The Story of Music: Musical Instruments and Technology

By

Kayla Emerton

Ms. Watts

Period 2

March 3, 2011

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The Story of Music: Musical Instruments and Technology

Introduction:

I. Traditional Instruments

A. Music

1. Almost as old as the human race

1. Existed many centuries before human beings came up with the

written word

A. Instruments

1. Pipes and whistles, clay drums, shell trumpets used in ancient

times

2. Human voices

3. Most of these instruments were used for practical everyday

purposes, such as hunting, communication, warfare and for religious or

spiritual rituals

4. Most instruments were made just by people experimenting

different things, such as blades of grass and pieces of bamboo

5. Acoustic principles were used to blow, strike, and pluck different

objects, which are wind, percussion, and stringed instruments today

I. Classifying Instruments

A. Chinese instruments

1. Materials to make instruments were stone, wood, silk, and metal

6. Always based on materials

B. Ancient Greek instruments

1. Distinguished three main types of instrument

7. Wind, String, and Percussion

8. These instruments are the most widely understood

C. The Piano

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 1. It is a series of wires struck with a hammer

2. It should be in the string family

D. The Organ

1. It creates its sound by passing air through a series of pipes

2. It is a wind instrument

III. Orchestra Stringed Instruments

A. Create Sounds

1. By bowing

9. By striking

10. By plucking

E. Anatomy of a Violin

1. Has three separate parts: the arch, the ribs and the back

11. Made from a soft wood, usually made of spruce

12. The neck is made of harder wood

13. It has four strings: G-D-A-E.

F. History of the Violin

1. Violins were first used in enormous ensembles in the 17 century

2. More than one instrument playing the same part in unison

3. This was called the “vingt-quatre violins du Roi”; translation:

“the twenty four violins of the king”

G. Violins in Country Music

1. Violins have played an important role in European and Celtic folk

music

2. This music has spread to the U.S. and is known as country music

3. Violins were one of the central instruments

H. The Violin’s Sister

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 1. Violas are slightly different than the Violin: a Viola is two inches

longer

2. The strings on a Viola are C-G-D-A( it’s strings make it lower in

pitch than the violin)

3. The color is also warmer and deeper than the Violin

I. Cellos

1. The cello’s full name is the “Violoncello”- little violone

2. It plays the bass notes rather than the high notes that the Violin

makes

3. It expresses a large amount of feelings

4. It is second only in importance to the violin

III. The Guitar Family

A. It’s shape

1. Has a set of six strings, and has a body shaped like the number

eight

2. The strings are strucked with one hand, and the other hand is

located at the neck of the guitar, pressing down on the strings to

make different tones and notes

B. History of the Guitar

1. The most popular musical instrument of recent history

2. It has been around since the 14th century

C. The Ancestors of the Guitar

1. The Oud is an Arabic stringed instrument

2. The Vihuela was a Spanish stringed instrument close to the

modern guitar.

D. Today’s classical Guitars

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 1. Evolved during the 18th century, the strings from bottom to the

top are E-A-D-G-B-E.

2. It was in Spain during the mid 19th century that the modern

classical guitar was born.

3. Guitars played in an important role in American folk forms, such

as country and blues music.

4. A few instruments that are similar to the guitar are banjos,

ukuleles, and mandolins.

E. The Sound from the Strings

1. When a stringed instrument is plucked, energy is applied and

makes the string vibrate to create sounds.

2. A sound box vibrates with the string, which makes sound waves,

making a beautiful and clear, audible sound.

3. The sound can be altered by the way the strings are plucked:

using fingers or using a pick to strum the strings.

4. Instruments such as the harp and classical guitar are plucked by

hand.

F. Picks

1. Plectrum is another word for pick.

2. The word “plectrum” comes from ancient Rome where it was

sometimes used to describe a stringed instrument called the lyre.

3. The shape of picks or plectrums depends on the instrument

played.

4. Instruments like the guitar family are usually flexible and egg-

shaped.

V. Wood wind and Brass

A. Basic information

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 1. Wind instruments have two different forms of instrument:

woodwind and brass.

2. To play one of these instruments, you just blow into a hole

that’s on the instrument, and the inside of it vibrates, creating

sound.

3. Wood wind and brass instruments were the material from which

they were constructed.

4. Brass instruments today are usually made from brass of course.

B. The Flute Family

1. In Slovenia, forty three thousand years ago, the earliest flute

capable of producing a melody took place there.

2. Flutes used to be bones from the legs of a bear a while back.

3. The existence of finger holes suggests that it was designed for

making music.

4. A modern flute is pitched in the key of concert C.

5. It is made either from wood or metal.

C. Reed Instruments

1. When there are reeds in instruments, you blow into a

mouthpiece instead of blowing in a hole.

2. Reeds are usually a thin blade of cane.

3. The oboe and bassoon has double reeds to get a plaintive and

nasal sound.

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Kayla Emerton

Ms. Watts

Period 2

March 3, 2011

THE NEWEST INSTRUMENT

I kept on thinking the same thing to myself, I can do this. On the outside, I was
sure that I looked confident, but on the inside, a riot was happening in my nervous
system. What if this company rejected my invention that was a mixture of an instrument
and a piece of technology? When I thought of it the first time and told my family about it,
it sounded like an excellent idea; now, since I thought of it, while I drove to the company
building, it started to sound absolutely ridiculous. I almost drove back to my apartment,
to forget about this whole thing; but I am not going to be a coward, and just ignore my
only chance to show what I can do and what I am capable of making.
As soon as I arrived at the company’s building, I took in a deep breath, and got
out of the car. I grabbed my invention, and entered the building. The inside almost looked
like a doctor’s waiting room, except this room was a little darker, and there were all kinds
of pictures of musical instruments on the walls. I sat my invention on a seat, and went to
the desk to sign in. I sat back down on the seat with my invention on my lap, and waited
for someone to call me up. When someone did, I got up, while holding my invention, and
followed the person.
She paused at the door for a second, looked back at me, and said, “After this
person comes out, you can go in, and introduce your….” she paused looking at the object
I was holding, “instrument.” She walked away and whispered to herself, not knowing that
I could hear, “Good luck having success with that thing.” What she had said should have
put me down and should have made me think all pessimistic, but I was too confident to
be down right now. A man walked out of the door, looking ashamed, with his invention
in his hand. He must have gotten rejected. As soon as he walked away, I inhaled slowly,
my heart beating like a drum, and went through the door.
The room was extremely large. There was a big table with a lot of business men
and women sitting, looking up at me. One man got up and said, “Hello. You must be
Sarah Wilson.”
I nodded. “Yes, I am. Nice to meet you.”
He smiled friendly like. “You too.” He sat back down and said, “So what have
you got for us today?”
I smiled and said, “This is an electric computer guitar. This isn’t like an ordinary
guitar, though it does have six strings and frets. This guitar has a built in computer

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system, and it’s purpose is to search for any song that you want, and it can do the back
ground music while you play the guitar part of it.”
Someone from the table interrupted my presentation and stood up. “Have you
tested it out yet?”
I nodded. “Of course I have. Would you like me to show you?”
The guy that interrupted me said, “Yes please.” Then he sat back down.
I nodded as I entered the song that I wanted to play for them (I made sure that the
song was appropriate enough so that it wouldn’t disturb anyone so there is a slight chance
that I might be able to get them to like my invention). I paused it so that I could put my
fingers in a power cord position, and I hit play on the screen. As I was strumming the
guitar with my pick (usually picks are used when strumming a guitar) that was in my
right hand, and pressing the strings on the fingerboard of the guitar with my left hand, I
could have sworn that every single business person in that room had their mouth open
with shock. The vibration of the strings (which created the different sounds) made me
feel like there might me a chance for this invention. I exhaled with relief when I played
the last note of the song, and then everyone applauded.
After a few seconds, the clapping began fading and eventually stopped. The man
that greeted me said, “Impressive, Ms. Wilson. Is there anything else you would like to
tell us about your fabulous invention? Does it even have a name?”
I nodded. “It is called the TechGuitar. The interesting thing about it is the
computer in the guitar. It can play the background music of every single song in the
whole world; every country in every continent. And another cool thing is that it is
automatically tuned to every song as well as soon as you enter the song in the computer;
that’s why this guitar doesn’t have any tuning pegs. Actually, half of this invention is
made out of technology.”
I saw every person nodding, looking at each other; I’m guessing approving my
TechGuitar. Then the same man said, “Very interesting. Is that all you have for us?”
I nodded. “Yes sir. That is it.”
He smiled. “Okay then, Ms. Wilson. It seems to appear that the TechGuitar just
might be the next best thing. Let’s meet up again a different time so that we can make a
commercial and make more of your outstanding invention, and I swear, you are going to
be the happiest woman in the world. Come back here next Saturday at one o clock and
bring your TechGuitar with you.”
I smiled extremely wide, and quickly said, “Thank you so much. I promise you
won’t be disappointed. I will be right on time.” I exited out the door and smiled, telling
myself, You did it, you did it. You finally did it! I ran out of the building and went inside
my car, put my TechGuitar in the back, and pulled out my cell phone so that I could let
my family and friends know that I finally did it.

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 WORKS CITED
Flanders, Julian. The Story Of Music: Musical Instruments and Technology . 1st. 9.
Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier Educational, 2001. 1-80. Print