What is TIMBRE?

INTRODUCE timbre

1. Begin by watching the Class Notes video: 'Color in Music - Germaine Tailleferre.’

2. Remember that word from the video: timbre (TAM-ber)? It means the unique or special sound that a thing makes. Imagine the sound of a flute. Now imagine the sound of a trumpet. They sound different, right? The unique, special sound each instrument makes is called its timbre. In fact, everything that makes sound has a timbre. Every person's voice has its own unique timbre.

PLAY with sound and timbre

Choose one or more of the following activities to extend learning.

• For younger children, play and sing “Box of Sound” (this helps develop sound discrimination skills).

  1. First, make a box of sound - any small, opaque box with a flap or lid on top will work. Fill four or more baggies of various items to be placed inside the box of sound. Some ideas:

     • Uncooked pasta, rice, beans, or popcorn kernels

     • Small plastic balls or superballs

     • Single jingle bells

     • Cotton balls or cotton swabs

     • Feathers

     • Paper clips

  2. Next, have the box prepped by emptying the contents of the first baggie into the box. Other baggies should be hidden from view but easily accessible. Explain: “This is my Box of Sound. I put different things inside, and when I shake it, it makes different sounds. You get to guess what's inside. Let's try it out.”

  3. Now, use the following chant to play Box of Sound: “Box of sound, Box of sound, Shake it around. What have we found?” Identifying sound sources is a great way to begin to be able to discriminate between different timbres.

• Select one piece of music played by several different instruments. Below, you will find several recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major—I. Prelude, each performed on a different instrument.

  • If students do not have a lot of experience identifying various timbres of instruments, tell them what the instrument is before listening.

  • If they have some experience identifying various instrument timbres, make it a guessing game.

  

  

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  Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007, I. Prelude (on cello)

  

  

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  Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007, I. Prelude (on flute)

  

  

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  Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007, I. Prelude (on guitar, in E-flat major)

  

  

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  Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007, I. Prelude (on marimba)

• For older students, explore the science of timbre. Two factors heavily influence the timbre of an instrument: 1) the source of the vibration and 2) the shape of the instrument. Here is a short, easy-to-understand YouTube video that gives a lot of information in a short amount of time.

Find additional ideas in the Color in Music - Germaine Tailleferre curriculum.