General Music Distance e-learning Lesson 7

This lesson begins a new unit of study. In this unit we will learn about musical instrument families. This is very timely as we have begun the process of registering students for next year's FWS Band & Orchestra and some of you may still be in the process of considering which instrument to play next year. (Hopefully you have seen my videos on GMFW and received the link to the registration form.) In this lesson we will focus on instruments in the woodwind family.

The flute is the highest pitched woodwind instrument in the FWS Band. Check out this video about the flute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLUjWLHZDfY

The next woodwind I want you to learn about is the oboe. The oboe is very challenging to play, especially for younger musicians, so it is not offered at FWS. If you have an interest in the oboe, we recommend you start out on clarinet and add or switch to oboe in MS or HS. Here's a great video about the oboe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLTJsWCbDJ4

The middle voice of the woodwind family in the FWS Band is the clarinet. Enjoy this video about the clarinet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYMkQzVWfU

The saxophone completes the FWS Band woodwind offerings. Here's a great video about the saxophone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3cxoW5Z_u4

The bassoon is also part of the woodwind family. Due to its size and complexity, bassoon is not offered at FWS. Nonetheless, here's a fine video about the bassoon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qoCpZBt_ww

After watching the videos above, please send me answers to the following questions:

1. What family of instruments did you learn about in this lesson?

2. What are the names of the five instruments you learned about in this lesson?

3. Which of these instruments is the highest pitched?

4. Which of these instruments is the lowest pitched?

5. Which of these instruments do you like best & why?

Thanks again for your work. Stay safe.