How Instruments Sing: teacher key

Music and Instruments, grade 7 edition, written for 7th grade. Waves, vibrating air and fast-shaking strings: the science behind every instrument, from a vulture-bone flute to a steel pan.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What does sound need to travel?
   • A vacuum
   • A medium (answer)
   • A wire
2. What is timbre?
   • How loud a sound is
   • The speed of a sound
   • The sound quality that comes from the mix of overtones (answer)
3. Why does a string instrument have a hollow body?
   • The body pushes the air and makes the sound louder (answer)
   • It makes the string faster
   • It keeps the string tight
4. What happens when a wind instrument has a longer tube?
   • The note gets higher
   • The note gets louder
   • The note gets lower (answer)
5. Who published a system for sorting instruments in 1914?
   • Cristofori
   • Hornbostel and Sachs (answer)
   • Moog
6. What was the vulture-bone flute found in?
   • Hohle Fels, a cave in southern Germany (answer)
   • A pyramid
   • A ship

Words

• medium: what carries sound
• frequency: vibrations a second
• timbre: a sound's color
• harmonics: overtone family
• percussion: hit instruments
• overtones: higher resonances