Miss Jacobson's Music: Glenn Gould

"This is a Guided Tour of Beethoven's 5th Symphony via explanatory subtitles. This symphony, conducted here by Toscanini, is in four sections, called movements. The first movement, in this video, is fast and is in sonata form. Sonata form means that it comes in four sections: an Exposition, where the main themes of the movement are laid out, a Development where those themes are broken down and played with, a Recapitulation where the themes return and a Coda, where everything comes to a close. These moments and other musical highlights will be pointed out by the subtitle track."

Thursday, October 21, 2010

WHAT WE DID TODAY #1-36: THURSDAY; OCTOBER 21, 2010

GENERAL MUSIC PERIODS 2,3,6
COMPOSER: BACH: Invention #4 in D Minor played by the famous pianist Glenn Gould)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1czRiGYSYg

OBJECTIVE: NOTE READING ON THE KEYBOARD/NOTE READING BY STEP-WISE MOTION
1. QUOTE AUTHOR: Fryderyk Chopin
.....a. Term used in the quote: "odious" meaning detestable; repulsive.
.....b. Chopin wrote many famous pieces of music (especially for the piano). A famous piece that he wrote that most everyone has heard is called the "Marche Funebre" (Funeral March)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgw_RD_1_5I&feature=related

2. BACH COMPOSER REPORT #2
.....a. Due to the fact that I was having the computer fixed and the older loaner given me could not read the word processing program that had all the slides for this report, I decided to go back to this report next Monday as my computer will be fixed by then.
3. RECORDER WARM-UP
.....a. Using echo technique review notes "B" (T1), "A" (T12), "G" (T123), "F" (T1234), "E" (T12345), "D" (T123456) and "C" [or middle "C" as found on the keyboard (T1234567)]
.....b. New fingering T02 ("C" one octave higher than middle "C" or "high C")
..........1)Practiced muscle movement pattern of "A" (T12) to High "C" (T02) to make into an automatic reflex
..........2)Practiced muscle movement pattern of "B" (T1) to High "C" (T02) to make into an automatic reflex (fingers 1 and 2 alternate back and forth)
.....c. Try all notes in order (descending) from high "C" down to low or middle "C"
..........1)This is a "C" major scale going down (DO-TI-LA-SOL-FA-MI-RE-DO) and I showed the students what it looked like on the keyboard.
..........2)Played the scale passage again changing the rhythm and produced the first phrase of "Joy to the World"
4. HOLIDAY SONG: JOY TO THE WORLD (Period 3 and 6 need to start on this part next week)
.....a. Showed the music and explained how many of the passages of music are made up of scales or scale like (step-wise)passages.
.....b. Class reviewed the recorder fingerings and sight read through the song
.....c. We looked at the music and discovered where the main "skips" were as skips are usually harder to play then steps.
.....d. The hardest skip pattern is middle (or low) "C" to high "C" so we pulled the two notes out and worked on learning the muscle movement pattern. (The movement pattern will not be really learned until it becomes an automatic reflex)
5. BECAUSE WE HAVE STUDENTS AT VARYING ABILITY LEVELS I DECIDED THAT WE ARE GOING TO PUT ON A MINI-RECITAL THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 8, 9, 10.
1. Students will choose a song to play from the music we have been working on in class and/or a piece that I pre-approve of at their ability level.
2. During the next few weeks, when we have our keyboard playing days in class, students will practice the pieces they have chosen to play at our recital.
3. I will divide the class into groups of thirds and students in each group will perform on one of the scheduled days.
4. Students will perform their chosen song by themselves (solo).

BEGINNING VIOLIN PERIOD 5:
OBJECTIVE: PREPARATION FOR HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE ON DECEMBER 9th
1. TUNE
2. Major Scales 1 octave UH bow
3. Discuss and demonstrate playing scales as double-stops (fingering on the lower string while playing the neighboring higher string)
.....a. A question was posed about what to do if the finger (fingering a note) accidentially touches the open string.
Answer:
..........1)The angle of the finger, as it places down on a string, is not always the same.
..........2)Often times, in order to play and open string while fingering on the neighboring string the finger angle must be contorted (or bent a little differently) than normal.
.....b. We will start trying to play scales double-stopped with open strings the next time we work on scales.
3. HOLIDAY SONG: GOOD KING WENCESLAS
.....a. Because I was using an old computer while mine was being fixed I had trouble getting the sound recording to work so we played our music "acapella" without accompaniment.
.....b. We worked onarticulation; to make all the violins start and stop together.
.....c. A student was the bow leader to help everyone know who to follow in terms of bowings and articulation.
.....d. We played the hardest passage in the music which used a 2nd finger (note "B") on the "G" string.

VIOLIN PERIOD 4:
OBJECTIVE: Preparation for: Harvest Day performance on October 28th/Holiday Program December 9th
1. TUNE
2. MUSIC STANDS WERE SET-UP
3. HOLIDAY SONG: GOOD KING WENCESLAS
.....a. Worked with the guitar on understanding his part: Melody/Tablature
.....b. Practice Technique: Layering in the parts.
...........1)Started off having keyboard play bass line/harmony part
...........2)Added in cellos to bass line/harmony
...........3)Lastly, added in violin harmony parts (everyone)
..............a)Everyone learning the harmony part is good because it is good for sight reading, hearing intonation, and understanding how the melody part will fit in with the harmony. (It is sort-of like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle being fit together.)
......c. Asked keyboard to replay harmony part again only this time I played the melody against the harmony part so everyone could hear how the parts were to fit together.
......d. Everyone then split into melody and harmony parts: violins and guitar on melody/keyboard and cellos on harmony and both parts were played together
......e. Violins and guitar (melody) then needed to practice their part alone.
............1)As a group the fingering was reviewed
............2)Music was practiced but bows were not articulated together yet and we need to add in the slurred bow passages as well.
4. REVIEW SONGS FOR THE HARVEST FESTIVAL (PRACTICED DURING HR)
.....a. HOEDOWN
.....b. ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL
.....c. DE COLORES
4 SCHOOL PRACTICE DAYS LEFT FOR THE HARVEST CONCERT

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

WHAT WE DID TODAY #1-34: TUESDAY; OCTOBER 19, 2010

GENERAL MUSIC PERIODS 2,3,6
COMPOSER: BACH: Invention#8 in F Major by the famous pianist Glenn Gould)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omsIpJ9Fwas

1. Term Invention:
.....a. In music, an invention is a short composition (usually for a keyboard instrument) with two or three part counterpoint.
.....b. Counterpoint is where two or more melodic strands occur simultaneously in separate voices.
..........1)The term comes from the Latin punctus contra punctum (note against note).
.....c. These "Inventions" were originally written by Bach as exercises for the musical education of his students.
OBJECTIVE: NOTE READING ON THE KEYBOARD/NOTE READING BY STEP-WISE MOTION
1. QUOTE AUTHOR: Leonard Bernstein
.....a. Famous American composer and conductor from the 20th Century
3. NOTE READING BY STEP-WISE MOTION ON THE KEYBOARD:
.....a. Students took out the songs that they prepared the music notation on and were instructed to play the songs on the keyboard
.........1)JOLLY OLD ST. NICHOLAS
.........2)JINGLE BELLS
.....b. On the top of the music sheet, for each song, is a small keyboard chart showing where the keys are located.
.........1)Students are to place the right hand fingers on the keys in advance before playing so they can use their eyes to watch the music instead of their fingers.
.....c. I was moving about the room to check for understanding and having students play the songs for me (to be continued tomorrow)
4. For students finishing early, they are to go back to the packet of keyboard songs to be played by finger numbers (a continuation of what we did last week) working on songs starting from "America" and "Yankee Doodle" then moving on to the next piece.
.....a. Each student works at their own pace; at their ability level.

BEGINNING VIOLIN PERIOD 5:
OBJECTIVE: PREPARATION FOR HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE ON DECEMBER 9th
1. TUNE
2. DO-RE-MI-FA (pattern starting on open strings)
.....a. Combining this DO-RE-MI-FA (0 1 23 ) pattern on two consecutive strings creates a major (1 octave) scale
.....b. Students played "G" major scale, "D" major scale, and "A" major scale (UH and LH of bow)
.....c. We ascended up the scale (placing fingers down in order)
.....d. We descended down the scale
..........1)Lifted off the fingers in order on the higher of the 2 strings
..........2)Placed all 3 fingers down (in the position for which they will be lifted off from) on the lower string ahead of time
..........3)Lifted fingers off in order
3. HOLIDAY SONG: COVENTRY CAROL
.....a. The goal is to get familiar with the music well enough to be able to focus on the music without help from the teacher pointing.
.....b. Students need to learn how to concentrate on their music while other (different) music parts are being played at the same time

VIOLIN PERIOD 4:
OBJECTIVE: Preparation for: Harvest Day performance on October 28th/Holiday Program December 9th
1. TUNE
2. MUSIC STANDS WERE SET-UP
3. REVIEW SONGS FOR THE HARVEST FESTIVAL
.....a. HOEDOWN
.....b. ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL
.....c. DE COLORES

Monday, October 18, 2010

WHAT WE DID TODAY #1-33: MONDAY; OCTOBER 18, 2010

GENERAL MUSIC PERIODS 2,3,6
COMPOSER: BACH: Invention #1 in C Major

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzU7xQmmXGE

played by the famous pianist Glenn Gould)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5UsQslkZQg)

.....a. Famous American composer of Broadway musicals and popular music of the early 20th Century

"There's No Business Like Show Business" by Irving Berlin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flz89t5y3cg&feature=related

2. SOLFEGE: Using different patterns we have been working on in class students will answer the teacher back (as we have done before) this time using which ever pattern the teacher uses:
.....a. SOL-MI
.....b. SOL-MI-LA
.....c. DO-RE-MI
.....d. MI-RE-DO
3. NOTE READING BY STEP-WISE MOTION:
.....a. Students given music notation of 2 holiday songs that we played on recorder last week.
.....b. As we were taught last week, students are to place the note names down on their own music by themselves.
.....c. We reviewed as necessary for those who needed it.
.....d Students were to have their music with notes named checked by the teacher individually then instructed to go to keyboard to play them:
.........1)JOLLY OLD ST. NICHOLAS
.........2)JINGLE BELLS
.....e. On the top of the music sheet, for each song, is a small keyboard chart showing where the keys are located.
.........1)Students are to place the right hand fingers on the keys in advance before playing so they can use their eyes to watch the music instead of their fingers.
4. For students finishing early, they are to go back to the packet of keyboard songs to be played by finger numbers (a continuation of what we did last week) working on songs starting from "America" and "Yankee Doodle" then moving on to the next piece.
.....a. Each student works at their own pace; at their ability level.
TOMORROW THE TEACHER WILL CHECK TO SEE THAT EVERYONE CAN PLAY THE SONGS FROM THOSE SHEETS WE WORKED ON TODAY.

BEGINNING VIOLIN PERIOD 5:
OBJECTIVE: PREPARATION FOR HOLIDAY PERFORMANCE/DOUBLE STOPPING
1. TUNE
2. DO-RE-MI-FA/FA-MI-RE-DO (0 1 23 - 32 1 0) 1x each string at UH of bow; repeat again at LH of the bow
.....a. Using this pattern on two consecutive strings forms a major scale
.....b. Teacher demonstrates "G" major scale, "D" major scale, "A" major scale
.....c. We will start learning these scales as our warm-ups
3. Review names of notes on each string using the musical alphabet
4. HOLIDAY SONG: GOOD KING WENCESLAS
.....a. Review note reading by stepwise motion
.....b. Review fingering
.....c. Separated the music into small passages and practiced them slowly
.....d. Tried to play the music with the accompaniment as teacher pointed to notes
.....e. Practice technique:
..........1)Everyone played the notes that were only on the "G" string (blue notes) while tracking (but not playing) the "D" string (red) notes with the accompaniment
..........2)After practicing and getting comfortable with this, we reversed the exercise playing the "D" string notes while tracking the "G" string notes
..........3)We had a suggestion from a student to divide half the class where one group plays the "G" string notes and the others the "D" string notes against the recorded accompaniment. So, we tried it and it was a good suggestion.
..........4)Lastly, we played a the notes with the accompaniment.
This technique is used to teach continuity; to help students to keep their focus from the beginning to the end of a piece without allowing nerves to take over when mistakes are made.

VIOLIN PERIOD 4:
OBJECTIVE: Preparation for: Harvest Day performance on October 28th/Holiday Program December 9th
1. TUNE
2. MUSIC STANDS WERE SET-UP
3. REVIEW SONGS FOR THE HARVEST FESTIVAL
.....a. HOEDOWN
.....b. ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL
..........1)Lower parts had trouble keeping the beat steady so they were asked to play alone with the accompaniment as the violins listened to see if they were keeping the beat.
.....c. DE COLORES
4. COVENTRY CAROL (during HR)
.....a. Worked with advanced violins on the melody
.....b. Added the beginning violins to the melody part
5. HAVA NAGILA (during HR)
.....a. Introduced this piece to the advanced violins
.....b. Played the recording for the students with the beginning violins playing the harmony and myself playing the melody
.....c. Showed the advanced violins how to play the first 5 notes which uses an interval of C# to Bb that we pulled out and practiced separately.
.....d. We worked on the first phrase and will continue working on this.

Miss Jacobson's Music

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY #5