Strings, Tubes and Skins: teacher key

Music and Instruments, grade 8 edition, written for 8th grade. Sound waves, strings, tubes and skins: see how instruments make sound, from the first piano to a steel pan.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What did Hornbostel and Sachs publish in 1914?
   • A new drum
   • A system for sorting instruments (answer)
   • A song
2. What is true of a drumhead when its tension goes up?
   • Its pitch gets lower
   • It stops vibrating
   • Its pitch gets higher (answer)
3. What did Cristofori change about the harpsichord?
   • He made one that plays quietly and loudly (answer)
   • He added a plug
   • He made it ring like a bell
4. Where was the vulture-bone flute found?
   • A pyramid in Egypt
   • A ship at sea
   • Hohle Fels, a cave in southern Germany (answer)
5. What were the first steel pans made from?
   • Wood
   • 55-gallon oil drums (answer)
   • Bamboo
6. What happens to hair cells in the ear?
   • They do not grow back (answer)
   • They grow back every year
   • They turn into bone

Words

• harmonics: overtone family
• pickups: guitar sensors
• fundamental: lowest frequency
• wavelength: wave size