Everything music from a perspective of a public
school music teacher with subject integration
(especially art, history, and literature) as a focus
to help teach the Common Core Curriculum.
QUOTE: "I’m not interested in having an orchestra sound like itself. I want it to sound like the composer." AUTHOR:Leonard Bernstein
MEANING OF THE QUOTE: "Music should sound as each individual composer meant it to be played. The same orchestra can play music by different composers and the music will sound different each time."
A bell tree is a percussion instrument consisting of vertically nested inverted metal bowls. The bowls, placed on a long vertical rod, are arranged in order of pitch (inexactly) that get increasingly smaller in size. There is no specific number of bells with the number of bowls varying between approximately 14 (with the smaller handheld versions) and 28 (with the larger versions on stands). Versions of the Bell Tree can be found in several cultures and can be traced back before the 6th century in Asia, being used in religious and secular music.
A bell tree can produce a glissando by striking and sliding down the bells with a metal rod (similar to a triangle beater), a glockenspielmallet, or a xylophone mallet. When a glissando is played, the inexactness of the order of pitch is unnoticeable; the glissando just sounds fuller. Random or relatively pitched notes can also be played on a bell tree. The bell tree is often used to accentuate the start or end of passages of music with bright shimmering effects, adding complexity to the music.
Typical güiro technique usually requires both long and short sounds, which are made by scraping both up and down in long or short strokes. This effect is obtained by varying the duration and lenghth of the stroke creating
Today, modern güiros are also made from plastic, fiberglass and wood providing more durability than a fragile gourd while keeping the same intonation and timbre. The scaper is typically made with metal tynes attached to a small block of wood but also may be made entirely of wood, metal, bamboo, shell, bone, ceramic or plastic. The size of the güiro can vary widely although it typically ranges from 25 - 35 cm long. Guiros Made of Plastic
Closely related to the güiro is the Dominican güira, a metal cylinder with holes much like a cheese grater, played with a metal stick.
