TEACHERS STUDY GUIDE for Mr. Smith s Bowl of Notes Mr. Smith s Bowl of Notes Teacher Study Guide for Grades 1 & 2 This study guide is made available to orchestras performing Gregory Smith s Mr. Smith s Bowl of Notes at no cost to the orchestra or school system. This document is, however, copyrighted and may not be sold, bartered, exchanged in trade, or used beyond immediate reference to the live performance of the work. In particular, the orchestras presenting the work may not charge any school system for the use of these guides. These guides are authored by Karen R. Stanton, a long-time public school music teacher who is certified both in Orff and Kodaly methods. 2004. Geocoso Music. August 2004 Note: If you are getting a copy or the Bowl of Notes Guide at this point, please note that the audio samples indicated are not presently available. From Gail, Education Chairperson on the Arapahoe Philharmonic Board: I ve added to this Teacher s Guide. I d love to have you send me any of your ideas / lesson plans and I ll post them. arapahoephilharmonic@gmail.com Some of the music in the Listening Sections of this guide are quoted in Mr. Smith s Bowl of Notes.
Prelude: These ideas and tools are presented for the use of the classroom teacher with limited musical knowledge and experience. Teachers with more musical background are invited to implement, substitute and expand these ideas. The basic material, Listening and Responding, can be covered before the concert in two to four class sessions, depending on class length, by presenting Part 1 in the first sessions and Part 2 in the last sessions. However, you can also present the basic material plus the expanded material (including Activities and Other Musical Examples) as a unit of study that would run one or two weeks. You need be limited only by your creativity, interest and time! All examples can be found on UTube except the actual Greg Smith Bowl of Notes. There is a 5 minute excerpt you can listen to: http://www.gregorysmithmusic.com/concerts/bowl_of_notes.php 2
Part 1 CONCEPT: INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA An orchestra has many kinds of instruments, all playing together: The STRING family includes: violins, violas, cellos, basses The WOODWIND family includes: flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons The BRASS family includes: horns, trumpets, trombones, tubas The PERCUSSION family includes: timpani, drums, chimes, gongs, cymbals, xylophones, woodblocks plus the harp and more. Activities Do some of the students have mothers, fathers, relatives who play in the Arapahoe Philharmonic or any other orchestra? Call or write these players and invite them to: (1) demonstrate and describe the instruments that they play, (2) give a clear demonstration of the 12 different notes of music, (3) perform a piece or pieces from any of the four periods of music. Make sure it is clear to the students which period of music the music is from. Junior or senior high school instrumentalists could do some of the above. Locate large posters or pictures of the instruments from the library or music department. Music teachers may have reproducible pictures for study and/or coloring. Encourage artwork to illustrate the music the students hear or to illustrate the performers. Work out games that help the students match the instruments to their particular family of instruments. See chapter VIII of: A Galaxy of 3
Games for the Music Class by Athey and Hotchkiss, published by Parker Publishing Co. 1975. These are excellent games and are listed according to appropriate grades. CONCEPT: THE 12 NOTES of MUSIC All music is written with the same 12 notes. They are just put in different orders and different combinations to make different pieces of music. Activities If you can borrow a set of tone bells (resonator bells), they work great with this age group. Take out the following 12 consecutive notes and give one to each of 12 students along with a mallet or substitute mallet. Make sure all have a turn! A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# (B flat) (D flat) (E flat) (G flat) (A flat) First the teacher, and secondly a leader, can point for the bells to be played in order, up or down, and then randomly. The music we hear all around us is made up of these 12 notes. Line the bells up for each one to play all 12. First in order, then randomly. Have each one compose a short tune! All the great composers have composed their music from these same 12 notes! If bells or instrumentalists are not available, opt for a keyboard demonstration by anyone who can play 12 different notes! Let different children count the notes as they are played. Observant ones can play and count the 12 notes. Part 2 CONCEPT: MUSICAL PERIODS and STYLES 4
Activities do these activities with each Musical Period Show pictures of the clothing styles, furniture and architecture of each historical period as you study it. Find pictures of famous paintings that reinforce the qualities of each period of musical history. Bring out descriptive words of each period as the students study the pictures and listen to the music. Encourage artwork that brings out the qualities of each musical period or illustrates a particular piece. Acquaint the students with the names and pictures of the great composers of each period. Encourage the playing of rhythm instruments (drums, bells, rhythm sticks, etc.) at appropriate places in the music. The Baroque Period 1600-1750 This period of music began about 400 years ago, even before George Washington was born. The melodies are decorated with trills and ornaments. Listening to the Music 5
FAMOUS BAROQUE COMPOSERS: Vivaldi, Bach and Handel BAROQUE MUSICAL EXAMPLES for LISTENING: Vivaldi: The Four Seasons Bach: The Brandenburg Concertos, Anna Magdalena s Notebook Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks Responding to the music Talk about the early 1700s and the fancy furniture, ruffled shirts and powdered wigs. This is where you want to do the Activities listed above. Art work Act out with one child the conductor, the others the orchestra Tell about instruments heard or what they particularly liked [End Baroque Period] The Classical Period 1750 early 1800s The music of this period was still decorated, but it was more organized. In this music you can hear the important melodies clearly. Symphonies were composed that divided the music into parts or movements that were fast, or slow, or had a special mood. Listening to the Music 6
FAMOUS CLASSICAL COMPOSERS: Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart CLASSICAL MUSICAL EXAMPLES for LISTENING: Haydn: Surprise Symphony (No. 94 in G) Toy Symphony Mozart: Serenade No. 13 in G (A Little Night Music) Symphony No. 25 in g minor Early Beethoven First 3 symphonies Responding to the Music Again, talk about this period of history and do the Activities on page 5. [End Classical Period] The Romantic Period 1820 1890 The music of this period is about thoughts and deep feelings. Sometimes it is about deep love for another person, but it can also show the composer s deep pride in his own country. Sometimes the music tells a story of great adventure and far-away places. Listening to the Music FAMOUS ROMANTIC COMPOSERS: Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Schumann, Strauss, Late Beethoven ROMANTIC MUSICAL EXAMPLES for LISTENING: Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Suite Johann Strauss: Tales from the Vienna Woods R. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels Merry Pranks 7
Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries Responding to the Music Each one think of a word that would describe the music they heard Continue with the Activities on page 5. Lots of material here for rich imaginations: 1. Acting out the animals in Carnival of the Animals 2. Acting out scenes from the Nutcracker 3. Carefree dancing to the Tales from the Vienna Woods [End Romantic Period] The Modern Period 1890 20 th century In this period, composers found new ways of expressing themselves with new sounds, new instruments and more use of the percussion instruments. Listening to the Music FAMOUS MODERN COMPOSERS: Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Gershwin, Copland MODERN MUSICAL EXAMPLES for LISTENING: Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf Copland: Rodeo, Billy the Kid Stravinsky: Rite of Spring 8
Responding to the Music Continue the Activities listed top of page 5 [End Modern Period] Putting It All Together MATCHING GAMES: Match pictures of apparel or architecture to musical periods that have been written out on cards INVITATIONS: Invite the Principal to your room to view your displays and tell him or her about the different music you have been studying. After the Concert DISCUSSION What was your favorite instrument and why? Where was your favorite instrument on stage? What was your favorite piece? What instrument would you like to play? Wasn t it fun to go to a concert with so many kids? Was this your first orchestra concert? Did you have a good time? 9
THANK YOUS Write to the musicians who demonstrated their instruments and thank them. GREGORY SMITH Biography of the Composer Gregory Smith (b. 1957), a self-described severely eclectic composer, graduated summa cum laude from the Dana School of Music in 1980 and subsequently studied film scoring and arranging with Don Sebesky in New York City and Fred Karlin in Los Angeles. Smith s professional experience covers the entire range of the musical world from serious chamber music to Broadway to movie scores. His television music can be heard on all of the major networks as well as stations around the world. Current television credits include the themes for ESPN College Football, On The Inside for the Discovery Channel, and Market Week on CNBC. His many broadcast music credits include composing and orchestrating for all of the recent Star Trek sagas, promo music for WCBS, Headline News, Showtime, HBO, RTL in Germany, Sky TV in the UK and jingles and underscores for Kodak, AT&T, American Express, Mattel, Disney and others. Smith s musical theater experience includes arrangements and orchestrations both for Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals. Smith enjoys a long association with the Walt Disney Company. He has served as Composer and Music Supervisor for numerous productions at Walt Disney World, EPCOT, MGM Studios, Tokyo Disney and Euro Disney. Most recently, he composed and conducted the music for Starlight Magic, the nightly fireworks spectacular at Tokyo Disneyland and IllumiNations 25 at Epcot. He also recently arranged and conducted the songs for the animated features: Pooh's Grand Adventure and Pochontas II, Journey to a New Land. Among his many other film credits are Seven Days (Paramount) and additional music for The Mighty Ducks (II and III), and the orchestrations for Now and Then. For Warner Brothers, he composed and orchestrated animation music for Animaniacs, Tweety and Sylvester Mysteries, Pinky and the Brain and Road Rovers. 10
Most recently, Smith composed the music for the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Paralympics which was performed by the Utah Symphony and chorus. Donny Osmond sang the centerpiece song, Inspire The Spirit, during the opening ceremonies. As a conductor, Smith has recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Seattle Symphony Orchestra as well as numerous recording studio orchestras in New York, Los Angeles, and London. Smith's concert works include orchestral, orchestral with narrator, choral and pops works. The Boston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, The Minnesota Orchestra and numerous others have performed his orchestral works. Smith has often appeared as narrator for these works with orchestras including the Toronto Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, and many others. During 2002 and 2003, these works migrated to the UK, China, South Korea, Germany, and New Zealand. 11