Hi, kids! Today we are going to talk about high and low sounds using the music Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard (pronounced REE-card) Strauss!
THE CHALLENGE: We are going to use our bodies and objects around the house to demonstrate high and low-pitched sounds. We can pretend our bodies are rockets going up to space as the music gets higher and higher!
Go around the house and collect 4 items that make high or low-pitched sounds. What objects did you find? Did you tap on a box near the floor to make a low sound? Or, did you use a pan lid to make a high sound?
Next, let’s use our bodies to show high and lower pitches. When the music gets high, reach as tall as you can for outer space! And when the music gets low, go as low to the ground as you can!
Now that we’ve found our objects and used our bodies to show high and low pitches, let’s combine these together to create dance. As the music gets higher, stretch up to the sky and use your high-pitched object to play along. When the music gets lower, get as low as you can and play along with your low-pitched object.
Note for parents: it’s common for children to misinterpret high and low to mean volume (or dynamics) as opposed to pitch, since they understand the effects of turning the volume up or down. If you see this in your child’s listening, you could play around with repeating “this is a high note” (in a high-pitched voice) and “this is a low note” (in a low-pitched voice) with your child so they begin to distinguish the differences in pitch.
Listen to Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra:
