Everything music from a perspective of a public
school music teacher with subject integration
(especially art, history, and literature) as a focus
to help teach the Common Core Curriculum.
A concerto is a music composition which, in most cases features, a solo instrument with an orchestra accompaniment
(or piano accompaniment) where the soloist shows off his/her virtuosic skill.
Each concerto consists of 3 movements generally in three different tempos (fast, slow, very fast)
GRANADA ADV. STRINGS
1. Pachelbel/Jolly
2. Jingle Bell Rock
INTRO. TO INSTRUMENT
1. Hillview:
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE WOODWIND FAMILY/DEMONSTRATION a. CONSORT OF RECORDERS (bass, tenor, alto, soprano, sopranino, garklin) b. MODERN RELATIVES TO RECORDERS/DEMONSTRATION (flute/clarinet) c. HISTORY OF WOODWINDS
2. Granada:
ALLEY CAT PERCUSSION ORCHESTRATION and PERFORMANCE
a. REVIEW INSTRUMENT NAMES
1) GO OVER and REVIEW (AS NEEDED) HOW TO ORCHESTRATE PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS
2) ASSIGN COLORS ON THE CHARTS TO DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS
3) STUDENTS COUNT OUT LOUD and PLAY THE INSTRUMENTS ASSIGNED THAT MATCH THE COLORS
.4) STUDENTS PERFORM TO THE RECORDING
5) AFTER COMPLETION STUDENTS SWITCH INSTRUMENTS TO TRY ANOTHER
GRANADA BEG. STRINGS
1. Left hand pizzicato to develop proper left arm angle and violin hold 2. Depressing the finger(s) down on the string silently with a spring motion 3. Depressing and pulling the string to start the pizzicato 5. Note reading quarter notes and musical road sign "repeat sign" introduced 4. Cycle of strings: from lowest to highest strings plucking 4x on each string with: 1st finger (left index) repeating with 2nd finger (middle finger) followed by 3rd finger (ring) lastly using the 4th finger (pinky) 6. Open string note reading using colors (students sing the letters as they pluck the open strings with a background accompaniment) blue: G red: D yellow: A green: E
GENERAL MUSIC PERIODS 2, 3, 6: COMPOSER: Chopin PRELUDE #7 "Funny Version" from the album "Beethoven's Wig" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven OBJECTIVE: RECORDER BEGINNING SONGS 1. QUOTE AUTHOR:John Cage/Discussed about how it is important to be open to new ideas 2. Composer Report Chopin: Passed out composer report forms and then we wrote down some general composer information (name, dates, country of origin) and then started to write down names of music examples heard in class/to be continued tomorrow 3. WARM-UP: (FOLLOWING THE CONDUCTOR SILENT DIRECTIONS) 4. Review of songs previously played using fingers T1, T12, T123/fingerings that move by step/skip a. SONG "Lucern to Weggis": A song from Switzerland. In it there is a short INTERLUDE (a short connecting passage) where the instruments stop and then return to the melody b. Start more new songs continuing to use all first 3 fingers on the recorder. (Adding: "James' Lot")
GENERAL MUSIC PERIOD 6: Same as periods 2,3 except to start composer report today and period 6 asked to hear the "Storm" written by Beethoven in his 6th Symphony so I showed them the video (see link from Friday, September 17th)
BEGINNING VIOLIN PERIOD 5: OBJECTIVE: PIZZICATO TYPES/NOTE READING QUARTERS and OPEN STRINGS 1. CYCLE OF STRINGS: Left hand pizzicato is practiced 4x on each string starting (Use 3rd and 4th fingers) 2. Review left pizzicato technique on "Batman" 3. Right hand pizzicato is introduced: two types "traditional" and "non-traditional" a. Traditional: Right thumb sits in corner of fingerboard (near the right side of the bridge when looking at the violin in the holding position). Right index (pointer) finger plucks the string by first depressing then pulling it. Finger plucks string from over the fingerboard not where the bow goes. .....RULE: NEVER PLUCK WHERE YOU BOW and NEVER BOW WHERE YOU PLUCK" b. Non-Traditional: First, hold the violin in "guitar position" placing fingers of the right hand (except the thumb) against the fingerboard as a support. The right thumb plucks the strings over the finger board, again using the process of depressing first then pulling the string./Next, redo except hold the violin at the jaw instead of in "guitar" position. c. Different types of pizzicato are used in violin playing. It all depends on what music is being played (music style, ease of technical facility for different musical passages, etc.). 3. SONG "Batman": Students will use the "non-traditional" right hand pizzicato to replay "Batman." a. I use this "non-traditional" right pizzicato form now because it gets the right arm near to the position of where we will place it (the arm) when using the bow (a bow preparation exercise). 4. "Batman" sheet music passed out in black and white. Students to add in the color of notes. "G" string is BLUE, "D" string is RED, "A" string is YELLOW, and "E" string is GREEN. (To work on tomorrow or for those who want to take it home, they can start on it early.)
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 TUESDAY (WE WERE TO DO THIS TODAY BUT THE "HOEDOWN" MUSIC WAS COMING TOGETHER SO WELL THAT I WANTED TO STAY ON IT A LITTLE LONGER THAN I HAD PLANNED)
OBJECTIVE: RECORDER BEGINNING SONGS 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:
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 "UnBergere" 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
