Year 11 - Music
Understanding timbre: Western sounds
Timbre and texture in music around the world
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Unit Summary
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Lesson Summary
You will learn to identify common instruments and timbres from different Western musical traditions.
Key Notes
- The orchestra is home to a diverse range of instruments which use different effects to create different timbres.
- Some common effects include: arco, pizzicato, muted, and double-stopping.
- Styles of popular music often use different timbres.
- The synthesiser creates a wide range of different sounds, including different synth leads, pads and basses.
Vocabulary To Learn
- arco: when strings are played with a bow
- pizzicato: when strings are plucked with a finger
- mute: a device that dampens and reduces the sound produced by an instrument
- synth lead: a type of synthesised sound that is suited to playing melodies
- synth pad: a type of synthesised sound that is suited to playing sustained sounds
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Instrumental timbres in families can be identified with pitch.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
The orchestra is home to a diverse range of instruments which use different effects to create different timbres. Some common effects include: arco, pizzicato, muted, and double-stopping.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'arco'
when strings are played with a bow.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Instrumental timbres in families can be identified with pitch. Correction: This isn't always the case. Instruments such as the trombone and French horn have a similiar pitch and the oboe and cor anglais pitch ranges cross over, so it's important that pupils think about the timbres to identify instruments correctly.
More Lessons In This Unit
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