Back to Rebecca Packard
		Identifying Instruments Reprinted from March 2006 Issue -by REBECCA PACKARD Teaching children to identify instruments is a straightforward matter of repetition, but it could be a bit daunting to know where to begin. I suggest starting with the instruments you might have in the house—and don’t overlook the voice as an instrument! When teaching about voice, start with the basic choral distinctions of soprano, alto, tenor, bass. When you choose to talk about the voice as a solo instrument, perhaps while learning about opera, you can talk about further distinctions like coloratura, lyric, and dramatic sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, baritones and the various kinds of tenors. Learning about the orchestra is a good way to start talking about other instruments. It will introduce students to major instrumental groups and offer a good framework for talking about folk instruments you might want to talk about next. I suggest talking about strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion in general terms first, and then talking about the individual instruments. General terms should involve basic definitions and some discussion of tone quality. The later isn’t easy to describe in words, but recordings should help make the connection. Identifying instruments by their appearance will probably be easier for children, but teaching them to identify them by sound is very important. Don’t be discouraged if this is an ongoing project. I’ve seen college music students struggle with it. One resource I like for learning about the orchestra is The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine. The history/composers section of the book is a bit simplistic, but the section on orchestral instruments is good. The style is engaging and a CD comes with the book. I also like The Orchestra by Mark Rubin and Alan Daniel. It comes in both book and video and the material is accessible for all age groups.