Timbre and Intensity

The following activity facilitates the comprehension of timbre and intensity.

Concepts: Timbre and intensity

Description: This activity uses the Colombian play song “Chirigüare” to help students understand and differentiate between various timbres and intensities.

Lyrics

Cerca a la laguna (Near the lagoon)

Vive el Chirigüare x2 (Lives the Chirigüare)

Con cara de burro y cola de bagre x2 (With the face of a donkey and the tail of a catfish)

Chirigüare, Chirigüare, Chirigüare te va a comer (Chirigüare is going to eat you)

Te va’ comer, te va’ comer, te va’ comer, te va’ comer (It is going to eat you x 4)

te va’ comer, te va’ comer, te va’ comer, ya te comió. (It is going to eat you x 3 It already ate you.)

How to play

All the students will organize in a circle.
One of the students will be randomly selected to be the first Chirigüare.
The Chirigüare will position itself in the center of the circle and put on a bandage.
The entire group will sing the song together.
When the song ends, everybody will fall silent while 3 randomly selected students play percussion instruments.
The Chirigüare will search for the sound of one of the selected percussion instruments.
The new Chirigüare will be selected when the previous Chirigüare catches them.

Note: It is recommended to select instruments with contrasting sounds.

Relation to Concept:

Timbre: The primary focus of this game is to explore timbre, which refers to the unique quality or color of a sound that distinguishes it from other sounds. By using percussion instruments with contrasting sounds, students learn to identify and differentiate between various timbres.
Intensity: Intensity refers to the loudness or softness of a sound. During the activity, students experience changes in intensity as the Chirigüare searches for the sound of the percussion instruments.

Supplemental material