Introduction to Music

1. Introduction to Music A Presentation by Eric Dauenhauer

2. What is Music? Music is an art form whose medium is sound organized in time. Anything that makes you tap your feet!

3. How can I make music? It’s Easy!!

4. Instruments!

5. How Are Instruments Played? Bowed or Strummed Struck Buzzed Blown

6. Each Instrument is Categorized into Four “Families” Brass Percussion Strings Woodwinds

7. Brass • Brass is the term used for instruments that are played through the use of buzzing. • “Buzzing” means putting your lips and blowing air through them, causing them to vibrate, or “buzz”, allowing the instrument to make sound. • Brass also use valves, which in essence changes the length of tubing that is vibrating from the buzzing, therefore changing the pitch.

8. Woodwinds • As opposed to Brass instruments, Woodwind instruments use the vibration of a reed that is placed in the player’s mouth and blown on to make is vibrate. Another way to play is to blow air across the whole at the top of the instrument, like a flute! • The player closes holes that are in the instruments body, which changes the pitch.

9. Strings • Compared to brass and woodwind, string instruments are easier in concept, just plucking or causing the strings on the instrument to vibrate create sound. • The tighter the string, the higher the sound, the lower the string the lower the sound. You can also make strings shorter by pressing them down, causing the part of the string to vibrate to be shorter, therefore higher.

10. Percussion • One of the oldest families, percussion instruments make sounds when struck. • There are many different kinds of percussion instruments, even some that you think might not be one, like the piano!

11. As you can see, there are so many different choices in musicality, so go and pick up an instrument and play!