Solo and group tasks
Solo tasks
Solo tasks are designed for a student to work on the concept of tone colour on their own (at home or individually).
Task 1 - Test your powers of instrument recognition
Test your powers of instrument recognition using the YouTube 'Guess the Sound' quiz.
Task 2 - Active listening
Listen twice to this YouTube clip Sirocco: Ka Bohaleng (6:21).
1st time: do not watch, just listen. List all the instruments you can hear.
2nd time: watch and listen. Can you add to the instrument list? Describe the different unusual ways of performing on each instrument or voice. For example, the cellist sometimes plucks all the strings, a bit like a guitar strum.
Task 3 - Performance instruments
Watch the video Monique Clare 'Hourglass' (4:31) of someone performing on 2 instruments at the same time.
Make a list of pairs of instruments that can be performed at the same time (for example cello and voice).
Group tasks
Group tasks allow groups of students to further their understanding of tone colour.
Task 1 - Brainstorming instruments
Brainstorm a list of known instruments.
Categorise them into the following categories: metal, wood, plastic, voice, string, electronic, other.
Task 2 - Listening for Instruments
In groups, select one category of instruments to explore by listening to audio samples.
Research your chosen category of instruments to make a list of as many instruments as possible from that category (for example, list all the stringed instruments found in many cultures).
Can you find an example of an instrument from every continent of the world?
As a group, create your own description of the tone colour that is typical of all the instruments in your category.