OBJECTIVE: MUSICAL ALPHABET
....ROLL
....PROCEDURES/CLASS FOLDERS TO HOLD CLASSWORK
....WHAT IS BODY LANGUAGE WORKSHEET/DISCUSSION/PRACTICE
........01. Finish as needed
.....MUSICAL ALPHABET INTRODUCTION
........01. Art and Music Connection: Artists use colors as their medium of expression musicians use sound
..............a. Colors you visually see start with primary colors which are then mixed into secondary colors and further
mixed into many other varieties or shades
...............b. Music also has primary pitches or TONE COLORS which also can be blended to form different sounds
........02. Using the keyboard as an example the primary musical tone can be demonstrated.
...............a. On the keyboard pressing down individual keys produces different sounds (TONE COLORS)
...............b. The keys are arranged in patterns which can be clearly identified by viewing how the black and white keys are
situated. You can see and hear the patterns
...............c. Identify the patterns of the black keys? Identify the pattern of the white keys. How many keys are in each
pattern? How many black and white keys (together) are in one pattern?
...............d. Playing the patterns it is easy to hear them. The patterns are repeated over and over again going higher as the
keys are played going up to the right and lower when moving down to the left.
...............e. There are actually 88 keys on a full sized piano but only 7 white keys, 5 black keys; combined together 12
keys in a pattern on the keyboard.
...............f. The musical keys are identified as colors are in art. The names given to each key in the pattern of 7 white keys
(or sounds they represent) are most often the first 7 letters from the alphabet: "A B C D E F G" called the
"musical alphabet." (The "DO-RE-MI" Solfege system is the second most common way of identification.)
...............g. Since the 5 black keys derive their names from the white keys the names of the white keys are learned first
.........03. Memorizing the notes of the musical alphabet forwards and backwards [because music sounds will go higher (up
or forward) and lower (down or backwards) one of the basic foundations of music.
...............a. Thinking versus Memory: You can memorize something but not understand it and you can understand
something but not have it totally memorized. Though the two processes work together they are different.
....................1)For performance musicians need to have their music learned as an "automatic reflex" in order to place all
their attention on the emotional and tonal aspects of the whole piece.
....................2)Thinking while performing has the musician looking at the individual parts separately from the whole and
that takes away the musicality.
....................3)The ability to play fast musical passages are also impeded by thinking
.....................4)In music nothing is totally learned until it has become an automatic reflex
...............b. Memorize the 7 letters of the musical alphabet forward by chanting it to a steady patsch (a patting of the thighs
with the palms of the hand) pulse over and over accenting (or stressing) the "A" a little louder to feel the
pattern of the 7 letters. (Keep repeating this exercise at faster paces.)
....................1)Since the regular alphabet going forward is an automatic reflex for most everyone, this is easy to do.
...............c. Memorize the 7 letters of the musical alphabet backwards by chanting it to a steady patsch (a patting of the
thighs with the palms of the hand) pulse over and over starting with letter "G" and accenting (or stressing) the
"G" a little louder to feel the pattern of the 7 letters.
...................1)This may be more difficult because many of us were never asked to learn our regular alphabet backwards
and in order to do that requires us to think it through.
...................2)To be able to perform this from memory at a fast pace it must be learned as an automatic reflex by dividing
the backwards musical alphabet into smaller, easier memorized sections or patterns and chanting them
quickly accenting certain letter sounds to create a rhythm as if reciting a poem. [EXAMPLE: letters
enlarged should be louder than the others "GFE" (repeat quickly 4x); "GFED" (repeat quickly 4x); "CBA"
(repeat quickly 4x); "GFED" pause "CBA" (repeat quickly 4x); "GFEDCBA" (repeat quickly 4x)
ADVANCED VIOLIN
OBJECTIVE: DIRECTIONS/PROCEDURES
....ROLL
....SEATING CHART
....PROCEDURES ON SET-UP/TAKE DOWN
........1. Practice and see if any procedural changes need to be made.
....OVERVIEW OF MUSIC FOR "HARVEST FESTIVAL" CONCERT
........1. "Haste to the Wedding"
........2. "Rocky Top"
....MUSIC FOLDER PREPARATION
BEGINNING VIOLIN
OBJECTIVE: BODY LANGUAGE/FOLLOWING A CONDUCTOR
....ROLL
....PROCEDURES/SEATING CHART
OBJECTIVE: BODY LANGUAGE/FOLLOWING A CONDUCTOR
....ROLL
....PROCEDURES/SEATING CHART
....WHAT IS BODY LANGUAGE DISCUSSION
........01. Body Language: What is it? Why is it needed in the orchestra? Demonstrate some examples.
........02. Silence: What is it? How is it used in music? Is there ever complete silence?
..............a. Sound does not become music without silence (the planned spaces between the sounds)
..............b. Music is a combination of sound and silence the most difficult part being the performance of the silences especially in a group of musicians.
..............c. Mistakes in the creation of musical sounds are able to be covered up in group playing but all mistakes are heard if someone in the group plays in the silence.
..............d. Learning to create the silence is a skill that takes training as it takes much control and focus to accomplish.
........03. Listening versus Hearing: What is the difference?
..............a. There are so many sounds around us that in order to function we have learned to block many of them out to where we have forgotten that our hear capacity is much greater than we know.
..............b. Listening deals with the process of intense focusing; an element essential for the musician
........04. Teams: An orchestra is a team. What other groups are teams?
........05. Teamwork: What is it and why is it important for an orchestra?
........06. Leadership: What is a leader and why is his/her function in a team?
........02. Silence: What is it? How is it used in music? Is there ever complete silence?
..............a. Sound does not become music without silence (the planned spaces between the sounds)
..............b. Music is a combination of sound and silence the most difficult part being the performance of the silences especially in a group of musicians.
..............c. Mistakes in the creation of musical sounds are able to be covered up in group playing but all mistakes are heard if someone in the group plays in the silence.
..............d. Learning to create the silence is a skill that takes training as it takes much control and focus to accomplish.
........03. Listening versus Hearing: What is the difference?
..............a. There are so many sounds around us that in order to function we have learned to block many of them out to where we have forgotten that our hear capacity is much greater than we know.
..............b. Listening deals with the process of intense focusing; an element essential for the musician
........04. Teams: An orchestra is a team. What other groups are teams?
........05. Teamwork: What is it and why is it important for an orchestra?
........06. Leadership: What is a leader and why is his/her function in a team?
........07. Rules: What are they? Why are they important for a team?
........08. Conduct: What is it?
........09. Conductor: As the leader of the orchestra's conduct, what does he do? What are his/her rules?
....PRACTICING BODY LANGUAGE/FOLLOWING THE CONDUCTOR
........08. Conduct: What is it?
........09. Conductor: As the leader of the orchestra's conduct, what does he do? What are his/her rules?
....PRACTICING BODY LANGUAGE/FOLLOWING THE CONDUCTOR
........01. Importance of watching the conductor
........02. Review visual cues
........03. Demonstrate and practice the conductor's starting beat or "gravity" beat
(What goes up...will come down) so everyone learns to start together
........04. Practice with percussion instruments (after short demonstration of each instrument used) cues on how to:
..............a. stop/start
..............b. get louder/softer
..............c. faster/slower
..............d. how to stop with a silence that is not only heard but seen by an audience
(body movements are completely still until the conductors hands go down)
........02. Review visual cues
........03. Demonstrate and practice the conductor's starting beat or "gravity" beat
(What goes up...will come down) so everyone learns to start together
........04. Practice with percussion instruments (after short demonstration of each instrument used) cues on how to:
..............a. stop/start
..............b. get louder/softer
..............c. faster/slower
..............d. how to stop with a silence that is not only heard but seen by an audience
(body movements are completely still until the conductors hands go down)
