Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Chimes
The chimes are the tall tube looking things in the orchestra. Read more about percussion instruments, the chimes in particular. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to listen to the chimes on their own and with the orchestra.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Castanets
Castanets are a percussion instruments. Read more about them at this resource. Use this resource to learn more about the percussion family of the orchestra. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to hear castanets play with the orchestra.
Read Works
Read Works: Musical Instruments Percussion Instruments
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about percussion instruments. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Uncommon Instruments
The emigration of various cultures into the U.S. gives birth to many many instruments such as the piano, guitar and oboe. Discover the history behind these instruments.
Indiana University
History and Literature of Music: Renaissance Instruments
This resource classifies Renaissance instruments in the following categories: winds, plucked strings, bowed strings, keyboard, and percussion.
California State University
Island Maracas
A great multicultural art instructional activity that also connects visual art to music. Students create a set of paper mache maracas emphasizing rhythm and expression in the painting details. Upon completion students will have the...
Rudiments of Wisdom
Rudiments of Wisdom: Music
Learn about musical elements with cartoons. These hand drawn cartoons offer the viewer a different way to read about music other than the traditional text and pictures.
Michigan Reach Out
Michigan Reach Out!: Drums (Sounds Like Science)
This site is provided for by Michigan Reach Out. Students experiment with the variables of force, pitch and volume after making a drum.
Other
Notation in Musicator
Site includes music composition software: percussion marking, fret marking, notes, rests, and more.
Other
Alien Travel Guide: Musical Instruments
This site contains links to articles that explain how musical instruments work, describes vocal mechanics, and the three main vocal groups.
Music Education
Learn About Instruments: The Percussion
Learn general information on different percussion instruments such as the snare drum and cymbals and hear sound clips of these instruments being played.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Orchestra Instruments
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart describes the various instrument families and the instruments that fit in each family. Sound files are attached to the instruments so that students can hear what each sounds like.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Snare Drum
Use this resource to learn about the percussion family of instruments, especially the snare drum. Find out how it helps the orchestra make music. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to listen to the snare drum by itself and with the...
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Piano
Read about keyboard instruments and the piano in particular. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to hear the piano alone and with the orchestra.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Harpsichord
The harpsichord looks a little like a piano, but there are enough differences to place them in two different instrument groups even though both use keyboards. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to hear the harpsichord.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Bass Drum
Read about the percussion family of the orchestra. Find out how the bass drum helps the sound of the orchestra. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to listen to the bass drum.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Good Vibrations
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart is intended to introduce fifth grade students to the science of musical instruments. Concepts covered include wind, percussion, and string instruments. Also, the relationship between...
John F. Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center: Percussion Instruments and Pitch
Students will enjoy learning about pitch as they construct their own percussion instruments. They will predict and explore how pitches can change based on the materials used and how the instruments are made.
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Percussion
A basic article on percussion instruments lists several examples of percussion instruments, provides a distinction between membranophones and idiophones, and lists instruments that are tuned vs. ones that are not.
University of Michigan
University of Michigan: Instrument Encyclopedia: Tambourine
This brief article provides general information on the tambourine and references for further reading.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Guiro
Use this resource to learn about the percussion family of the orchestra and the guiro. This instrument is untuned and comes from South and Central America.