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Handout
Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: French Horn, Brass Instrument

For Students 3rd - 5th
Visit this resource to find out how the French horn is played. Read more about the brass family. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to hear the French horn on its own, or with the orchestra.
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Music for Kids: Violin Playing Basics

For Students 1st - 9th
A site exploring the basics of playing the violin which is one of the most popular string musical instruments.
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Music for Kids: Guitar

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn about the popular string instrument the guitar. Types of guitars, different parts, how to play, and more.
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Music for Kids: Piano Playing Basics

For Students 1st - 9th
Kids learn the basics of playing the piano on this site. Find information about the keyboard, middle C, position, and practice.
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Website
Other

Guitar Lesson World

For Students 9th - 10th
An in-depth look at guitar playing. Includes exercises, lessons, resources, and much more! Whether you are a beginner or more advanced, this site is definitely worth seeing.
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Activity
Museum of Science

Museum of Science and Industry: Online Science: Straw Pipe

For Students 3rd - 8th
Instructions to create a pan pipe made from straws. Also included is music to play songs using the pan pipe and a brief background about sound vibrations.
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Unit Plan
Sophia Learning

Sophia: Dorian Guitar Scales Made Simple

For Students 9th - 10th
Video lesson on playing Dorian scales on six-string guitar. [3:26]
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Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: Music for Kids: Basics of Playing the Guitar

For Students 3rd - 8th
On this site, students can learn the basics of playing the guitar. They can learn how to hold and play this musical string instrument.
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Handout
Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Double Bass

For Students 3rd - 5th
The double bass is the largest string instrument, and is the bass member of the family. Read about how to play this instruments and how it works. Use Windows Media Player or RealAudio to listen to samples of the double bass on it's own...
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Interactive
Sesame Street

Sesame Street: Games

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Help the Sesame Street characters while completing various early learning tasks. Students will develop language, reasoning skills, and independence as they play the games provided.
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Handout
Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Tambourine

For Students 3rd - 5th
Use this resource to learn about the percussion family of the orchestra, the tambourine in particular. Learn what it is made of and how it is played. Use RealAudio or Windows Media Player to listen to the tambourine alone and with the...
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Article
PBS

Pbs: Benjamin Franklin: An Extraordinary Life: Franklin's Glass Armonica

For Students 9th - 10th
Read a short essay about Franklin's invention of a musical instrument--the glass armonica. Includes a sound file of a composition by Mozart played on Franklin's instrument.
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Article
Other

Pay the Piper: The Bassoon

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the Bassoon, "the largest member of the woodwind family," at this website. The site is geared toward young students who are thinking about playing a musical instrument.
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Article
Other

Pay the Piper: The Oboe

For Students 3rd - 8th
This website, geared toward young students who are thinking about playing a musical instrument, provides the "pros and cons" of playing the oboe. The site provides background information about this woodwind and related links as well.
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Article
Other

Leather Puppets of India

For Students 3rd - 8th
Use this site to learn about the fascinating world of Gypsy-made leather puppets. This nomadic tribe is always on the move carrying their puppets and musical instruments seeking permission from village leaders to perform for monetary...
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Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings: Track Preview: Music of Ireland: Medley

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Listen to a sample of traditional Irish music played on the uilleann pipes, from a 1951 recording of music of the world's peoples.
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Website
Other

Dancedrummer: Traditional African Drumming and Dance

For Students 9th - 10th
African drumming and dance are discussed in this interesting site. You can play with some of the interactive African style drums as well as access video and audio clips of the music.
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Activity
San Diego State University

Orchestration

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Through playing "Orchestration," students learn about each instrument and the group to which it belongs. Actual instruments should be shown and demonstrated in class prior to playing the game. Create this fun card game for your music...
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Unit Plan
Other

The Violin Site: Left Hand Violin Exercises

For Students 9th - 10th
Many exercises and techniques for the left hand are explained on this site with the use of music studies and videos. This is a good resource that helps explain the proper techniques for using the left hand properly. (Note: Videos may not...
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Article
Other

Pay the Piper: The Violin & the Viola

For Students 6th - 8th
This informative article on the violin and viola includes the advantages and disadvantages of choosing to play one of these instruments. This website includes information on playing, maintaining, and repairing the violin and viola....
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Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Don't You Fret! Standing Waves on a Guitar

For Students 9th - 10th
In this project, you will investigate the physics of standing waves on guitar strings. You will learn about the different modes (i.e., patterns) of vibration that can be produced on a string, and you will figure out how to produce the...
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Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: How to Make a Guitar Sing

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a great project for musicians interested in the physics of stringed instruments. If you have ever played an acoustic guitar, you may have noticed that picking a single string can make one or more of the other (unpicked) strings...
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Website
Other

The Essential Guitar Guide

For Students 9th - 10th
A great resource for guitar players, this site provides a lot of music theory, how to play chords, how to improvise and more. On the download page there is a chord calculator that displays the notes of many chords.
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Article
Arizona State University

Arizona State University: Natural Horn & Its Technique

For Students 9th - 10th
Arizona State's descriptions of the horn are broken up by illustrations of the horn, players, and music. There is a big discussion of crooks (not the kind that go to jail), but the kind that are made when you bend metal! The author notes...