Year 11 - Music
Timbre around the world
Timbre and texture in music around the world
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
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Lesson Summary
You will learn to identify common instruments and timbres from a variety of musical traditions around the world.
Key Notes
- There is a huge diversity of instruments around the world. Some have crossed between musical genres and traditions.
- Common non-Western drums include tabla, timbales, conga, djembe and dhol.
- There are many other important percussion instruments, including both tuned and untuned percussion.
- There is also a diverse range of stringed instruments that can be heard.
- These include guitar-like instruments like banjo, mandolin and bouzouki, and other instruments like tanpura and sarangi.
Vocabulary To Learn
- tabla: a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent with a range of timbres
- conga: a hand drum originating in Africa with a round, full timbre
- banjo: a guitar-like stringed instrument that has a distinct percussive 'twangy' timbre
- sitar: a stringed instrument from the Indian subcontinent that creates a rich, ringing timbre with use of its resonant strings
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- It is impossible to memorise the timbre of all of the different instruments around the world.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
There is a huge diversity of instruments around the world. Some have crossed between musical genres and traditions. Common non-Western drums include tabla, timbales, conga, djembe and dhol.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'tabla'
a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent with a range of timbres.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: It is impossible to memorise the timbre of all of the different instruments around the world. Correction: Yes, it would be impossible. However, learning to identify some of the key instruments is valuable - these are often heard in styles across different cultures, so learning the sound of the most common is important as a well-rounded musician.
More Lessons In This Unit
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