Each year in the spring I teach a unit about the Instrument Families. It is the perfect time of year to introduce the instruments, especially since the fifth grade is preparing to transition into band or orchestra at middle school in the Fall. Our local band and orchestra teachers visit my fifth grade classes during the month of April to recruit the students. They bring instruments to show off, and demonstrate how they work. Then the directors let me borrow both band (woodwind, brass, percussion) and orchestral string instruments over the next month to show all of my classes.

I introduce the instrument families to grades 1 through 5, and by the time they are in fifth grade, the students are familiar with all of their options for band and orchestra. Throughout the year, Orff instruments are used in grades 1-5, as well as rhythm instruments to introduce them to percussion. Recorder is taught in grades 4 and 5 to give the children first hand experience in playing a wind instrument. We start in September, playing once a week throughout most of the year. My students receive a grade each week for bringing their recorder, music folder, pencil, and practice sheet. This is a good way to teach the children discipline in practicing and being responsible for bringing an instrument to class.

During the month of April and May, I teach guitar to grades 3-5 to give them experience on a string instrument. Many students own guitars, so I send a note home explaining that students are invited to bring a guitar with parental permission, so long as the guitar has all 6 strings and can be tuned. My goal is to give my students some experience on a variety of instruments to help them find one they enjoy playing. Hopefully they join band or orchestra to further their skills on their instrument of choice!

I found an excellent YouTube resource for teaching about instrument families called “House of Sound“. Here is the link of the promo video about the series. Fran and Greg from Manchester, England present fun and interesting segments on the science of sound, instruments families, and ideas to make instruments at home. My students love these videos, and they are a great tie-in to my instrument unit.

Another darling video is “George meets the orchestra“. George takes his audience on a tour of the Sydney Australia Opera House Youth Orchestra. Students can get an introduction to the instrument family from a kid’s point of view.

When teaching guitar, I use several different series – Hal Leonard Guitar for Kids, Mel Bay Children’s Guitar Method, and an online series called  justinguitar.com. I start out teaching the children one string chords – easy C, G, and G7. We learn to use picks, and how to remove the pick from the guitar. Next, the full chord E minor, and then we learn several songs on individual strings. In the 4th and 5th grades, I introduce more full chords. Every year I hear the comment, “Ouch my fingers hurt” from students. We then talk about their favorite guitarists/performers and how they also had to start learning to play with tender fingers. It takes practice and perseverance to do something you like and want to be good at!

There are several recorder series that I choose songs from for my students. Our schools subscribe to the Plank Road Publishing’s K-8 Magazine. Each month a new recorder song is featured with full and background tracks for the songs. “Karate Recorder” by Barb Philipak, which is published by Plank Publishing, is a great concept for teaching recorder. My 4th grade students earn belts – starting with a white belt for learning the famous “Hot Cross Buns” and working their way to a black belt with “Ode to Joy“. My students enjoy earning the belts, which are made of colored yarn, and learning the songs. Even though we often don’t get through all the belts and songs due to programs and other time constraints.

Since we do work with limited time, I often have my 4th graders learn half of the Karate Recorder songs, and the 5th grade learn the remainder of songs in the book. In the 5th grade, my students earn colored beads that we thread on yarn to tie on their recorders. “Here is Your Recorder Jack McSnorter” is an old recorder series, but has several good songs that my students love to learn. “Indian Lullabye” is their favorite! In 4th grade, my students purchase an Peripole angel recorder. I have found these recorders to have an excellent sound and hold up well for my students in 4th – 5th grade.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful when teaching instrument families to your classroom!

“Setting my mind on a musical instrument was like falling in love. All the world seemed bright and changed.”

-William Christopher Handy