Lemery Colleges, Inc.

A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

Academic Year 2020-2021

FIRST SEMESTER

An Instructional Module and

Compilation of Resources in EED
113: Teaching Music in
Elementary Grades
NAME OF
STUDENT
YEAR & SECTION

Course Code : EED 113

Course Description : TEACHING MUSIC IN ELEMENTARY GRADES
Credit Unit : 3 Units
Instructor : Ms. Mer Jane P. Landicho, LPT

VISION:
“Expanding the Right Choice for Real Life Education in Southern Luzon”

MISSION:
Cognizant to the vital role of real life education, LC is committed to:
1. Provide holistic higher education and technical-vocational programs which are valued by the stakeholders.
(Academics)
2. Transform the youth into world-class professionals who creatively respond to ever changing world of work.
(Graduates)
3. Advance research production to improve human life and address societal needs. (Research)
4. Engage in various projects that aim to build strong community relation and involvement. (Community)
5. Promote compliance with quality assurance in both service delivery and program development. (Quality Assurance)

TEACHING MUSIC IN ELEMENTARY GRADES ▪ PAGE 1

 Lemery Colleges, Inc.
A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

CORE VALUES:

L- Love of God and Country

C- C’s (Competent, Committed and Compassionate) in service
I- Innovative Minds
A- Aspiring People
N- Noble Dreams

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 Lemery Colleges, Inc.
A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

Lesson 5
TOPIC: THE MEDIUMS OF MUSIC
DURATION: 1 WEEK
PREFERRED DELIVERY: Video/ Recorded Lecture/Printed Module

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this lesson, students will have completed the following objectives:
1. Differentiate vocal medium and instrumental medium in music
2. Enumerate and explain the six classes of vocal register
3. Determine various singers vocal range or vocal register
3. Identify the various musical instruments in each family

TO DO LIST

 Read
o Course Content and Lecture in Lesson 5

 Study
o Recorded Lecture/PowerPoint Presentation

 Take Activity #5.1 and Activity #5.2

 Take Quiz

COURSE CONTENT

Today, music operates as a cool, comforting medium primarily utilized to occupy the silence in the surrounding
backgrounds of our lives, providing a seamless stimulus for us whether we are home, in the car, out in public space or at
work, and the instantaneity with which we are able affect our moods through interacting with this new digital medium has
enabled us to proscribe our own personal soundtracks to our realities. Catalyzed by the introduction of acousmatic sound,
acoustics generated without a visible productive source, our mediums of recording are constantly changing, fostering the
alienation every listener experiences while hearing a recording, as they experience an auditory phenomenon transmitted
through mechanical reproduction, rather than human bodily performance. Granted the emergence of the mp3 and wav
formats has enabled us as consumers to begin practicing solitary listening, allowing those without musical abilities to still
participate as listeners, and heightening the feeling of intimacy and catharsis people get from experiencing music in their
solitude. Nevertheless, as music is progressively transformed from a live social interaction to that of a mechanical, mass-
produced and deprived medium (having been extracted from the conventional ritualistic listening experience of concert
goers) in turn, music becomes proficiently adapted as a political force, devoid of aura and contextual situation, applied by
the media and the like for their own ends, rather than being correctly used by artists as a introspective medium through
which we are able to reflect upon our own human condition, as temporal, and see our placements not through a purely
political lens, but open beyond the confined dualistic reasoning of human perception.

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 Lemery Colleges, Inc.
A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

In this massively mobilized, ceaseless tumult of daily human life we are stimulated constantly by visual images,
music, political and regionally applicable news, and our endlessly concerned thought of personal attainment and desire for
the next day to contain more potential than the past. The previous century, featuring the emergence of Jazz and Rock and
Roll, facilitated the more homogenized and eased accessibility of the concert scene (in contrast to the aristocratic aura
attributed to music in the Classical and Romantic periods) permitting a more proletariat show-going public body to form.
This, in time, developed into the more self-propelled and DIY mentality behind the lo-fi and punk rock music scenes, that
attempted to resituate the impetus’ behind music production for sake of performers, musicians, and audiences alike in
opposition to the popularized mass accepted genres that were coincidentally rising. This induction was one of the first great
rebellions against the popularized, high fidelity and pristine recordings that were being mass-produced and disseminated by
the Big Band and Swing genres that grew out of the mid Twentieth century. These bands essentially laid the foundations for
massively over-processed, and modified recordings that would later emerge with turn of the century, and implicitly related to
the budding genres (dependent on technological developments) like that of rap, hip-hop, and electronica.
Of course, this is all looking in hindsight- there is no actual evidence to point out supporting this claim, but by
critically looking at the music scenes of the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s and their subsequent generative offspring one can see the
parallels between the popularized music first deployed by the radio in the fifty’s, and the highly-idealized forms of recordings
and genres adopted by the internet and consequently anticipated now.
While the resurgence of vinyl has recalled consideration of sound fidelity, and the dangers our digital world is
subject to, (allowing for the politicization of music) it does not mean the mp3 is not a doomed medium though; solitary
listening has provided us a new mode of engagement with both the artist and the music, as we can playback a song as
frequently as we’d like, and can scroll through the entirety of a track with ease. It also has opened up an entirely new realm
for music to be experienced, as tracks can be easily copied, reproduced, and manipulated and enables ever single
individual potent access to the mystical phenomenological experience of music, at their own command. Because of the
rising prominence and use of music (in commercials, on the car radio, in stores, at work, etc.), the aura of music being an
experiment of man’s indulgence and testing of his own relation with the flow of time has been debased, and so music’s role
as a tool for self-reflection and means of understanding our relation to the corporeal world is eradicated, priming the
reemployment of music for political purposes. But with conscious adhesion to the history of music, and the development of
its form, it’s possible that we can preserve the importance of music in its relationship to the individual, and the subjective
value that they derive from their personal experience.
Fundamentally, music is a sequential experiment based in time to capture an artist’s communication with his place
contextually and to ordain a formal narrative on his own reflection of temporal proceedings. It is through this conceptual
approach to melody, theme, and harmonic interface that an artist is able to relate the ethereal mode of his consciousness to
his physical being, and thus have such a moving effect on both him or herself, and the listener.

Vocal Medium in Music

- The vocal medium is a human voice, the oldest and most popular.
- Human voices are different in register or range in timbre and quality.
- Voices differ considerably in range and register. The six classes of vocal register are:
1. Soprano- high register female voice
2. Mezzo-soprano- medium-register female voice

3. Alto or contralto- low-register female voice

4. Tenor-high-register male voice
5. Baritone- medium-register male voice
6. Bass- low-register male voice

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 Lemery Colleges, Inc.
A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

- In addition to the six vocal registers, voices are also classified according to their timbre or quality of sound.
1. Coloratura soprano- the highest and lightest of all voices. The music written for this voice is full of runs, trills, and
light ornaments.
2. Lyrical soprano- less high and flute-like and usually sings less ornamental music. The voice is suited to sweet
song-like melodies in which beauty of tone is the predominant quality.
3. Dramatic soprano- voice is heavier and can convey intense emotions in dramatic situations.
4. Mezzo-soprano- voice is between the soprano and contralto in quality and range.
5. Contralto- voice is low and rich in quality
6. Tenor- is the highest type in men’s voices
7. Lyric tenor- like the lyric soprano has a voice suited to sweet songlike melodies.
8. Baritone- voice has a range between tenor and bass
9. Bass- has the lowest and deepest quality.

Instrumental Medium in Music

- There are three main types of musical instruments namely: bowed, blown and struck.
- The instruments that are considered bowed are the strings.
- The instruments that are considered blown are brasses because they are made of brass
- The instruments that are considered struck are the percussion
String Instruments
"…any musical instrument that produces sound by the vibration of stretched strings, which may be made of
vegetable fiber, metal, animal gut, silk, or artificial materials such a plastic or nylon. In nearly all stringed
instruments, the sound of the vibrating string is amplified by the use of a resonating chamber or soundboard. The
string may be struck, plucked, rubbed, bowed, or, occasionally blown. In each case the effect is to displace the
string from its normal position of rest and to cause it to vibrate in complex patterns."
How Many String Instruments Are There?
When we look at the fact that this incredible array of instruments was born from dozens of different countries and
cultures – some bowed while others are plucked, strummed, or hammered – the 300+ number makes more
sense.That's because humans all over the world have created their own versions of string instruments using the
materials they had at hand – and to fit the soundscape that was considered the most compelling or attractive to
their ears. Some of these may only be used to play historic or culturally important music, using period-accurate
instruments. Other string instruments have found a permanent place in the contemporary music scene of their
homeland.

The Evolution of String Instruments Through Time

To create a pleasing, clear, and resonant sound, string instruments have always been made from somewhat fragile
materials. Often, materials consisted of wood, dried gourds, bamboo or other hollow reeds, and delicate strings.
Because of the original structural fragility, combined with the organic nature of the very first string instruments, we
have no idea exactly where and when the first string instrument emerged.
Pictorial representations of string instruments exist in ancient civilizations ranging from Central Asia to Egypt, the
Mediterranean, and Mesopotamia. In terms of physical evidence, the longest surviving string instrument is the

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 Lemery Colleges, Inc.
A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

remains from the Lyres (harps) of Ur. Fragments of these instruments were found in what was Ancient
Mesopotamia and now contemporary Iraq. They date back to more than 4500 years ago.
Many variations of string instruments were built, played, and innovatively engineered throughout the Middle Ages.
By the arrival of the Baroque period (1600 C.E.), the Byzantine lyra paved the way to a group of instruments called
lira da braccios – the official forerunner of the modern violin. It is sometimes referred to as the grandfather of the
contemporary violin.
How Are String Instruments Played?
Most string instruments are plucked, bowed, or hammered.
Plucking. Plucking is done using a pick of some sort. Usually, strings are plucked by the end of a finger, or
the thumb, a fingernail, or a designated accessory called a pick. The string is caught up by the pick and
quickly let go again. This causes the string to vibrate.
Bowing: A bow consists of a stick with multiple hairs tightly stretched from end-to-end. When bow hairs are
drawn across specific string instruments sound emanates from the activated instrument strings. The sound
can be very short or very sustained, depending on the bowing technique used by the player.
Striking: A few string instruments, including the piano, are played by striking the strings into vibrational
action. Bowed instruments can be played using a strike as well, via a bowing technique called col legno,
where the back of the bow is used as the striker. The slap bass technique is also a version of striking.
Brass Instruments
Brass instruments are also known as labrosones or lip-vibrated instruments. The pitch of brass instruments is
affected by the player's lip vibration, or embouchure, and the airflow. Other components of the instrument like
crooks adjusted by slides or valves can change the length of the tubing and alter the harmonic series of some
instruments. It is generally held that the classification of instruments should be decided based on how the sound is
produced rather than the material of the instrument.
How Many Brass Instruments Are There?
The brass family consists of 5 major instruments with many other similar variations on them. The trumpet/cornet,
the French Horn, the Trombone, the Baritone, and the Tuba
The Evolution of Brass Instruments Through Time
Early brass instruments include those in the natural or keyed families and are nearly obsolete. Natural instruments
are without valves or slides to provide key changes, so they only play the notes in their harmonic series. There are
natural versions of instruments like the bugle, trumpet, and horn which are typically only played in Baroque or
Romantic concerts. There are few comparatively recent pieces written for natural instruments by composers such
as Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Keyed, or fingered, brass makes up a family of instruments such as the
ophicleide, cornet, keyed bugle, and keyed trumpet. The introduction of valves to instruments has caused these to
be greatly outdated.
The two predominant contemporary families of brass instruments are valved brass and slide brass. Valves began to
be used on instruments as early as the late 18th century but were first patented by Friedrich Bluhmel and Heinrich
Stolzel in 1818. These early valves were manufactured by W. Schuster. It is common for an instrument to have
three to four valves although there may be as many or more than seven. The three valve standard was published in
Arban's Method in 1864 and remains predominate today. Valved instruments make up the majority of modern
brass. There are some instruments like the trombone which more commonly falls into the slide brass family which
utilize a slide to change the length of tubing and adjust the pitch rather than valves.

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 Lemery Colleges, Inc.
A. Bonifacio St., Brgy. Bagong Sikat, Lemery, Batangas

How Are Brass Instruments Played?

Modern brass instruments produce sound through a metal mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is similar on the most
brass instruments, usually varying only in size. Sound is produced by placing the lips on the mouthpiece and
blowing while vibrating the lips. The larger the mouthpiece, the lower the sound of the instrument.
Percussion Instruments
Anthropologists and historians believe that the first musical instrument used by humans was the voice, but
percussion instruments such as hands and feet, then sticks, rocks, and logs were the next steps in the evolution.
The word percussion has evolved from the Latin terms “Percussio” meaning to beat or strike.
How Many Percussion Instruments Are There?
At least 500 instruments are considered percussion instruments. It can be so much more than drums; they include
triangles, bells, xylophones.
How Are Percussion Instruments Played?
Percussion Instrument produces a sound by being struck, shaken, rubbed, and scraped with an implement, or by
any other action which sets the object into vibration

REFERENCE/S

Siruno, T. V. (1980). General Music Education. Philippines: Rex Book Store, Inc.
https://wordpress.clarku.edu/musicresearch/scott/the-medium-of-music-as-a-means-of-understanding/
https://www.wwbw.com/Brass-Instruments.wwbw

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