For Teachers. For the Bravo, Brass! concert use: Welcome to Cuesheet, one of. For the Who s Got the Melody? concert use: page 3. Cuesheet for Teachers

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1 For the Bravo, Brass! concert use: Bravo, Brass! page 2 Three Brass Parts, page 3 My Trip to the Kennedy Center, page 6 Being Part of the Audience, page 7 Reproducible Letter to Families, page 8 For the Who s Got the Melody? concert use: Who s Got the Melody? page 4 Trio Means Three, page 5 My Trip to the Kennedy Center, page 6 Being Part of the Audience, page 7 Reproducible Letter to Families, page 8 For Teachers Welcome to Cuesheet, one of a series of performing arts study guides published by the Education Department of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO). This Cuesheet is developed for the two NSO Kinderkonzerts, Bravo, Brass! February 3 and 4, 1997, and Who s Got the Melody? April 4, 28, and May 22, Cuesheet for Teachers contains background information about both concerts and provides copies of activity pages for students. Teachers need not have a background in music to use Cuesheet. A Cuesheet for Students, developed for each concert, contains activity pages for students use.

2 2 Bravo, Brass! Background for Students The title of the concert you will hear at the Kennedy Center is Bravo Brass! The concert introduces the brass family of instruments. Since the powerful sounds of brass instruments carry greater distances than the human voice, they have been used throughout history to communicate announcing calls to battle, hunting expeditions, and outdoor festivals and events. The brass family of instruments has four members. They are the trumpet, French horn, trombone, and tuba. The instruments are listed from highestpitched to lowest-pitched. All brass instruments have three parts: the mouthpiece, the tubing, and the bell. Mouthpiece the part of the instrument that musicians blow into. Brass players don t put the mouthpiece in their mouths. They place it on their lips. Players then blow air (buzz with their lips) into the instrument. Tubing the part of the instrument through which the air flows. The length and width of the tubing affects a sound s pitch and tone. Long tubing produces low pitches, while short tubing produces high pitches. Also, wider tubing (like in the tuba) produces deep, rich tones. Meet the Performers The Bravo, Brass! concert features musicians playing five instruments (a quintet) two trumpets, one French horn, one trombone, and one tuba. Four of the musicians who perform in Bravo, Brass! also perform regularly as part of the 103-member National Symphony Orchestra (NSO); one of the musicians is a guest performer. The musicians are Steven Hendrickson, trumpeter; Edwin Thayer, hornist; Milton Stevens, trombonist; David Bragunier, tubist; with special guest trumpeter Phil Snedecor. STUDENT ACTIVITY PAGE: Three Brass Parts To help students become familiar with the names and parts of brass instruments, ask them to complete the Activity Page in Cuesheet for Students, on page 2. The Activity Page also is included in this Cuesheet on page 3. Directions: Using a red crayon, draw a line from Buzzy the Mouthpiece to the mouthpiece on each instrument. Using a green crayon, draw a line from Twisty the Tubing to the tubing on each instrument. Using a blue crayon, draw a line from Boomer the Bell to the bell on each instrument. Resources to Explore Brass Instruments BOOKS: Berger, Melvin. The Trumpet. New York: Lathrop, Lee, and Shepard Co., English, Betty Lou. You Can t be Timid with a Trumpet: Notes from the Orchestra. New York: Lathrop, Lee, and Shepard Co., Kettelkamp, Larry. Horns. New York: William Morrow and Co., RECORDINGS: Trumpet J. S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto #2; Gershwin, An American in Paris. French Horn Beethoven, Symphony #3, Eroica ( Trio ); Richard Strauss, Till Eulenspiegel. Trombone Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique (fourth movement, March to the Scaffold ); Wagner, Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin. Tuba Vaughn Williams, Tuba Concerto; George Kleinsinger s music for Paul Tripp s children s story Tubby the Tuba. Bell Bell the end of the tubing. Bells are flared to add strength and tone to the sound. Tubing Mouthpiece

3 Three Brass Parts 3 French Horn Hi, I m Buzzy the Mouthpiece. Hi, I m Twisty the Tubing. Tuba Trombone I m Boomer the Bell. We are three important parts of every brass instrument. Trumpet

4 4 Who s Got the Melody? Resources about instruments in the Unlikely Trio BOOKS: Berger, Melvin. The Flute Book. New York: Lathrop, Lee, and Shepard Co., Lillegard, Dee. Woodwinds: An Introduction to Musical Instruments. Chicago: Children s Press, RECORDINGS: Prokofiev, Peter and the Wolf. (Oboe=duck; Flute=bird.) Mozart, Flute- Harp Concerto. Background for Students The title of the concert you will hear at the Kennedy Center is Who s Got the Melody? The melody is the tune of a song. It s the part of the music that you usually sing or hum. Other music, added to the melody, is called the accompaniment. For example, if you sing a song while someone strums on the guitar, you are singing the melody and the guitar is playing the accompaniment. During the concert you will learn to hear Who s Got the Melody. About The Unlikely Trio The concert Who s Got the Melody? will be performed by the Unlikely Trio. The Trio of musicians play three instruments flute, oboe, and harp. The trio is called unlikely because these three instruments are not usually in a trio together. The flute and oboe belong to the woodwind family and are played by blowing into them. The third instrument in the trio, the harp, belongs to the string family of instruments. It is played by plucking the strings or sliding fingers over the strings. The Unlikely Trio features National Symphony musicians Carole Bean, flutist; Dotian Levalier, harpist; and William Wielgus, oboist. STUDENT ACTIVITY PAGE: Trio Means Three To help students learn that the word trio means any group of three persons or things, ask them to complete the Activity Page in Cuesheet for Students, on page 2. The Activity page also is included in this Cuesheet on page 5. ACTIVITY: Make Your Own Unlikely Trio Provide simple instruments (e.g., drum, whistle, kazoo, human voice) or objects (e.g., pots, pans, spoons) with which students can make sounds. Ask students to join together in groups of three to form their own trios and to experiment with sounds. ACTIVITY: Moving to the Melody This activity helps students listen actively to a melody. I am going to play (sing) a song with a melody. When you hear the melody, sing or hum along. (Play [sing] melody.) When you listen to the melody again, listen for when the melody goes higher and when it goes lower. Move your hand high or low along with the music. (Play [sing] song.) Let s stand in a circle. As you listen again to the same song, stretch up tall when the melody goes higher and crouch down when the melody goes lower. Ready...? (Play [sing] song.) EXTENDED ACTIVITY: Drawing the Melody Materials: One crayon and one piece of white paper per student I will play (sing) a simple song. As you listen, draw a line that moves up when the melody goes higher and moves down when the melody goes lower. For example, watch as I draw along with the melody, Mary Had a Little Lamb. (demonstrate) Now it s your turn. Listen and draw a line that follows the melody as it goes higher and lower. Ready...? Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow.

5 Trio Means Three 5 A trio has three people or things. Circle the pictures that show trios.

6 6 My Trip to The Kennedy Center Memorials help us remember special people or events. Here are three memorials in Washington, DC. Draw a line from each memorial to the name of the person it helps us remember. President John F. Kennedy President Abraham Lincoln President George Washington In this box, draw a picture about the concert at the Kennedy Center. Your drawing is like a memorial because it helps you remember a special event!

7 Being a Part of the Audience 7 Directions: Use this key to read about going to a concert.. When you and to a concert, watch you are part of the. audience The is an important music part of the concert. To hear all the, listen must carefully! clap If you talk, people in the like will not be able to. When the ends, to show you the.

8 8 Letter to Families Dear Family: Your child will attend the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Kinderkonzert titled on at the Kennedy Center. Kinderkonzerts, or concerts for children, introduce young students to musical instruments. They feature small ensembles of NSO musicians playing short musical pieces. During the concert, musicians demonstrate their instruments, playing them individually and as a group. Also, musicians invite children to participate in various ways. After the concert, ask your child about the instruments, his or her participation in the concert, favorite music, and memorable moments. To further explore instruments with your child, listen to a recording of Prokofiev s Peter and the Wolf. A recording is available at most public libraries. Books that may interest young children include The Philharmonic Gets Dressed by Karla Kuskin and Arturo s Baton by Sid Hoff. We hope your child enjoys the concert. Sincerely, Derek E. Gordon Vice President, Education Teacher s Notes James A. Johnson Chairman Lawrence J. Wilker President Derek E. Gordon Vice President, Education Leonard Slatkin Music Director, National Symphony Orchestra National Symphony Orchestra Kinderkonzerts Bravo, Brass! February 3 and 4, 1997 Who s Got the Melody? April 4, 28, May 22, 1997 Cuesheet Executive Editor: Lynne B. Silverstein. Writer: Dawn Eddy Molloy. Design: Paul Dupree Communications. Special thanks to: Carole Wysocki, NSO Education Program Director; Merithew Benington, NSO Education Program Assistant Cuesheet is funded in part through the support of the U.S. Department of Education, The Kennedy Center Corporate Fund, and the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Major gifts designated to support the Kennedy Center and National Symphony Orchestra education programs are provided by Barbizon Electric, Botwinick-Wolfensohn Foundation, The Butz Foundation, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, DC Commission on the Arts, the Charles Engelhard Foundation, Enron Corporation, Fannie Mae Foundation, Fourth Freedom Forum, Inc., GE Fund, the Nell Goodrich DeGolyer Fund, William Randolph Hearst Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Rose Mary Kennedy Center Education Fund, Helen Sperry Lea Foundation, Mary and Daniel Loughran Foundation, Marpat Foundation, Mars Foundation, Mars, Inc., MCI Foundation, National AIDS Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, National Trustees of the National Symphony Orchestra, NationsBank, Inc., Park Foundation, Inc., Prince Charitable Trusts, Ryder System, Hattie M. Strong Foundation, Loulyfran Wolfson Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Women s Committee of the National Symphony Orchestra. In-kind support is provided by Binney & Smith, Inc The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts R e p r o d u c i b l e A c t i v i t y P a g e