Musical instruments and pitch
I can explain how the pitch of sounds can be changed on a variety of musical instruments.
Musical instruments and pitch
I can explain how the pitch of sounds can be changed on a variety of musical instruments.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Many musical instruments can make different pitched sounds.
- Changing the length of the vibrating object can affect the pitch of the sound it produces.
- Larger vibrating objects make lower pitched sounds. Smaller vibrating objects make higher pitched sounds.
Keywords
Musical instrument - A musical instrument is an object that produces musical sounds.
Pitched - How pitched a sound is tells us how high or how low it is.
Vibrations - Vibrating is when an object moves very fast from side to side.
Affect - When a change occurs between two things, we can observe how one thing affects another.
Common misconception
Children may think that larger and longer objects vibrating produce louder sounds, without linking this to the pitch of sounds.
If working at school, empty the cupboard of as many musical instruments you can find to explore and demonstrate with. Encourage children who play musical instruments to share their experiences too.
Equipment
A range of musical instruments and/or everyday objects to make musical sounds with. Sound meters (including free pitch-meter apps) to detect pitch.
Content guidance
- Exploration of objects
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Lesson video
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