COMPOSER: BACH DOUBLE VIOLIN CONCERTO
Menuhin and Oistrakh Violinists
1. QUOTE AUTHOR: GIAN CARLO MENOTTI
.....a. A composer from the 20th Century who was famous for writing modern operas.
.....b. One of his most famous operas was called "Amahl and the Night Visitors" about the Christmas story of the 3 kings
.....c. He recently passed away; he was in his nineties
2. SOLFEGE: DO-RE-MI
.....a. Each student sings the pattern and hand signs to...
teacher: "Did you finish your quote/" Student reply, "Yes I did."
3. MUSICAL OLIVER: OVERVIEW(see detailed information on this BLOG)
.....a. Musical written by Lionel Bart
.....b. Story based on novel by 19th Century English author: Charles Dickens called "OLIVER TWIST"
.....c. We discussed living conditions in England during the time period the story took place
..........1)Poor versus rich and educated versus non educated
..........2)Laws that did not protect children's rights (including working conditions for children: workhouses, orphanages, the
selling of children for slave labor)
..........3)Social attitudes and morals; how they differ from today
..........4)Lack of sanitary living conditions and poor medical care (especially for the poor)
..........5)Communication devices and the speed of the transfer of information
..........6)The importance of this novel; how a piece of literature can change a society
.....d. Discussed the term overture
..........1)orchestra playing an introduction made up of short, instrumental and musically connected excerpts or passages from
the melodies that will be heard later.
.....e. We watched the beginning of the musical (we heard the first 3 songs)
...........1)GRUEL: a term heard in the film...I explained what it was; please see section in this BLOG about this and there is
also a recipe if someone would like to try making it.
DUE TO THUNDER STORM AND RESULTANT TIME CHANGES IN PERIOD 3 I WILL NOT REQUIRE THE WRITTEN QUOTE ON FRIDAY TO BE DONE. ANYONE WHO DID IT WILL RECEIVE EXTRA CREDIT. SO, THIS WEEK THERE ARE 3 REQUIRED QUOTES COUNTED TOWARD THE GRADE.
BEGINNING VIOLIN PERIOD 5:
OBJECTIVE: Bowing on Open Strings
1. TUNE
2. SILENT BOW ROCKING for arm levels at the MB (middle bow)
3. CYCLE OF STRINGS 4x each string UH
4. CYCLE OF STRINGS 4x each string 8x UH
5. CYCLE OF STRINGS 2x each string to rhythm: "My sis-ter Marc-y" (slow-fast-fast-slow-slow) using same amount of bow for each syllable but bow speed changes UH
3. CYCLE OF STRINGS 4x each string lifted, short down bows MB then at UH (tip) for articulation practice
4. "OPEN STRING WALTZ" open string note reading piece in 3/4 time
.....a. Explained about half notes (2 beats) and dotted half notes (3 beats) by relating them to money
..........1)half note=half dollar, 50 cents, or 2 quarters
..........2)dotted half note=half dollar and a quarter, 75 cents, or 3 quarters)
..........3)RULE OF THE "DOT": a dot placed next to the right side of a note adds half the value on to that note; so if a half
note is worth 2 beats, the dot added to it will be worth 1 beat, so a dotted half note is worth 3 beats
....b. Reviewed note names and sang them with the recorded music
....c. Played song on violin while singing notes out loud (bowing at UH)
....d. Learned a new bow technique called "tremolo" and played it on the last note of the song.
5. "BLAST OFF" review song and tremolo technique from yesterday
.....a. Reviewed that at the repeat students need to "LIFT" the bow and restart the repeated section "DOWN" bow
5. Reviewed "Little Bitty"
.....a. Reviewed that there are many LIFTED DOWN bows in this piece; bows to be lifted where indicated (during the quarter
rests)
.....b. Reminded them of the term RITARDANDO (Italian meaning to retard or slow down "RIT." for short) written into the
music
ADVANCED VIOLIN PERIOD 4:
OBJECTIVE: Preparation for Harvest Day performance on October 28th/Hoedown music
1. TUNE
2. MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND NIGHT IS TONIGHT: I passed back the permission slips given me and students need to take them with them to the high school in order to go on the bus
3. DE COLORES
.....a. Started working on melody parts with the violins
..........1)We sight read through the part
..........2)We circled passages that were similar and chose certain passages to practice on first
..........3)The passages we worked on were played while the recorded accompaniment was on but the parts we had not worked
on yet were left out and just watched. This is a practice technique which teaches continuity (being able to play the
parts you know and not letting the parts you don't know throw your focus off).
.....b. Reviewed harmony parts with cellos, guitar, and piano
.....c. Started the process of connecting the parts together.
QUIZ ON THE DIFFICULT 4-NOTE PASSAGE OF ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL POSTPONED UNTIL I RE-ANNOUNCE IT
