Lesson Notes By Weeks and Term v3 - Senior Secondary 1
Maintenance care and servicing
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Maintenance care and servicing
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Subject: Music
Class: Senior Secondary 1
Term: 3rd Term
Week: 3
Theme: Introduction To Music Technology (Africa Musical Instruments) Iii
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Students should be able to identify and name or chestral in strument sight.
cracking or loosening. Strings, often made of fishing line or gut, should be wiped clean and checked for wear.
2. Wind Instruments (Woodwind & Brass): Moisture Removal: After playing, always swab out the bore of woodwind instruments and drain moisture from brass instruments using spit valves. Moisture left inside can damage pads, cause corrosion, or promote mould growth. Keys, Valves, and Slides: Woodwinds (Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Recorder): Wipe keys gently with a soft cloth. Check pads for tears or stickiness. Use blotting paper under sticky pads. Avoid bending keys. Brass (Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn, Kakaki): Oil valves/rotors regularly to ensure smooth action. Grease slides to prevent seizing and allow smooth movement for tuning.
Mouthpieces: Clean mouthpieces thoroughly after each use with a specialized brush and mild soap and water. Rinse and dry completely.
General Cleaning: Periodically disassemble brass instruments (with care) for a thorough bath using mild soap and lukewarm water, then re-lubricate. Woodwinds require more careful internal cleaning, often with specialized swabs and brushes.
Example (Nigerian Context): An 'Oja' (Igbo wooden flute) or 'Kakaki' (Hausa brass trumpet) should be thoroughly dried after use. The 'Oja' bore can be cleaned with a thin cloth on a stick to remove moisture. The 'Kakaki' requires draining of condensation from its long tube. Its mouthpiece should be cleaned regularly.
3. Percussion Instruments (e.g., Drums, Xylophones, Cymbals, Shekere, Gbedu, Talking Drum): Cleaning Surfaces: Wipe down drums (shells, heads), cymbals, and mallet instruments (bars) with a damp cloth and dry immediately. For cymbals, use specialized cymbal cleaner.
Heads/Skins: For skin-headed drums (e.g., talking drum, gbedu, bata), protect the skins from extreme humidity or dryness. Moisture can loosen tension, while excessive dryness can cause cracking. Store in stable conditions. Avoid touching heads with oily hands.
Hardware: Check lugs, tension rods, stands, and pedals for tightness and lubrication. Lubricate moving parts (e.g., bass drum pedal) as needed.
Storage: Store drums and other large percussion instruments in areas protected from dust, direct sun, and moisture. Use covers.
Mallets/Sticks: Store mallets and sticks properly to prevent warping or damage to heads.
Example (Nigerian Context): A 'Talking Drum' (Iyàlù) or 'Gbedu' drum requires its animal skin heads to be handled with extreme care. They should be stored in a dry, temperate place, away from direct heat sources that could dry out and crack the skin, or dampness that could cause mould or loosen the head. The carved wooden body should be wiped clean. A 'Shekere' (gourd rattle) should be stored where it won't be crushed, and its beaded net checked for damage.
4. Keyboard Instruments (e.g., Piano, Keyboard, Organ): Dusting: Regularly dust keys and the instrument's surface with a soft, dry cloth. For piano keys, use a slightly damp cloth with mild soap, then wipe dry immediately.
Protection: Keep the keyboard covered when not in use to prevent dust accumulation. Keep liquids away from the instrument.
Temperature and Humidity: Pianos, especially acoustic ones, are highly sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations, which can affect the wooden soundboard, action, and tuning. Maintain a stable environment. In Nigeria, this means protecting from harmattan dryness and rainy season humidity.
Professional Servicing: Acoustic pianos require professional tuning and regulation typically once or twice a year. Electronic keyboards generally require less servicing but should be kept clean and dry.
E. Differentiating Maintenance Needs: Orchestral vs.
Dance Band Instruments: While many general principles apply, specific maintenance often differs due to construction, materials, usage intensity, and environmental exposure. Orchestral Instruments (e.g., Violin, Clarinet, Trumpet, Timpani): Emphasis on Delicate Care: Many are made of fine wood (e.g., violins, clarinets, oboes) or high-quality brass. They require precise cleaning, careful handling, and strict environmental control (temperature, humidity) to maintain their delicate mechanisms and acoustic properties.
Longevity Focus: Often older, classical instruments are valued for their historical significance and unique tone. Maintenance focuses on preservation and restoration.
Regular Professional Servicing: Due to complexity and value, professional luthiers and technicians are regularly involved for tuning, repairs, and overhauls.
Examples: A violin requires careful wiping of rosin dust from its wooden body, regular string cleaning, This section provides a detailed breakdown of essential concepts related to the maintenance care and servicing of musical instruments.
A. Definition of Maintenance and Servicing: Maintenance: Refers to the routine, preventative actions taken to keep an instrument in good working order. It involves daily, weekly, or monthly practices to prevent damage, wear, and tear, and to ensure optimal performance. Examples include cleaning, polishing, lubrication, and proper storage.
Servicing: Involves more in-depth, often professional, attention to an instrument. This can include adjustments, repairs, parts replacement, tuning, or overhaul that are beyond routine user maintenance. Servicing is usually done by a qualified technician or luthier.
B. Importance of Musical Instrument Maintenance:
1. Preservation of Sound Quality: Dirt, grime, and wear can significantly degrade an instrument's tone, intonation, and response. Regular maintenance ensures the instrument continues to produce its intended sound.
2. Extended Lifespan: Proper care prevents premature deterioration of materials, mechanisms, and finishes, thereby extending the instrument's functional life.
3. Hygienic Practice: Instruments, especially wind instruments, can accumulate moisture, saliva, and dust, leading to mould or bacterial growth. Cleaning ensures the instrument is safe and hygienic to use.
4. Cost-Effectiveness: Preventative maintenance is almost always cheaper than extensive repairs or replacing a damaged instrument.
5. Reliability and Playability: A well-maintained instrument is more reliable, easier to play, and less likely to malfunction during rehearsals or performances.
6. Safety: Damaged instruments (e.g., sharp edges, loose parts) can pose a safety risk to the player.
C. General Maintenance Principles (Applicable to All Instruments):
1. Cleanliness: Always clean an instrument after use. This removes sweat, skin oils, dust, and other residues. Use appropriate cleaning materials (soft cloths, brushes, specialized cleaners).
2. Proper Handling: Always handle instruments carefully. Avoid dropping, hitting, or placing them in precarious positions.
3. Appropriate Storage: Store instruments in their cases when not in use. Ensure cases are secure and provide adequate protection. Keep instruments away from direct sunlight, extreme temperatures (hot or cold), and high humidity. In Nigeria, this means protecting from intense dry season heat, harmattan dust, and rainy season humidity.
4. Protection from Pests: Store instruments in clean, dry environments to deter pests (e.g., termites, rodents) that can damage wood, felt, or cases.
5. Regular Inspection: Periodically check for loose screws, worn pads, cracks, dents, or other signs of damage. Early detection can prevent minor issues from becoming major problems.
D. Specific Maintenance for Different Instrument Families:
1. String Instruments (e.g., Violin, Cello, Guitar, Bass, Kora, Goje): Body: Wipe down the body with a soft, lint-free cloth after each use to remove finger marks and rosin dust (for bowed strings). Avoid harsh chemicals. For wooden instruments, a specialized polish or oil may be used sparingly.
Strings: Wipe strings after playing to remove oils and dirt. This prolongs string life and maintains tone. Replace strings regularly as they wear out and lose their vibrancy.
Bow (for bowed strings): Loosen the bow hair after playing to prevent it from losing tension and warping the stick. Wipe rosin dust from the stick.
Bridge & Pegs: Ensure the bridge is upright and properly positioned. For peg-tuned instruments (e.g., violin, kora), ensure pegs turn smoothly without slipping. Apply peg dope if necessary.
Storage: Store in a well-padded case. Protect from temperature and humidity fluctuations, which can cause wood to expand, contract, or crack. In humid Nigerian environments, consider desiccants.
Example (Nigerian Context): A 'Goje' (one-stringed lute) or 'Kora' (21-stringed harp-lute) needs its calabash resonator and wooden neck cleaned with a dry cloth. The animal skin covering should be protected from direct sunlight or excessive dampness to prevent cracking or loosening. Strings, often made of fishing line or gut, should be wiped clean and checked for wear.
2. Wind Instruments (Woodwind & Brass): Moisture Removal: After playing, always swab out the bore of woodwind instruments and drain moisture from brass instruments using spit valves. Moisture left inside can damage pads, cause corrosion, or promote mould growth. Keys, Valves, and Slides: Woodwinds (Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Recorder): Wipe keys gently with a soft cloth. Check pads for tears or stickiness. Use blotting paper under sticky pads. Avoid bending keys. are made of fine wood (e.g., violins, clarinets, oboes) or high-quality brass. They require precise cleaning, careful handling, and strict environmental control (temperature, humidity) to maintain their delicate mechanisms and acoustic properties.
Longevity Focus: Often older, classical instruments are valued for their historical significance and unique tone. Maintenance focuses on preservation and restoration.
Regular Professional Servicing: Due to complexity and value, professional luthiers and technicians are regularly involved for tuning, repairs, and overhauls.
Examples: A violin requires careful wiping of rosin dust from its wooden body, regular string cleaning, and loosening of bow hair. A clarinet needs careful pad maintenance, bore oiling (for wooden ones), and moisture removal. Dance Band Instruments (e.g., Electric Guitar, Drum Kit, Synthesizer, Saxophone): Emphasis on Durability and Functionality: Designed for frequent use, transport, and often amplified performance. While still requiring care, the focus might be more on ensuring electronic components, robust mechanisms, and structural integrity.
Electronic Component Care: Electric guitars, keyboards, and synthesizers require care for their electronics (e.g., checking cables, cleaning input jacks, battery management, protecting from power surges).
Higher Wear and Tear: Often subjected to more rigorous handling, frequent transport, and diverse performance environments (indoors/outdoors, different climates).
User-Level Maintenance: Much of the maintenance is routine cleaning and adjustment that the musician can perform (e.g., changing guitar strings, cleaning drum cymbals, oiling guitar fretboards). *
Examples: An electric guitar needs regular string changes, fretboard conditioning, cleaning of pickups and potentiometers, and checking solder joints. A drum kit requires tensioning drum heads, lubricating pedals, cleaning cymbals, and ensuring hardware is secure. A saxophone (common in both, but often more rugged for dance band) requires thorough key pad cleaning and careful handling due to its intricate key work. This section outlines practical activities for effective lesson delivery in a Nigerian classroom.
A. Teacher Activities: Introduction (10 mins): Begin by asking students to briefly discuss why they think people buy new clothes/shoes or service their motorcycles/cars. Link these everyday examples to the need for maintaining musical instruments. Display images of well-maintained and poorly maintained instruments (Western and Nigerian). State the learning objectives clearly. Concept Explanation & Discussion (20 mins): Explain "maintenance" vs. "servicing" using simple analogies. Lead a discussion on the importance of instrument maintenance, drawing examples from students' experiences (e.g., a dusty school keyboard, a rusty traditional drum). Guide students through the general maintenance principles, explaining each with practical examples. Instrument Family Specifics & Demonstration (30 mins): Present a visual aid (chart, projected images, or actual instruments if available) showing instruments from each family (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, keyboard).
For each family: Identify common orchestral instruments (e.g., violin, clarinet, trumpet, snare drum, piano). Identify common dance band instruments (e.g., electric guitar, saxophone, drum kit, synthesizer). Explain and demonstrate, where possible, specific maintenance tasks (e.g., wiping a guitar/violin string, swabbing a recorder, oiling a trumpet valve if available, cleaning a drum head). Use a simple recorder or locally available string/percussion instrument for demonstration. Integrate Nigerian traditional instruments into the discussion, highlighting their unique care needs (e.g., the care of animal skin for talking drums, protecting calabash resonators).
Differentiating Maintenance (15 mins): Lead a comparative discussion, using examples, on how the maintenance of an orchestral instrument (e.g., cello) differs from a dance band instrument (e.g., electric bass). Emphasize differences in materials, usage, and environmental exposure.
Guided Practice (10 mins): Pose scaffolded questions (as detailed in Section 4) to check immediate understanding and reinforce learning. Provide constructive feedback.
Wrap-up & Assignment (5 mins): Summarize key takeaways. Assign independent practice questions.
B. Student Activities: Active Listening & Note-taking: Students will actively listen to explanations and take notes on definitions, importance, general principles, and specific maintenance tips.
Observation & Participation: Observe teacher demonstrations keenly and participate in discussions, asking questions, and sharing relevant experiences.
Instrument Identification & Discussion: Identify instruments from displayed visuals/actual instruments and discuss their observed conditions.
Practical Engagement: If instruments are available, students may be guided to gently perform simple cleaning tasks (e.g., wiping down a keyboard, using a recorder swab).
Questioning & Answering: Respond to guided practice questions and contribute to group discussions.
Comparison and Differentiation: Actively engage in comparing and contrasting the maintenance requirements of different instrument types.
Materials: Whiteboard or chalkboard, markers/chalk Visual aids: Pictures/posters of orchestral and dance band instruments (Western and Nigerian), their parts, and maintenance steps.
Actual instruments (if available): E.g., a recorder, a local string instrument (goje), a small drum, a guitar.
Cleaning materials (for demonstration): Soft cloths, small brush, recorder swab, mild soap, valve oil (optional).
Career Opportunities in Instrument Repair: This lesson highlights the importance of instrument maintenance, opening up potential career paths for students as instrument repair technicians or luthiers. In Nigeria, there is a growing demand for skilled individuals who can maintain and repair both Western and traditional instruments, especially as imported instruments can be costly to replace and local instruments need specialized care. Students could consider apprenticeship opportunities with existing repairers.
Community and School Resource Management: Schools, churches, and community music groups in Nigeria often struggle with limited budgets for musical instruments. Understanding proper maintenance ensures that existing instruments last longer, reducing the need for frequent, expensive replacements. Students can apply this knowledge by advocating for and implementing maintenance routines in their school's music department or local church choir, helping to preserve valuable community assets. Preservation of Nigerian Cultural Heritage: Many traditional Nigerian instruments are crafted from organic materials (wood, calabash, animal skin, raffia). Their longevity is directly tied to appropriate care. Learning about maintenance care for these instruments helps students appreciate the craftsmanship and cultural significance, encouraging them to actively participate in preserving Nigeria's rich musical heritage for future generations. For example, students could apply knowledge of moisture control to traditional drums or insect protection to wooden xylophones (e.g., 'Akpata').