering the sound. A major
achievement in the development of
modern brass instruments was making
curves out of straight lines.
Then theres the issue of valves:
Historically speaking, valves replaced
cumbersome crooks (different lengths
of interchangeable tubing) in about
1820. Crooks were swapped out every
time a
musician
needed to
change
keys. This
clumsy
system
caused
Mozart to
require
Tuba with assortment of
crooks often switched thirty-five
mid-performance crook
changes in
the French horn part of his opera, Don
Giovanni. When the machines of the
19th century harkened in European
industrialization, advancement in
musical instruments followed suit. Take
apart a valve and youll see a cylinder
with a sort-of Swiss cheese look. When
the valve is up, the sound is directed to
one length of tubing, but when a valve
is pushed in, other holes direct the
sound to longer or shorter tubing,
which alters the pitch. With the
customary three valves, all the pitch
possibilities could be realized.
Candian Brass

VOCABULARY
piccolo
sousaphone
amplify
depress
chromatic
cumbersome
industrialization
DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
1. Horns are called horns
because the first were
made from animal horns.
How do you think this
discovery took place?
2. What other cylinders
are in your everyday life?
3. What are some other
examples of things folded
on each other in order to
fit into a small space?
Think anatomy...
4. Valves are used
throughout industry as a
way of regulating the
passage of gases or
liquids as they travel
through a hole. Nature
uses valves, too. What
are some examples?
5. What is the origin of
the word crook? Is it
related to the word
spelled the same way
meaning a thief?
Virginia Arts Festival 2005
Lesson #1
The Brass Family
ARTS ACTIVITIES
1. Design Your Own Brass Instrument
Each brass instrument has the same
components: Mouthpiece, valves, tubes,
and bell (flared end). Have students
design their own brass instrument in any
shape theyd like as long as it has these
components. If students need more
structure, have them first design a brass
instrument in the shape of the first letter
of their name.
2. Brass Palette Brass instruments are
often assigned a palette of color which is
bright and vibrant. Let students choose
colored markers or paints which
represent the palette they assign brass
instruments. Students can also be
assigned one instrument for which to
choose a palette. Then have students
create a piece of artwork using just the
palette they selected. To give more
structure, the art can be the CD cover for
a piece you play for them.
3. Animal Brass The first brass
instrument was called a serpent. Have
students design an instrument mimicking
the snake. Then they can design a brass
instrument based on a horse, a crab, a
mosquito, or other animal.
sails-3 Candian Brass
SOL Conn ections
Connections
English
English: 4.3-5, 7-9; 5.4-8; C/T5
C/T5.2-4; 6.3-5, 7-9;
7.4-6, 8-10; 8.2-5; C/T8
C/T8.1-4; 9.3, 6, 8; 10
10.7, 10;
11
11.7, 9; 12
12.7, 8
Histor y/Social Science
History/Social Science: VS
VS.1, 2; USI
USI.1, 2, 6, 9;
USII
USII.1, 2, 5, 6; WHI
WHI.1, 10, 12; WHII
WG.1, 3, 4; VUS
11; WG
Science
WHII.1, 2, 4-6, 9,
VUS.1, 4, 6-8, 10, 11, 14
Science: 4.1, 2; 5.1, 2; 6.1-3, 6; PSPS.1, 4, 6, 8, 10;
PH
PH.1-4, 8, 9
Mathem atics
atics: 4.1, 6, 9-11; 5.2, 3, 11, 18, 19; 6.2,
Mathematics
4, 7, 9, 10, 18, 19; 7.4, 5, 16-18; 8.3, 17
SOL EXTENSIONS
ENGLISH Write the autobiography of a
brass instrument through time. Use the
first person and include feelings. For
example, how did it feel to have so many
crooks yanked out and replaced? Did you
like being twisted into a portable size?
HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES When can you see
a brass instrument outside of the concert
hall? How are brass instruments used in
every day life (think of a bicycle
accessory)?
SCIENCE Have students research how a
brass instrument is made. Throught what
processes does the metal go? How is the
metal flattened so thinnly and smoothly?
How are the tubes made? How are the
valves formed?
MATH Describe a brass instruments
through numbers. How many notes can
each instrument produce? How many
valves does each instrument have? How
many notes are produced per valve? How
much brass is in each instrument? If
each instruments were stretched out,
how long would it be?
Trumpet
The highest-playing
member of the brass
family, early trumpets date
back all the way to the
tomb of King Tut! The
Bible talks about them,
and theres evidence that
they were part of the
ancient Olympics in
Greece. The first trumpets
were really bugles:
smaller bronze and brass
instruments, without
valves, that curve in on
themselves. They could
produce the fundamental
tone and the harmonic
notes of an octave, perfect
fifth and major third, as
well as some very high
piercing diatonic pitches...
those pitches in a major
scale... but the true
trumpet was born when
valves were added.
Some early trumpets, like
the teeny piccolo trumpet,
have rotary valves, but
most developed into the
familiar push valve style
of the modern trumpet.
There is a similar horn
called a cornet which
looks like a trumpet, but
has a conical bore
throughout its length
(getting bigger and bigger
from one end of its tubing
to the other like a
cone), while most of a
trumpets tubing is
cylindrical (with a bore
all the same width). Virginia Arts Festival 2005
French Horn
The French horn
developed in Europe as an
instrument to direct
upper-class hunters to and
from the game (foxes and
boars not Monopoly).
Along the way, valves
were added to increase
the number of pitch
possibilities to enhance
the horns repertoire of
signals to the hunters.
These horns were
traditionally round with a
widely flaring bell, to help
project the lower notes.
The French horn didnt
make it onto the concert
stage until the 1600s, and
even then it was used to
depict hunting scenes. It
was just too loud and
raucous. Many composers
wanted the sound, but all
the crook changes and
harsh timbre created
obstacles. The practice of
pointing the horn away
from the audience and
putting a fist inside the
bell of the instrument to
modulate the pitch and
mellow the timbre is
attributed to a German
horn-player named
Hampel in 1854. Up until
that time, the horn had
been played bell-upwards,
as in the hunting field.
sails-4
Trombone
Some time in the 1400s,
brass makers created a
variety of trumpet which
used the concept of a
slide, a U-bent tube instrument that could
inside another tube to
increase total tubing as
the musician plays. Since
the length of tubing
changes the pitches, this
was perfect for creating
an instrument that could
produce low notes of all
pitches. Its the slide that
gives the trombone its
special look and sound
with its distinctive
glissando effect. In the
last hundred years or so,
trombone-shaped
instruments with valves
were used, but they soon
grew out of fashion and
disappeared.
An early, medieval
prototype of the trombone
was the sackbut (believe it
or not), which is derived
from an early phrase for
valve pipe. The modern lowest pitches.
trombone comes in
assorted sizes, from an
alto trombone to bass instrument which is not
trombones to give a full
range of octaves to this
important and often
humorous instrument.
Candian Brass
Tuba
The tuba is the big bad
boy of the brass family. It
was developed because
orchestras needed an
compete with the big
sound of the other brass,
and also provide the
lowest notes in an
ensemble in which the
bottom voice of an
instrument determines the
type of chord being
played. It wasnt until the
Industrial Revolution that
there was technology
sophisticated enough to
bend all that metal into
something playable. The
addition of valves was a
huge perk to the tuba,
which ultimately gained
popularity.
There are many sizes of
tubas, some three-valve
and others four. It contains
the longest tubing of any
brass instrument, and,
naturally, produces the
There is a different
configuration of this
designed to sit in the
players lap, but to be
worn over the shoulder
and marched down the
street: It is the very big,
very round sousaphone,
invented by the king of the
marching band, John
Philip Sousa.
 SOL Conn ections
Connections
English
English: 4.3, 7, 8; 5.4, 7; C/T5
C/T5.2-4; 6.3, 6-8; 7.4,
8, 9; 8.2, 5; C/T8
C/T8.1-4; 9.6; 10
10.7, 8, 9; 11
11.7; 12
12.7
Histor y/Social Science
History/Social Science: USI
USI.1, 2, 9; USII
USII.1, 3, 5,
8; WHII
WHII.1, 4, 14; WGWG.1, 3, 4

Lesson #2 Science
Science: 4.1, 2; 5.1, 2; 6.1, 3; LS
10; BIO
BIO.1, 4; PH
Mathem atics
PH.1-6, 9
LS.1, 3; PS
PS.1, 6, 8,
atics: 4.1, 6, 9-11, 19; 5.2, 3, 11, 18, 19;
Mathematics
6.2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 18, 19; 7.4, 5, 14, 16-18; 8.3, 11,
The Instruments 12, 17

VOCABULARY ARTS ACTIVITIES SOL EXTENSIONS

fundamental 1. Make a Brass Instrument With a ENGLISH As in Art Activity 1 to the left,
octave section of garden hose and a funnel, you student can write the conversation
perfect fifth can create a brass instrument! Insert the represented by a selection of brass
major third funnel into one end and blow, with quintet music. Use a wide variety of
diatonic buzzing lips, into the other end. Vary the moods in music in order to get the most
raucous length of hose to vary notes produced. emotional writing.
crook
timbre 2. Musical Conversation Chamber HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES When did the first
glissando music is like a conversation. Instruments brass quintet form and perform? Have
pass the melody back and forth, taking students research the origins of the
DISCUSSION turns saying something while the others ensemble and identify some Canadian
QUESTIONS chime in. Have students listen to a
selection and then act out what they
Brass ensembles of the past. Has there
ever been a brass quintet as famous as
1. Why were valves believe is being said. Students could the Canadian Brass?
added to the bugle? also write a musical skit based on a
2. What is the difference selection or discuss the meaning or SCIENCE What parts of the body are used
between a cornet and a message of a piece after using the role- to play a brass instrument? Create a list
trumpet? How do you playing as a preparation. including how each part of the body is
think these difference used. For example, the parts which make
affect the sound? 3. Walk This Way What kind of physical contact with the instrument are
personality does a tuba have? It is a he or the lips and the fingers. The lips purse to
3. Why are horns a she? What would it look like if it were a regulate the amount of air, which is
important in hunting? person? How would that person walk, pushed through the esophagus from the
Why was is difficult for talk, dress, act? Have your students assign lungs. The muscles in the fingers push the
the French horn to personalities and human equivalents to bones in the right position to firmly
shake its reputation the brass instruments. Have them walk depress the buttons.
and be taken seriously? across the room, or around the room as a
4. Trombone players slide group, as one instrument, as a selection of MATH How do the brass instruments
to reach the notes they that instrument is played. Then surprise compare in numbers? Which is heaviest?
want to play, while the them by playing a selection outside of the Which produces the most notes? Which
rest of the brass personality they assigned. has the most parts? How many of each
instruments press valves. are sold per year in the United States?
What unique effects Which is the most popular in high school
would the trombone bands?
player be able to
produce?
5. What technology do
you think was invented
that allowed the creation
of the tuba? Virginia Arts Festival 2005 sails-4 Candian Brass
Good Vibrations: The music goes...
It used to be called the Bronx
Cheer, and it was liberally used
when the umpire made a bad call
in the baseball stadium. It
was easy: You just put your
lips together and BUZZ! Put a
brass instrument in front of your
lips and youve got the beginnings of
a basic brass technique.
When you think about it, ALL music is
vibration, whether youre hitting a
piano string with a felt-covered
hammer or twanging a guitar string
with a pick or passing air over your
vocal chords in the shower. You can
get similar results with a plastic ruler
on the edge of your desk: Twang it
and, depending on how much of
the ruler hangs over the
edge, youll get a low or
high pitch.
ANYTHING that
vibrates creates a
tone: A
hummingbirds heart
beats so fast it creates a
toneand the reason it works
has to do with the air itself.
Think of molecules of air like teeny
tennis balls: Theyre elastic and they
bounce. So when a bunch of them are
struck by the leading edge of, lets say,
a vibrating string, they bounce away in
all directions, smashing into any other
molecules around. And there are lots
of them around: After all, we live at
Virginia Arts Festival 2005
the bottom of an ocean of air. These
molecules bounce off the walls
and the floor and the ceiling and,
oh yes, you and me. Some find
their way into our sound
collectors (we call them
ears) and smack up against
our eardrums, which vibrate
sympathetically. Resting on the other
side of our tympanum (the
official name for our eardrums) are
some of the smallest bones in our
bodies that, in turn, vibrate fluid in
our inner ear. Little hairs in the fluid
vibrate, and that vibration is turned
into minute amounts of electricity,
which floods our brain with what we
perceive as sound.
Many early cultures figured out the
buzzing technique for creating
sound. They used natural tubing, like
those big conch shells Pacific
Islanders use, or long, hollow
tubes from plants, which
Australian Aboriginal folks
made into digereedoos fifty
thousand years ago. The conch
shell is perfect because it has all
those connecting chambers.
Remember: The longer a tube, the
lower its sound.
So whenever you hear a musical
tone, whether its a church bell
or a puppy whining, youd
better believe theres
something vibrating.
sails-5 Candian Brass
 SOL Conn ections
Connections
English
English: 4.3, 7, 8; 5.1, 4, 7; C/T5
C/T5.2-4; 6.3, 7, 8;
7.4, 8, 9; 8.2, 5; C/T8
C/T8.1-4; 9.6; 1010.7, 8, 9; 11
11.7;
12
12.7
Histor y/Social Science
History/Social Science: USI
USI.1-3; WHI
WHI.1, 5, 6, 11;

Lesson #3 WHII
WHII.1, 6, 8, 11, 12; WG
Science: 4.1, 2; 5.1, 2; 6.1, 3; PS
Science
PH
PH.1-4, 6, 8
WG.1, 3, 4
PS.1, 10; CH
CH.2;
Mathem atics
atics: 4.2-4, 7, 8, 19; 5.1-4, 6, 7, 17; 6.1,
Mathematics
Good Vibrations 2, 4, 6, 7, 18; 7.1, 2, 4, 17, 18; 8.1, 3, 12; A.1, 3,
4

VOCABULARY ARTS ACTIVITIES SOL EXTENSIONS

vibration 1. Be A Scatman Scat is a way of ENGLISH Continue the metaphor activity in
pitch immitating the sound of a trumpet with Discussion Question 2 with a written
molecule the human voice. When scatting, a jazz activity. Assign students a concept, taken
sympathetically singer will choose syllables, usually from this page or any subject area, and
tympanum nonsense words, which represent certain create a metaphor. Have students write
perceive sounds. For example, zoo bee dee bob is the concept and the item used in the
conch a scat phrase for a trumpet phrase. Have metaphor and list similar traits, then turn
aboriginal students listen to jazz scat as an example. their list into a paragraph.
Then have them come up with their own
DISCUSSION scat phrases. As an expansion, have
students create scat for a classical
HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES Who were the
scientists who first studied the science of
QUESTIONS selection. sound? What are some legends or myths
1. Most important which explain sounds in nature? How do
question first: If a tree 2. Colorful Sound Waves Play the different countries represent different
falls in a forest and section of Disneys Fantasia in which a sounds in their language?
nobody hears it, does it line vibrates according to the sound
make a sound? produced by various instruments (pictured
SCIENCE What inventions or technologies
on worksheet). Using paint and a piece of
2. Name examples of have allowed instruments to improve
yarn, students can duplicate this effect.
when you have heard a over time? What technologies are based
Students fold an 11x17 piece of heavy
sound as well as felt it on human processes (such as hearing)
paper and coil onto one half a piece of
through vibrations. which have been mechanized?
yarn which has been dipped into paint
3. Teeny tennis balls (mixing colors is ok). Leaving one end of
were used to describe the yarn outside, students fold the paper MATH Musical notes are written as
molecules. Ocean of air over the yarn. Holding one hand on the numbers which represent number of
was used to describe our paper, they pull out the yarn with the oscillations in one second. How do these
atmosphere. What other. They can open the paper and see numbers change which a pitch is
metaphors can you think the fun result! changed? How about if pitches are
of to describe these and played simultaneously?
other concepts related to 3. Movement and Sound Have five
sound? students create a human brass quintet.
Each student will create a movement (the
4. Onomatopoeia is when simpler the better) which represents the
the sound of a word sound made by one instrument in the
represents an actual brass quintet. Their task is to link their
sound. An example is individual movements into a flowing,
buzz; the word makes machine-like group movement.
the sound it describes.
What are some other
examples of in this
passage?
Virginia Arts Festival 2005 sails-5 Candian Brass
Of Overtones, Partials and Harmonics
Ever wonder how bugles and other brass instruments
without valves create those clear, distinct notes?
Heres how it works:
Most listeners, even many non-musicians, can
recognize an Octave when they hear it. Our whole Theres no sound in outer
musical perception is based on it. But trying to define space: No matter how
cool those Star Trek ships
an octave is tough: We can say that its any two notes
sound when they go into
which have the same letter name, like C# and the warp drive, the fact is that
next C# up, but that doesnt tell us much. if you dont have
It turns out that there are two very precise molecules to bounce off of
relationship between these two notes, and the first each other, sound cant
has to do with how fast they vibrate: The faster a happen, and space is, after
all, a vacuum (one
string (or anything else) vibrates, the higher the
molecule every gazillion
pitch. Many of you have heard of A-440. What that miles).
means is that anything that vibrates 440 times a
second will produce the note A. Anything: A tuning Of course, all cultures
fork, a string, a set of lips vibrating into a tuba, a have music. Because of
clarinet reed. . . anything. the physical relationships
of pitch, all cultures have
The fact is that the two notes that produce an octave octaves and perfect fifths
have a 2:1 ratio. In other words, if a low A vibrates and other basic harmonic
440 times a second, the next A an octave up will relationships in their
vibrate 880 times, and the next up 1,760 times a music.
second. Our Western human ears
The second relationship between octave notes is the are trained to prefer the
consonant, pretty
physical length of the instrument that transmits the
sounding intervals like
vibrations. In a string, any length will produce a tone, octaves, and tend to
but if you cut that string exactly in half, the remaining dislike dissonant
half will vibrate twice as fast which, as we all now intervalsyou know, the
know, will produce an octave. ones that sound like two
Now heres the twist (literally): Strings dont notes fighting each other.
One of the most dissonant
necessarily vibrate as a whole. They can be made to
intervals in Western music
vibrate in sections: If you place your finger at the is called a tritone, and its
halfway point of a string very lightly, you will have often used as a siren in
effectively cut the string into two sections; if you European police cars to
pluck one section, an octave will sound. The other make us run the other
half of the string will vibrate sympathetically. Even way. Play F# and the
when you play the whole string, there are sections C below it over and
that appear at the halfway point, the thirds, the over and youll get the
fourths, etc These harmonics or partials ring out message.
much softer than the main vibration, but theyre Humans cant hear all
there. pitches: Women can hear
So, believe it or not, when you play one note, that higher pitches than men,
and dogs can hear much
note is made up of much softer notes an octave, a
higher than women. Thats
perfect fifth, and many other notes higher up. Brass how dog whistles work. By
players take advantage of these facts when they play: the way, snakes cant hear
Theyre not plucking strings, but they can tighten at all no ears, poor
their embouchure (position of lips on the dears.
mouthpiece), which is how a bugler playing taps
can get all those notes with no valves at all.

Virginia Arts Festival 2005 sails-6 Candian Brass

 SOL Conn ections
Connections
English
English: 4.1-3, 7, 8; 5.1, 4, 7; C/T5
C/T5.2-4; 6.1-3, 7,
8; 7.1, 4, 8; 8.1, 2, 5; C/T8
C/T8.1-4; 9.6; 10
10.1, 2, 7, 9;
11
11.1, 2, 7; 12
12.7
Histor y/Social Science
History/Social Science: WHI
WHI.1, 10, 12, 13;

Lesson #4 WHII
WHII.1-3, 6; WGWG.1, 3, 12
Science: 4.1, 2; 5.1, 2; 6.1-3; PS
Science
8, 9
PS.1, 6, 8; PH
PH.1-6,
Mathem atics
atics: 4.11, 20; 5.11, 21; 6.8, 13, 18-20;
Mathematics
Of Overtones... 7.14, 16-18, 22; 8.12, 13, 15; A.1, 4, 6, 10, 14;
AII
AII.6, 8, 19

VOCABULARY ARTS ACTIVITIES SOL EXTENSIONS

overtone 1. Art Quintet Have students ENGLISH Have students explore the word
partial experience working together like a brass sympathetic. Explain that the roots
harmonic quintet. Divide class into groups of five. sym together and path means
octave There may be the need for one or two feeling. Ask them to explain how this
ratio quartets. Each student is given a corresponds to a person feeling sympathy
responsibility in a group art project. The for another. As your students to relate
project can be a mural or a large this experience to sympathetic vibrations
sculpture, anything large-scale. The in strings.
students plan out their project, then get to
DISCUSSION work - simultaneously. They will have to
figure out a way to work together at the
HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES When did music
begin to be described in terms of
QUESTIONS same time, taking turns, trading off work, octaves, fifths, and other terms? Have
1. Oct is the root for and respecting each others workspace. students listen to medieval chants to
the number eight; there After the project, the equally important understand how seconds, fourths, sixths,
are eight notes in an discussion should elicit comments about and sevenths were not considered
octave. What other words the skills needed to work together in a dissonant and unpleasant.
have the root oct? quintet.
What do they have eight
2. Colorful Keys The piano keyboard is SCIENCE Explore sounds waves by
of?
the most visual representation of the stretching and plucking a rubber band.
2. How would you relationship between notes. Have students Use water as a means of trapping
describe what an octave create a colorful piano keyboard using sound waves by placing a glass of water
is in your own words? colors and patterns to show the on an amp or speaker producing sound.
relationship between keys. The first key in Explore the cause of the Doppler effect
3. What relationship will and have students draw an illustration of
the notes produced by the octave and all the notes which vibrate
sympathetically with it (third, fifth, the phenomenon.
one string of 6 inches
and one string of 3 octave) should be in warm colors. The
inches? other keys should be in cool colors. MATH Waves in mathematics can be
Student can vary patterns and label the plotted on a cartesian plane. There are
4. Why do you thing keys if so desired. sine waves, cosine waves, and various
musicologists chose the variations of the two. Have students
word sympathetic to explore the relationship between
describe the vibrations of octaves, fifths, and other intervals using a
a string during a sin wave as a starting point.
harmonic? How does this
serve as a metaphor for
the more familiar
definition of the word?

Virginia Arts Festival 2005 sails-6 Candian Brass

Toronto
Located along the northern banks of Lake Ontario, just north
The cultural of Detroit (give or take a few hours waiting at the boarder),
this town is home to the worlds tallest building (CN Tower),
birthplace of the worlds longest street (Yonge Street), and the worlds
finest brass quintet (you know who!). Its name, Toronto,
Canadian Brass comes from the Huron word meaning Meeting Place, and
thats exactly what youll find: A multicultural meeting place
has a lot to for nearly 5 million people of 70 different nationalities
offer! speaking some 100 languages. And its big. Its the largest
city in Canada (with one third of all Canadians living there),
and the fifth largest city in North America.

Torontos history goes back way back. Theres evidence that

Although Canadian
some 8,000 years ago, prehistoric humans were hunting dear
and elk on its shores. They were followed by the Iroquois
Brass can be found
whose cultural influence spread over 200 villages throughout
the Toronto area. Going into the 17th century, British and
performing in just
French fur traders began arriving, followed by the inevitable
battles for power and land. Before Europeans eliminated
about any little corner
native cultures and populations through war and disease, it
was initially the Iroquis doing battle with their neighbors the
of the world, they hail
Hurons, with the British and French taking sides with one
tribe or the other. The French erected the first European
from one of Canadas
structure, Fort Rouill, on Torontos soil in 1751 only to be
destroyed by the British in the Seven Years War in 1759.
truly cosmopolitan
After the Revolutionary War, Toronto saw a stream of British
loyalists flee the newly formed United States, settling in the
cities: Toronto, Ontario.
Lake Ontario area.

Today, Toronto is thriving, bustling, full of arts and culture,

parks and playgrounds, with a well-planned subway system
and great educational opportunities. The artistic message is
also loud and clear: The Arts are alive and well here.

Virginia Arts Festival 2005 sails-7 Candian Brass


VOCABULARY
cosmopolitan
prehistoric
inevitable
multicultural
DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS
1. Would you like to go
visit Toronto? Why or
why not? If so, would you
prefer to go during the
summer or winter?
2. How are Toronto and
New York City similar?
How are they different?
3. What city in the
United States was
settled by the same
nation as Canada? What
language do they share?
4. Would you go to the
top of the CN Tower?
How would you feel up
that high above the
ground?
Virginia Arts Festival 2005
Lesson #4
Of Overtones...
ARTS ACTIVITIES
1. Beautiful Name Have students
create a graphic design version of the
Torontos name. One option is to replace
each vowel with a Canadian or
Torontonian symbol. Also, did you notice
that the CN Tower looks like a T...?
2. CN Tower In Words The CN Tower
has a distinctive shape. Have students
trace its outline in pencil on a sheet of
paper. Then using a pencil at first,
followed by a pen, have students write
words they associate with Toronto after
having read the worksheet or doing their
own research. Have students vary the way
they write: Large, small, plain, fancy,
thick, skinny, etc. Also, there words should
go right up to the pencil outline, but not
cross it. As many words as possible should
touch the line. When they have filled the
tower shape, have them erase the pencil
outline, leaving their words alone to form
the shape.
sails-7 Candian Brass
SOL Conn ections
Connections
English
English: 4.3, 7-9; 5.1, 7, 8; C/T5
C/T5.2-4; 6.5, 7-9;
7.1, 3, 4, 6, 8-10; 8.4, 5, 6; C/T8
C/T8.1-4; 9.3, 4, 6, 8;
10
10.1, 4, 7, 9, 10; 11
11.4, 7, 9; 12
12.4, 7
Histor y/Social Science
History/Social Science: USI
USI.1-4; WHI
WHI.1, 2, 12,
13; WHII
WHII.1, 2, 4, 8, 14, 15; WG
Science: 4.6; 5.7; ES
Science
Mathem atics
ES.1-4, 8
WG.1-9, 11, 12
atics: 4.1, 5-8, 20; 5.3, 12, 18, 19, 21;
Mathematics
6.2, 4, 6, 8, 18, 19; 7.4, 5, 15-17; 8.3, 12, 13
SOL EXTENSIONS
ENGLISH Create a Toronto brochure for
tourtists. Vary the type of brochure made
by adapting the focus of the brochure:
Some students can create winter
brochures, summer brochures, guides for
students, guides for families, guides for
sports fans, etc.
HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES Where does the
name Toronto come from? Who lived in
present-day Toronto 100 years ago?
1000 years ago? How many languages
have been spoken on this land? What
role did this city play in history?
SCIENCE What geological features are in
and under Toronto? What climate zone is
it in? What are its record high and low
temperatures? Have any Nobel Prize
winners come from Toronto? Canada?
MATH Budget a trip to Toronto, including
transportation, housing, food, attractions,
and related costs. This activity goes well
with the English activity described above.
Vary the trips as you would the
brochures and include costs for those
activities as well.
 upcoming events
w w w . v a f e s t . c o m
FROM THE 2005 VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL
april 21 A Midsummer Nights Dream 7:30 p.m. - Chrysler Hall (N)

22 Virginia International Tattoo 7:30 pm - Scope (N)

23 Virginia International Tattoo 7:30 pm - Scope (N)

A Midsummer Nights Dream 8 pm - Chrysler Hall (N)

24 A Midsummer Nights Dream 2:30 pm - Chrysler Hall (N)

Virginia International Tattoo 2:30 pm - Scope (N)

26 Ballet Veracruz 7:30 pm - Ferguson Center for the Arts (NN)

27 From the Top 7:30 pm - Harrison Opera House (N)

28 Tierney Sutton 7:30 pm - Granby Theatre (N)

29 Lunchtime Chamber Music #1 12 Noon - First Lutheran Church (N)

Richmond Ballet Giselle 8 pm - Harrison Opera House (N)
Paul Jacobs - Organ - 8 pm - Christ & St. Lukes Church (N)

30 Tom Sawyer 1 pm - TCC Roper Performing Arts Center - (N)

Tom Sawyer 3:30 pm - TCC Roper Performing Arts Center - (N)
Garrison Keillor 5:30 pm - Chrysler Hall (N)

may 1 Richmond Ballet Giselle 2:30 pm - Harrison Opera House (N)

Eroica Trio 7:30 pm - Great Bridge Presbyterian Church (C)

2 Eroica Trio 7:30 pm - Ferguson Center for the Arts (NN)

3 Imani Winds 7:30 pm - Attucks Theatre (N)

4 John Duffy Composer in Residence 7:30 pm - TCC Roper Performing Arts Center (N)

5 Elements Quartet 7:30 pm - Granby Theatre (N)

Lunchtime Chamber Music #5 12 noon - Thomas Nelson Community College (H)

6 PANorama Caribbean Music Fest Ocean Front (VB)

Lunchtime Chamber Music #2 12 Noon - Trinity Episopal Church (P)
Martha Graham Dance Company 8 pm - Harrison Opera House (N)

7 PANorama Caribbean Music Fest Ocean Front (VB)

Imani Winds 11 am - Childrens Museum of Virginia (P)
Itzhak Perlman 8 pm - Chrysler Hall (N)

8 PANorama Caribbean Music Fest Ocean Front (VB)

Martha Graham Dance Company 3 pm - Harrison Opera House (N) Worldclass
PROGRAMS
Blue Hair - Peter Cutts 3 pm - Childrens Museum of Virginia (P)
Peter
Tokyo String Quartet 7:30 pm - St. Pauls Church (P)

10 Smithsonian Chamber Players 7:30 pm - Chrysler Museum (N)

Robert W. Cross
11 Evening Chamber Music 7:30 pm - St. Pauls Episcopal Church (N) Executive Director

SAILS TEAM
12 Gary Burtons Generations 7:30 pm - Granby Theatre (N)

13 Lunchtime Chamber Music #3 12 Noon - First Presbyterian Church (VB)

Canadian Brass 7:30 pm - Phi Beta Kappa (W)

14 Virginia Beer Festival 2-6 pm - Town Point Park (N)

Canadian Brass 8 pm - Town Center (VB) Laurie Baefsky
Education Director, Editing
15 Noche Flamenco 7:30 pm - Town Center (VB)
Erica Smith-Llera
17 JoAnn Falletta and Friends 7:30 pm - TCC Roper Performing Arts Center (N) Lessons and Layout, Online
Extensions
18 Lunchtime Chamber Music #4 12 Noon - Chrysler Museum Theater (N) Douglas Thiele
Koresh Dance Company 7:30 pm - Kings Fork High School (S)
Research and Writing
19 Chris Smither/Willy Porter 7:30 pm - Granby Theatre (N) Ben Meyer
Education Assistant
20 Koresh Dance Company 8 pm - Phi Beta Kappa (W)
Photocopying and duplicating for
21 Broadway Under the Stars 8 pm - Sunken Garden College of Wm & Mary (W) educational purposes only.
Student Arts Information &
22 Festival Finale: Tchaikovsky Spectacular 7 pm - Sunken Garden College of Wm & Mary (W) Lessons
All rights reserved.
Virginia Arts Festival 2005 T-4 Candian Brass 2005