Songs
Lesson ideas
I teach this in Preschool, Kindergarten and 1st grade.
It’s important for them to feel, hear, and see visual representations of long and short. So, I over-exaggerate examples on the keyboard when I play one or the other. When students listen, they either make a long movement (usually with their hands starting at their bodies and moving toward the center of the circle) or a short movement (which could be a clap or a patsch)
- Make long and short sounds with your body
- long = say “ooooooooo,” “shhhhhhhh,” etc.
- short = pat, clap, say “t,” “k,” etc.
- Make long and short sounds with instruments
- long = triangle, finger cymbals, glockenspiel, etc.
- short = wood block, claves, etc.
- long or short = guiro, ratchet, etc.
- Make long and short locomotor movements with your body
- long = sway, move arms slowly in big arcs around your body, etc.
- short = march, skip, etc.
Listening Examples
- Long Sounds
- Wagner: Prelude and Isolde’s Love Death (Tristan and Isolde)
- Barber – Adagio for Strings
- Bartok: Hungarian Pictures, Sz. 39: I. Evening in Transylvania
- Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 – Adagio molto e cantabile
- Beethoven – Egmont Overture
- Copland: Copland- Appalachian Spring Part 1 Very slowly
- Dvořák: Symphony No.9 In E Minor, Op.95, B. 178 “From The New World” – 2. Largo
- Short Sounds
Visuals, Handout, Assessment
(See downloads at bottom of page.)
Other Visuals & Handout
(Available on other pages. Click each image to access.)
See also
- Printable & Digital Visuals, Handout, Assessment
2 thoughts on “Long & Short Sounds”
OMG BETH
on thursday (writing this on wednesday) i start an internship (my first job!!!) as a music teacher substitute. even though i am a musician, this is not my graduation and i’m just patching a hole so the kids can still be exposed to music for around a month. i was in such a hurry to figure out how to do a short x long sounds activity/dynamic and YOU HAVE SAVED ME. I’M SO, SO THANKFUL FOR THIS PAGE AND FOR YOU. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOUR PAGE IS A BLESSING ON THIS PLANET AND I WILL FOREVER BE GRATEFUL THANK YOU
Congratulations! And welcome to teaching music! I am SOOOO glad to hear my resources are helping you! Good luck and enjoy! – Beth