COMPOSER: Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor (Third Movement)
1. QUOTE AUTHOR: BEETHOVEN/Discussed about how Beethoven was going deaf and how his depression over that affected the music he wrote, and also about how he recreated a storm through music:
Beethoven Excerpt: Symphony #6 Storm Scene
It is ironic that on the day Beethoven died (March 26, 1827) there was one of the largest thunder storms ever recorded to that time in Vienna, Austria, where he lived. There is a story often told about this: Just as a bolt of lightening lit up the sky and a loud thunder-clap was heard, Beethoven, lying in his bed near death, raised his fist and then fell dead.
2. WARM-UP: (FOLLOWING THE CONDUCTOR SILENT DIRECTIONS)
a. Echo playing: teacher plays a phrase, students imitate
b. Echo on T1 [T=THUMB (on back hole)/ 1=1st finger (left pointer) both "pinched" together at the same time]
c. Echo on T12 [T=THUMB/12=1st and 2nd fingers (left pointer and middle) all placed down at the same time]
d. Echo alternating between T1 and T12
e. Echo alternating between T1 and T12 and add T123 [THUMB, 1(1st finger), 2 (2nd finger), and 3 (3rd or left ring finger)] in direction order downwards then reverse in direction order upwards (moving by "step")
f. Echo using notes T1, T12, and T123 some out of direction order (notes moving by "skip")
3. PLAYING SONG "Un Bergere" with recorded accompaniment:
a. Note reading a single note (T1) using quarter notes and breathing cues
b. Introduction to notation terms:
....1)staff: 5 lines, 4 spaces counting them from bottom to top
....2)note stem direction: notes placed on line 3 of the staff or higher-stems go down to the left/line 3 or lower stems go up to the right/notes on line 3 can have stems that either go up to the right of down to the left
....3)treble clef: The word "clef" originally meant "key" and combined with the word "treble" means the symbol in music
which represents the high notes as they are represented in music notation (the right hand of the piano).
....4)repeat sign: A "musical road map" symbol consisting of a double bar (one thick and one thin line) and two dots
which tells the player to repeat a section of music
c. More notation terms connected with math:
....1)meter/time signature: "Meter" is a mathematical pattern of strong and weak beats found in music represented by a
symbol at the beginning of a piece of printed music called the "time signature" (looks like a fraction)
[ Upper number tells how many beats in a section of music (measure) and the lower number tells the value of the
beat (examples: if the lower number is 4=quarter note, if the lower number is 8=eighth note)]
....2)bar lines: Perpendicular lines in the music which separate the music into sections. They help keep the eyes
from getting lost when reading music notation and are placed mathematically determined by the meter
....3)measure: Sections of music which are mathematically "measured" and divided by the bar lines
....4)review of the quarter note (heart beat) which is worth 1 beat
4. PLAYING SONG "Kookaburra" with recorded accompaniment:
a. Note reading a single note (T1) using quarter notes and introducing eighth notes.
b. Eighth notes first demonstrated using body percussion patsch
....1)A complete patsch (down and up movement of the hand on the leg) movement is a quarter beat
....2)A downward movement of the patsch or a half patsch is an eighth note
....3)An upward movement of the patsch (or a half patsch) is an eighth note
....4)2 eighth notes or 2 half patsches= 1 quarter beat or 1 complete patsch
....5) Music rhythms are mathematical fractions
....6) Use of "flags" on eighth notes: adding a flag to a quarter note splits it in half or makes it twice as fast; "flags" on
consecutive eighth notes can be tied or "barred" together to help make reading multiples of them easier to read
BEGINNING VIOLIN PERIOD 5:
OBJECTIVE: LEFT PIZZICATO NOTE READING QUARTERS and OPEN STRINGS
1. CYCLE OF STRINGS: Left hand pizzicato is practiced 4x on each string starting on the "G" string using the first finger then using the 2nd, 3rd, and lastly the 4th finger. Adjustment of the violin angle may have to occur when plucking the "G" string with the 4th finger.
3. Left pizzicato and open string note reading to song "Cripple Creek."
a. Review open string note reading: Looking at open string notes (music notation) on the music chart posted (notes are color coated by string (BLUE"G," RED or PINK "D," YELLOW "A" and GREEN will be "E") students are to look at how high or low the notes are [as to their location on the staff (lines and spaces that notes sit on)] placed and comparing that to
their violin string sounds determine the names: EX: Lowest color is "BLUE" and lowest violin string is "G."
b. SONG "Batman" introduced:
....1) Directions on music chart explained: How to count measures of rest, review of meter, new term and symbol
"Coda" (special added ending), and the concept of playing in different keys (same melody played higher or lower
starting on different notes)
....2) Students listen to music and count/sing note names before playing on the violin
....3) Students listen to music and count/sing note names while playing left hand pizzicato with the music (students to
pizzicato (pluck) at first with their easiest finger (will later repeat the song using another finger , etc. until all
violin left fingers have been practiced)
ADVANCED VIOLIN PERIOD 4:
OBJECTIVE: Preparation for Harvest Day performance on October 28th/Hoedown music
1. TUNE
2. "Hoedown": Class plays entirely to format: INTRO/ "A" 2x / "B" 2x / "A" 2x / CODA
....a. Practice the coordination of the cello/piano part with the violin part (violins play 4 notes to every 1 note of the
cello/piano in section "B" for example)
....b. Articulation (and accenting certain notes) practiced within the violins so that everyone is playing at the same
speed during the fast passages
....c. Practice for continuity (play from beginning to end without stopping even if mistakes are made)
....d. Review fast "spiccato" bowing: be sure to start these passages down bow (to allow gravity to play the up bow part),
keep the right "pinky" finger off the bow (to isolate the right wrist movement) , and only use a small portion of
the bow in the middle
WORKING ON ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL SCALE PASSAGES ON MONDAY