This group activity explains the musical relationship between the length of instruments and their pitch.


Objectives

  • Students will collect, organize, and graph data, demonstrating their grasp of the relationship between the length of an instrument and its pitch.

Materials

  • A keyboard, bells, piano, or other fixed-pitch instrument
  • Instruments from the school band, orchestra, or from among those made by the students
  • Coordinate graphing (grid) paper
  • Rulers or tape measures

Procedure

  1. Set up seven stations of three to five instruments each. You may wish to keep the project simple by grouping instruments by family and using only instruments, such as stringed instruments, marimbas, or panpipes, for which "length" can be easily determined. Label four of the stations, "Take measurements first." Label the remaining stations, "Verify pitch first."

  2. Assign students to seven groups of four or more students.
    • Have each group assign a secretary, who will record the final data of all students in the group.
    • Ask each student, except for the secretary, to measure the length of various instruments and determine the instruments' pitch. Make certain that they measure the sounding length of instruments; for example, on instruments in the violin family, the measurement should be made from the top of the fingerboard to the bridge. On brass instruments, the students will have to measure the complete length of all tubing used to play a given note.

  3. Have groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 take all length measurements first. Have groups 5, 6, and 7 verify the pitch of the instruments first (using the keyboard or another fixed-pitch instrument as a standard and matching pitches).

  4. Have each student graph his or her data on a coordinate graph, making sure to graph the instruments in order by length. Alternatively, have the students graph the data on graphing calculators.

  5. Ask the secretary of each group to take all the group data and plot it on an overhead transparency of a coordinate graph, making sure that the data is graphed in order by length of instrument. The length of the instrument should be graphed on the y-axis; the pitch on the x-axis.

  6. Ask each secretary to present the group findings to the entire class, using the overhead.

  7. Ask the students to summarize what they discovered in this project. This may be done in class discussion or, for evaluation, in writing on the students' data sheets.

Standards Correlations

Mathematics

  • Standard 1: Mathematics as problem-solving
  • Standard 2: Mathematics as communication
  • Standard 4: Mathematics as connections
  • Standard 13: Measurement

Art Education

  • Standard 6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music
  • Standard 8: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts

Excerpted fromIn Harmony with Education Program: Bose's Teacher Guide.

NAfME
Provided in partnership with NAfME
Distribute a group activity that explains the musical relationship between length of instruments and their pitch.
Grades
5
6
7
8
Teaching Strategies

The full page is available ONLY to subscribers. Sign up today to get access to this page and all of the content on TeacherVision®.

Featured Middle School Resources

History of Earth Day Reading Passage and Quiz

ACTIVITIES

Earth Day Activities: History of Earth Day Reading Passage and Quiz

Help your students work on their reading comprehension skills while learning all about Earth Day with this reading compr...

Add to Folder
creative writing
children's book
activities
classroom tools
language arts and writing
vocabulary
Create new folderCREATE NEW FOLDER
Test Prep Strategies and Practice for Students

ACTIVITIES

Test Prep Strategies, Tools, and Practice Questions

Help set your students up for academic success with this packet of test-taking tips, test preparation strategies, and pr...

Add to Folder
creative writing
children's book
activities
classroom tools
language arts and writing
vocabulary
Create new folderCREATE NEW FOLDER
Elements of Poetry Workbook

WORKBOOKS

Elements of Poetry Workbook

Use this poetry toolbox workbook to support your students to learn different poetic terms and devices, and then practice...

Add to Folder
creative writing
children's book
activities
classroom tools
language arts and writing
vocabulary
Create new folderCREATE NEW FOLDER

Related Resources

LESSON PLANS

Math and Music: Fibonacci Sequence

Students discover the patterns in music that relate to the Fibonacci Sequence.

Add to Folder
creative writing
children's book
activities
classroom tools
language arts and writing
vocabulary
Create new folderCREATE NEW FOLDER

LESSON PLANS

Discovering the Magical Pi

INTRODUCTIONIn this lesson plan for Pi Day or any day, students will use data on the circumference and diameter of vario...

Add to Folder
creative writing
children's book
activities
classroom tools
language arts and writing
vocabulary
Create new folderCREATE NEW FOLDER

LESSON PLANS

Instruments and Melodies

Use chords to help students in grades 5-8 play simple tunes on a melodic instrument and simple accompaniments on a harmo...

Add to Folder
creative writing
children's book
activities
classroom tools
language arts and writing
vocabulary
Create new folderCREATE NEW FOLDER

LESSON PLANS

Interactive Timeline

Grades: 3-8Subject areas: Music, History, and MathSummary:Students will explore ragtime music and gain an understanding ...

Add to Folder
creative writing
children's book
activities
classroom tools
language arts and writing
vocabulary
Create new folderCREATE NEW FOLDER

LESSON PLANS

Appalachian Riddle Song

Capture your students' attention with this lesson focusing on “The Riddle Song” to show the pentatonic scale a...

Add to Folder
creative writing
children's book
activities
classroom tools
language arts and writing
vocabulary
Create new folderCREATE NEW FOLDER

REFERENCE

Math and Music: Leonardo of Pisa

Brief explanation of Leonardo of Pisa's finding of the Fibonacci Sequence and its relation to music.

Add to Folder
creative writing
children's book
activities
classroom tools
language arts and writing
vocabulary
Create new folderCREATE NEW FOLDER
loading gif