Anne McTighe Prof. Farris Instrumental II May 29, 2012 Divide each stand; have one player do the sixteenth note subdivision, while the other plays the part. Then switch. Sight-reading rhythms in a new piece. Rehearsal Techniques Log Musical Element Rehearsal Technique Level of Application Additional Comments Accuracy of the dotted eighth, sixteenth pattern. You may also use the percussion section to assist with the subdivision. Play the rhythms on an open string. Sight-reading rhythms in a new piece. Sing or count the rhythm before playing. Sing with pitches or without pitches. Learning new rhythms. Use a call-response technique. The teacher can play the rhythm for the class or teach a few students and have them teach everyone else. Learning new rhythms. Associate the rhythms with words that may be chanted. Ex. Running, Running, Walk, Walk Learning new rhythms. General outline to teach new material. Four step process: Applicable for any dotted rhythm Elementary school or Best for elementary or Elementary school Walk to the beat. Or divide the band in half and have some subdivide. Have the students clap subdivisions or move to the beat. The group could also be divided into two groups if the students have trouble clapping and singing. Make sure you establish a rhythm. Keeping the pulse somehow is good. It is also important to know the logistics of how the call-response is going to work. Cross rhythms can be learned this way. This is a good application for students. Ex. Pass the milk and butter Remember to build up to new rhythms and concepts. Also remember to reteach! Not all students will understand it on the first day.
1. Speak the rhythm 2. Ta or buzz the rhythm 3. Play the rhythm on a single note 4. Play a scale using the rhythm or do a method book exercise Difficulty with a particular section or rhythm. Drill the rhythm at a slow speed. Gradually build up the tempo. Difficulty with a particular section. Remove fingerings and play rhythm on one note. Difficulty counting a note or rushing. Have students begin by subdividing each note. Use the smallest subdivision necessary depending on the rhythm (eighth or sixteenth notes). Play with separate but repeated notes. Next subdivide using a legato tongue, so that the air moves the same way it would when playing the written part. Finally, play as written. Breathing is not occurring fast enough and is making students late. Build the tempo up so that it is playable at a speed just above the intended tempo. This will force the fingers to move quickly and make the slower tempo easy. Removes half of the difficulty and allows students to focus on just the rhythm. Encourage students to subdivide when they get to the final step of playing the written notes. The legato tonguing step can be skipped if necessary. This is helpful if younger students have not mastered tonguing. Breathing exercise: Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts Inhale for 3 counts, exhale for 4 counts Inhale for 2 counts, exhale for 4 counts Inhale for 1 count, exhale for 4 counts Inhale as quickly as possible, exhale for 4 counts Encourages quick breathing. Introduces it gradually to encourage mastery. Incorrect rhythms. Not subdividing. Removes the instrument and fingers. Ta-
Clap or ta the rhythm. Incorrect rhythms. Not subdividing. ing allows them to vocalize and use air. and Say shh or stomp during the rests. Half the ensemble should vocalize the subdivisions using a syllable like ta. The other half hisses the written rhythm. Switch halves. Difficulty counting rests accurately. Say shh or stomp during the rests. Speeding up when music crescendos or is at a louder dynamic. Talk about the principles of wind acoustics. Have students work on playing with lots of air. Think fast, cool air when playing loudly and slow, warm air when playing quietly. Inconsistent tempo or difficulty following conductor s beat. Have students conduct while humming their part. Group is not starting together. Give two beats for them to prepare Ready, Go. Group is not starting together. Look at group and breathe with them. Difficulty playing a fast passage up to tempo. Sluggishness of the tongue. Elementary school Best for students who have played for at least 1 year. Middle school or high school Make sure you switch parts! Make sure this technique is only used during the learning process. It must be internalized for the concert. Best taught once the student has an understanding of how the instrument works and good breath control. Also works for places that slow down as they decrescendo or get quieter. Students should be taught the patterns prior to this lesson. Can also have students conduct a recording of the piece they are playing. Do not wait for stragglers. Tell students the measure number and begin. If you constantly wait, they will learn that they can take their time. Do not wait for stragglers. Make sure that the tonguing is active and quickly even when playing at the slower tempos.
Gradually work up the speed to one just above the desired tempo. This will make the slightly slower tempo seem easy. Difficulty playing a fast passage up to tempo. Practice without air a few times. Have the students just finger their notes. Practice any note switches that are difficult (i.e. crossing breaks). Avoiding rushing in staccato sections. Have half of the band play with sustained tones. The other section should play with crisp staccatos. Clean cross over the break. High school Middle school or high school Encourage quick, active finger movement. This should hold the staccato parts back. Make sure to switch parts before returning to all staccato. Practice crossings the break without playing. Alternate between the two notes. Hover the fingers over where they should be. Get them ready ahead of time. Rock back and forth between the open strings as silently as possible. Difficulty notes are dying off at the end (especially for longer notes). Work on breathing exercises that encourage breath control. Ex. In for 4 counts, out for 4 counts. In for 4, out for 8 In for 4, out for 12 Etc. Students are not saving their air. Do a breathing exercise. Make sure the exercise is done in the tempo of the section students are having trouble with Try different variations depending on how long the students have to breathe and how long the note/phrase is.
In for 4 counts, out for 4 counts. In for 4, out for 8 In for 4, out for 12 Etc. Students are having difficulty using the correct amount of air. Have the students play with too much air, so that the sound crunches. Gradually back off on the amount of air used until a nice sound is produced. Reverse the process. Start with too little air so that the sound is whispy. Increase the air until a beautiful tone is produced. Students are having difficulty producing accents. Explain to students that they need to add a bit of air speed at the start of the note. Students are having difficulty producing accents. Middle school Elementary school It is valuable for students to hear and feel what it is like to play incorrectly. This enables them to identify it in their own practice. Make sure you always end with the correct posture, sound, or intonation, etc. This way students remember what it feels like to play correctly. Drill accents. Have students create their own rhythms using accents. Have students solo with their rhythms. See if other students can identify where the accents are. Then have them play it back! Students are not tonguing. They are rearticulating with their air. Use the hose analogy. There should be a steady stream of water, but your finger temporarily interrupts it just like your tongue does with the air.
Students tonguing is sluggish. Ask the students to pretend they are touching a boiling pot of water. They will withdraw their hand very quickly. Ask think the same thing when tonguing. Difficult slurred passages. Remove slurs and articulate notes. Start slowly and build up the tempo. Finally add slurs back in. Not enough contrast between different articulations. Have students do the extremes of a written articulation. Practice a certain articulation and then practice the opposite. For staccato, have ensemble play very heavy and legato. Do the opposite (light and separated). Producing the correct accent. Useful when comparing different sections of a piece. Tah vs TA-h : Marcato accent o Hard t o Like saying Tom Legato accent o Softer t o Like calling your dog Tom inside Incorrect tonguing. Articulating slurs. Explain that ta tonguing is for articulated passages and da tonguing is for legato/slurred Practice the two back-to-back. Practice the two back-to-back.
passages. Students are tensing muscles too much. Posture Posture Loosen muscles and joints with stretching exercises (Kjelland CP. 22d-22g). Neck side-bend Neck extensor tightening Overhead arm stretch Forward arm stretch Behind the back stretch Students are slouching. Have the students stand up and practice sitting down imagining that a glass of water is on their head. Remind them that they cannot spill the water. Students are slouching. Most useful for elementary school Let students bring in favorite stretches if they have some. Come back to this throughout the lesson for little posture checks. Did you spill your glass of water? Posture Praise a student who is exhibiting good posture. Ask everyone to model this posture. Students are slouching. Posture Ask students to play with bad posture. Then ask students to play with good posture. Point out how much easier it is to play with good posture and how much nicer it sounds. Tuning chords. Build the chords up from the bottom. If a chord has an added tone like a 2 nd or 4 th, save this for the last note. Establish the basic chord first. Matching or unifying pitches as an ensemble. This allows students to hear the individual pitches. Encourages listening across sections. This gets students to listen to each other s pitch, and it will be more in tune when they
Have students hold the out of tune note. Tell them that as you bring your arms out, you want them to slide the note to make it more out-oftune. As you bring your hands together, tell them to slide back and bring the note into focus. Practicing into an out-of-tune note. If a note is played out of tune, stop and have the students fix the note. Then go back down and play into the out-of- tune note. If it is not in tune, continue this process. Practicing ear training while other sections are trying to correct intonation issues. Have the section that needs help rehearse alone. Other students in the ensemble should raise a finger when they hear an out-of-tune note. Tricky passages in high in range. slide back. Can be adapted for older ensembles using intervals or chords. Students need to learn the correct placement so they can get there in tune. Encourage students not to fix the intonation immediately. Have them think about whether they are sharp or flat. Then try it again. Play the passage an octave lower to get the sound of the notes in your ears. Then play it again in the upper octave. Tricky passages in high in range. Middle school or high school Split the section into two groups. Have one play it down an octave and the other as written. Play slowly if necessary. Try to match pitches to the lower octave. Difficulty hitting an initial short note following a period of rest. Practice finding the pitch with a fermata. Then gradually shorten the length of the note to 4 Middle school or high school Make sure you switch so that everyone gets a chance to play the part in both octaves. By the time the student reaches the correct note length, he will have played it so many times correctly that he will remember the feel.
counts, 3 counts, 2 counts, 1 count, etc. Tricky passage for fingering and intonation. Play notes slowly. Make everything a half note or treat each note as if it had a fermata on it. Make sure each pitch is in tune before moving on. Gradually speed up the tempo. Difficult crossing the break. Isolate the break and have students go back and forth between the pitch before and after the break. Slur over the break. Play with rhythms. Learning how to blend into another person s sound. If a note is out of tune, play it softly. Ask students to listen to their neighbors and blend into their pitch. Identifying major vs. minor tonalities. Model a major scale for the students. Then model a minor scale. Ask them to play the first five notes of the scale, so that they understand the physical changes as well as the aural difference. Learning how to match pitches... If the group is small enough, this blending exercise may be done in a circle, adding each student one at a time. Once familiar with the scale, encourage students to identify between major and minor musical passages. Also try playing a major chord and having the third move down a half step. Have students close their eyes. Ask one student to hold a tone (ex. concert Bb). Play a concert Bb on an instrument of your choice. Gradually bend the pitch to make it in tune and then out of tune. Ask students to raise their hand when the two notes are the same. This exercise can be modified to identify when intervals are in tune. This is great for older groups.
Difficulty tuning a passage. Practice with a drone. Have one section play the drone, while the other rehearses a tricky section. Difficulty tuning a passage. Have students buzz a passage. Note is consistently sharp. Ask the student to open the throat and lower the jaw. Note is consistently flat. Work on focusing the air more. Crescendos and decrescendos are not balanced. This activity is great for tuning scales and can be used as a warm-up. Buzzing enhances good breath support. This helps steady the pitch. Allows more air to flow through to embouchure. Opens the sound. Direct the air at a single outlet. Centers pitch. Use the sound pyramid. Students at the bottom (low brass, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, etc.) need to crescendo more than the upper voices. The dynamics of every section need to be proportional at all times. Internalizing dynamic levels in a particular section. Have students sing or ta the rhythm of a passage at the correct dynamic level. Understanding dynamic markings. Removing the instrument allows students to focus more on the dynamics. Ask students if they recognize the symbols (p, mp, mf, f, ff). Ask them to identify the softest and loudest. Can they put them in order? Understanding dynamic markings. Elementary school Elementary school Ask students to come up with their own system of remembering how loud each
Compare the dynamics to something the students know like animals. Ex. pp = ant p = mouse mp = cat mf = lion f = elephant Matching dynamics when passing a melody through different sections. Have students play only when they have the melody. Listen to how the line passes through the ensemble. Identify whether any section is too quiet or too loud. Controlling crescendos and decrescendos. dynamic is. This encourages students to listen to other sections and match their playing with that of others. Have students hiss. Have them use faster air as they crescendo. Do the opposite for a decrescendo. Executing quick and drastic dynamic changes. Encourage students to crescendo gradually. Work on the individual dynamic sections separately. This allows students solidify the technique needed for each section. Next isolate the transition. Play the measure(s), adding a slight pause in-between the two dynamics. If students can do this, remove the pause going directly into the new dynamic section. Creating dramatic dynamic changes. Practice extreme dynamics. Ask students to elevate forte dynamics and reduce piano dynamics. Adding the pause give students a short period of time to transition between the two techniques. Practicing with successively shorter pauses helps students execute these quick changes. This increases the contrast between dynamic levels and makes them more noticeable.
Balance and Working on the blend of the ensemble. Have students switch seats so that the instruments are mixed up (i.e. not in sections). Working on the blend of the ensemble. Getting rid of the isolated sections requires students to become independent. The new sonic experience also encourages them to listen to others. Balance and Have students turn around so that they cannot look at each other or see your conducting. Have them play by listening to each other and blending with their peers. Awareness of the melodic line while playing. Balance and Ask students which section has the melody at a particular point. Have students play louder when they have the melody and softer when they don t have the melody. One section is dominating the group s sound. This activity helps students work on balance and learn about implied dynamics. Balance and Talk with students about the sound pyramid. Students at the bottom (low brass, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, etc.) need to be louder than the upper voices. One section is dominating the group s sound. This gives the group a solid foundation and makes chords sound in tune. Balance and Use the mixer board. Show students with your hands what their levels look like. Then adjust them to show how you would like their sound to be. Tone does not sound supported. Ask students to buzz on their mouthpiece. Buzzing long tones or in rhythm is great. Great for visual learners! Buzzing encourages student to blow a constant, steady stream of air through the mouthpiece. Great for diagnosing problems as articulation and pitch issues become very apparent when buzzing.
Students are not supporting with enough air. Or are not breathing fast enough. Breathing exercise: Inhale for 10 counts, exhale for 10 counts Decrease length of time by one count each time until one count for inhale and one for exhale. Tone gets weak near the end of long notes or phrases. Improves air support. Focuses attention on breathing by removing the instrument. Encourages quick inhalation and exhalation. Tone quality Breathing exercise: Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 4 counts Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 6 counts Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 8 counts Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 10 counts Continue until you have reached the phrase length students must support in the piece. Pinched sound. Have students practice bending pitches by moving/adjusting their embouchure. Sound quality is inconsistent throughout a whole note. Have students practice playing a whole note while maintaining a steady air stream. Encourage good air support! Stuffy sound. Notes not sounding clearly. Physically check the instrument and review Encourages students to save their air and use their diaphragm. Allows a student to find the most open and comfortable mouth position. Use the diaphragm! Control! Having a working instrument and a correct embouchure fixes many tone issues.
embouchure. Single reeds: o Are all pads okay? Is the reed the right strength? o Embouchure: Roll lip, place mouthpiece, teeth on top, close mouth. Double reeds: o Are all of the bridge keys lined up? Does the reed need to be adjusted? o Embouchure: Loose, say moo, think of a whistle, reed about 1/3 in mouth Flute: o Are all pads okay? Is the flute parallel to the floor? o Embouchure: Place the blow hole on the lower lip where the wet and dry parts meet, cover 1/3 blow hole Brass: o Are the valves in correctly? Are they oiled? The slide? o Embouchure: Think of blowing hot soup, keep the corners tight, mouthpiece centered Difficulty producing a clear, clean sound for a short note following a period of rest. Sustain the note for four full counts. Encourage students to tune the chord and listen for a good tone quality. Rest. Then repeat holding the note for two counts, then one count, an eighth note, etc. Students will practice good intonation and tone enough times that they will learn how to produce the sound. The eighth note will sound fuller, and it will have clean attack.
Poor tone. Remind students to sit up tall with their backs away from the chair. Make sure instruments are held correctly. Notes sounds thuddy. Good posture = good breathing. Remind students to tongue lightly and quickly. There should be a steady stream of air and the tongue only interrupts this. Do not rearticulate with air. Water hose analogy helps a lot!