REHEARSAL PLANNING

HOW WOULD YOU START?

??????

BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE MUSIC

Get an overall pacing chart and start from the end

How many rehearsals to concert?

Amount of time in rehearsals

Conflicts in school calendar (sports, testing, etc.)

Students missing for given reasons

Students strengths/skills to build

PACING CHART

General in nature, pacing charts allow the teacher to long range plan.

This also gives the teacher checkpoints which to guide his lesson planning and make any modifications needed

Pacing charts are also known as pacing guides, curriculum map, instructional calendar, road map,

BUT WAIT!!!!!!!!!

When looking at music to put together a pacing chart you MUST consider the order of basic musical elements before you begin!

What elements are we talking about????

FUNNEL SHAPED PLANNING

Start from the most general concepts to the more specific

Right Notes-Right RhythmsBreathing and Bowing

ToneIntonation

Articulation

Phrasing & Expression

Blend & Balance

TEACHING BREATHINGCorrect breathing concepts are needed as to provide a quality air column, volume, speed, etc. to the aperture!

Start by lying on your back

Think of the body in a total restful position-hands on tummy: exhale-inhale 4 counts, hold 4 counts, exhale 4 counts, repeat

Cold vs hot/moist air “Fog the mirror” using hand over mouth

Stand and repeat but think of lying down concept

Sit and carry the concept forward

OTHER CONCEPTS

Hand on top/Hand on bottom

Hot Potato

Wooshing

Bottle in the belly

BOW GRIP

Bow grip techniques

Lot’s of good instructional video at www.ViolinMasterClass.com

RIGHT NOTES & RIGHT RHYTHMS

Before one approaches the funnel planning with their groups students MUST know right notes and rhythms. Not making sure these two fundamental concepts are in place before planning are inhibiting future development of their students learning, performance, appreciation and success.

TEACHING NOTESKnowing the names of the notes on the staff is a skill that should be acquired during their elementary school education.

Front loading:

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-read-music-tim-hansen

Reinforcing:

musicthory.net

Teacher led activities:

Winning Rhythms

TEACHING RHYTHM

TONE PRODUCTION

90% of tone production happens before you get on the instrument.

Embouchure Placement

Bow Grip

TEACHING EMBOUCHURE

Many teachers take for granted that their students have previous knowledge about this from their previous teachers/ensembles.

The fact that they’re producing sound does not indicate they’re breathing, forming an embouchure, placing tongue, etc. correctly!

How does one address this with a high school ensemble concisely and quickly?

BRASS CONCEPTS FOR STUDENTS

All brass instruments share the same overtone series concepts:

All brass instruments share the same pitch tendencies (sharp, flat, in tune)

Partials: 1-9?

PARTIALS 1-9The Overtone Series

Partial 1 is the “pedal”

Partial 2 tends to be in tune

Partial 3 can be sharp

Partial 4 tends to be in tune

Partial 5 is flat

Partial 6 is sharp

Partial 7 is flat-DO NOT USE!

Partial 8 is in tune

Main pitch “problems occur in

Low 3rd partial (valve combos 1-3, 1-2-3) which are fixed through proper tongue arch and the use of 1st and 3rd trigger slides

5th partial (flat) & 6th partial (sharp) tongue arch can take care without using alternate fingerings and will open up the tone

7th partial-DO NOT USE! This is the partial you hear young brass players “hit”(?) while trying to play the 8th partial...(ouch!)

TONGUE ARCH!All brass instruments share the same tongue arch concepts!

The garden hose nozzle concept!

The larger the hole the less compression of air/water is applied. The volume (or quality of tine) is the same but slower.

The smaller the hole, the higher compression of air/water is applied. The volume (or quality of tone) is the same but faster.

If you use the same tongue arch (syllables) for all ranges, your tone AND pitch will suffer in that range which is not intended

BRASS SYLLABLES

See handout in your folder

All brass instruments share the same breath/air support, breathing, tongue arch, embouchure concepts with a few exceptions:

A brass embouchure is a concept of a smile-wedge-pucker

The mouthpiece is centered (horizontal) between the 4 middle teeth

The cup is occupied by a proportion of 1/3 upper and 2/3 lower lip (with exceptions of course)

BUT-the horn is 2/3 upper and 1/3 lower lip

The aperture should be flexible enough to vibrate/buzz at the same pitch as the pitch (note) produced on the mouthpiece and the brass instrument.

Most young brass musicians attempt to play with an embouchure that is usually too tight and with an aperture that is too small!

The jaw should always be open enough to fit a pencil/straw through it.

WOODWIND ARTICULATION

Flutes- (Poo forms the embouchure)

Du syllable

Clarinets-(“Zip tie” around the mouthpiece) flat chin.

Du syllable

Saxes-Envelope the mouthpiece. The embouchure forms at the 10, 12 & 2 o’clock positions.

Du syllable

VETERAN’S TIPAlthough there are a number of different syllables a performer may use to achieve tenuto, staccato, marcato, etc. DO NOT HAVE YOUR STUDENTS USE A “T” SYLLABLE!!!!!!

A “T” syllable causes them to over tongue (over articulate) and many also tend to cut with the tongue.

students (especially younger ones) don’t understand the nuances that underlie articulation.

They’re kids…they operate in extremes!

Use a “D” syllable

ANOTHER VETERAN’S TIP

Don’t change the shape of your mouth when cutting off.

Many students also cut off with the glottis the “fat-guy” sound

On a side note the mouth cavity doesn’t change when using dynamics either.

INTONATION

Teaching intonation

Octave Compression

Starting and ending a scale on the same note

INTONATION

The teacher must constantly evaluate the degree of accomplishment that the individuals, sections, and ensemble are striving to reach during the performance.

Areas of evaluation should include vertical intonation (chords) and the horizontal intonation (melody)

INTONATION

Common Issues:

Flute: Don’t roll the instrument when out of tune. Sharp=pull chin in. Flat=push chin out. instrument sits 90 degrees from the face.

Saxophones: Firmer grip on embouchure (don’t cut the air)

Trombone: sits at a 45 degree angle. Trombones must relearn positions every year.

Sousaphone: Most problems are caused by improper use of bits. There are 4 major different sets of necks and bits:

Conn

King

Olds

Yamaha

ALL SOUSAPHONES MUST USE A BIT WITH A MATCHING NECK

WOODWIND TUNINGTune all woodwinds to A - no exceptions

Flutes on A (no vibrato)

Clarinets on their third line B

Bass Clarinets on their B below the staff

Alto and Bari Saxes on Their F# above and in the staff

Tenor Saxes on their B above the staff and in the staff

BRASS TUNING

Tune all brass to F- No exceptions (tuning young musicians to Bb is a waste of time as most of them “hear” Bb on the sharp side and will continue to lip up as they pull out their slide.)

Trumpets on their second line G

Horns on their third space C

Trombones and Euphoniums on their fourth line F

Tubas on their first space below the staff

THE TUNING SCALE

This will take a while for you and the students to get used to. But the intonation fixes will become faster. Play these scales with long fermatas on each note. Listen to the Octave, fourth, fifth and major second.

At the same time play the following scales

Ab-all low brass and low reeds

Eb-horns, alto saxes and tenor saxes

Bb-flutes, clarinets and trumpets

VETERAN’S TIP

Invest in tuners. When out at a performance whether it’s a competition, festival or community outing have a tuner for every other person.

ARTICULATION

As secondary teachers you’ll find that articulation is often overlooked.

BRASS ARTICULATION

See Chart

WOODWIND ARTICULATION

Flutes- (Poo forms the embouchure)

Du syllable

Clarinets-(“Zip tie” around the mouthpiece) flat chin.

Du syllable

Saxes-Envelope the mouthpiece. The embouchure forms at the 10, 12 & 2 o’clock positions

BLEND

Often confused, blend and balance are NOT the same thing.

Blend: All individual instruments lose their single identity within the scope of the ensemble sound.

BALANCEMusical ideas are presented in a hierarchy in which the are balanced in order of importance:

Melody

Countermelody

Harmony

Rhythm

All chords (tonality), all color tones, embellishments, passing tones, trills and grace notes should be heard.

PHRASING AND EXPRESSION

This is the last conceptual concept each teacher hopes to teach, and reach, before a performance!

Think about the character of the piece and the imagery with which the composer intended the music to be heard.

Time

FUNNEL SHAPED PLANNING

Start from the most general concepts to the more specific

Right Notes-Right RhythmsBreathing and Bowing

ToneIntonation

Articulation

Phrasing & Expression

Blend & Balance