meloktaLearning goal
Names the parts of the xylophone (wooden bars, frame, mallets, resonator tubes), notices that a longer bar gives a lower sound, and strikes with two mallets.
Topic
Hello, xylophone! A xylophone has wooden bars. When you strike one with a mallet, the bar vibrates and makes a sound.
Prior knowledge
No previous knowledge needed.
Teacher note
If you have a real xylophone, show it in class first: the wooden bars rest on cords or rails on the frame, the tubes underneath (resonators) make the sound stronger, and the mallets have hard heads. On screen, touching a bar means striking it with a mallet; striking the middle of the bar gives the fullest sound. In the last step two bars are struck at the same time: two fingers on a touch screen, or two keys (for example A and K) on a computer.
Lesson steps
- Pick up your mallet! Strike any wooden bar and listen to its sound.
- The LONGEST bar is on the far left. Strike it: the lowest sound, C.
- The SHORTEST bar is on the far right. Strike it: the highest sound, C.
- Listen! Did this sound come from the long bar or the short bar? Strike that bar.
- Two mallets: strike the longest and the shortest bar AT THE SAME TIME.