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Small assignment or large assignment: Improvisation on instruments played in water

Explore the tonal colours of instruments played in water. Create a piece using water sounds and perform it. Notate the piece using graphic or traditional notation.

Assignment author
Sanna Ahvenjärvi

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Basics

Skill level

Group size

Minimum time required

1 lessons

2 lessons

One month

Goal and output

Pedagogical goal

Explore the tonal colours of instruments played in water.

Create a piece using water sounds and perform it.

Notate the piece using graphic or traditional notation.

Concrete output

Improvisation on instruments played in water, which can be notated if desired

Preparation

It is a good idea to protect the floor of the classroom with waterproof material. Fill buckets and basins with water beforehand. Ideally, this assignment should be performed in a shower room or outdoors.

Work progress

• Have the students invent as many ways of playing instruments in water as they can. Examples:
- Strike a triangle or bender gong out of the water and then lower it into the water. This will produce a glissando. A triangle or bender gong can also produce a tremolo in water. Tremolo and glissando can be combined.
- Playing flatterzunge on a wind instrument into water makes an entertaining sound.
- Water can also make splashy sounds.

• Use these kinds of sound to create a piece, for instance by first presenting the sounds used and then using them in combinations or canons.

• Example of how to approach the assignment:
Give letter codes to the various ways of making sounds in water.
A glissando on a triangle (does not specify the direction of the glissando, which may be decided together)
B glissando on a gong (does not specify the direction of the glissando, which may be decided together)
C flatterzunge in water on a trumpet
D flatterzunge in water on a recorder

Use the letter codes to make up a plan for the composition/improvisation, see "Additional material" below.

• Perform the piece.

• Create a score of the piece using either graphic notation or traditional notation.