Silent+Percussion+Lesson


 * Teacher Name: Kimberly Smith Date: 3/3/08 **
 * Silent Rehearsal – Percussion Lesson – Rhythms **

This is a lesson I used with my 6th grade percussion small group lesson, but the idea of a silent rehearsal would work in a large or small ensemble rehearsal setting. Of course, I cannot claim to be the inventor of the silent rehearsal, but it is a useful strategy that we may not often think about utilizing. I decided to use this strategy because this class was particularly talkative and it was negatively affecting our productivity. This particular lesson focuses on rhythmic accuracy as well as using improvisation.


 * Focus Concepts/Skills: **

- Listening skills - Improvising simple rhythmic patterns - Solidify rhythms in //Kittyhawk March//

** 2. Playing Instruments 3. Improvisation 6. Listening
 * National Standards:


 * Learning Objectives: **

- Students will be able to repeat simple rhythmic patterns. - Students will be able to improvise their own simple rhythmic patterns. - Students will be able to correctly play their parts in //Kittyhawk March//.


 * Sequence of Activities: **

1. Introduce “Silent Rehearsal Day” and the rules:

- No one talks… Not even the teacher! (Kids love this rule) - The teacher decides when the silence starts and stops - All regular classroom/rehearsal rules still apply - Students must pay close attention so that they know what is going on

Students will think this is fun if it is presented as a sort of game. The key is to keep the pace of the class fast so that you keep them engaged and learning the whole time.

2. Call and response with students on simple 4-beat rhythmic patterns. This is a good opportunity to correct students grip and technique, which can be done quickly and efficiently through modeling. (Modeling is a key tool in the silent rehearsal – make sure you have an instrument handy). Have students play the rhythms as a group and individually. Vary which students are being called on to give the response. Always keep it random, so the students are engaged and ready to participate at any moment.//**
 * //Use rhythms that are in "Kittyhawk March." This will associate the appropriate rhythm with the students before notation is even introduced.

3. Continue in the same call and response pattern only now the students have to improvise a different rhythm in response, rather than repeating what the teacher played. Have students make up their own patterns using only the note values you have been working with. In my case it was simply quarter notes and eighth notes, but this would also adapt to more complex rhythmic patterns. If this is a new activity for your students you may need to pause the silence to explain it. This activity can also lead into having the students call and respond to each other without needing the teacher to play every other time. Students can even take turns playing the “teacher” and giving rhythms to the other students to either repeat back or respond to with an original rhythm. //**Experiment with different variations of the activity. Try one "caller" and big group "responders" or partner students up and have one be the "caller" and the other "responder."**// //**Keep the pulse going the entire time instead of starting and stopping between calls and responses.**//

4. Rehearse //Kittyhawk March//. Begin with small sections and gradually chunk together. Model yourself or use students as models for each other when rhythmic inaccuracies come up. Use fingers to indicate rehearsal numbers as starting points. Use large gestures to show what you want (dynamics, style, tempo, etc.).

5. Run all of //Kittyhawk March//. //**At the end of the silent rehearsal, make the students aware that some of the rhythms at the beginning of the class were the rhythms they were playing in "Kittyhawk March."**//

** Students will be informally assessed throughout the lesson when they are asked to play individually. A more formal assessment can take place in this or a later class where students are asked to play a section of //Kittyhawk March//. Make sure to use a rubric for this type of assessment. For example, my students were assessed on technique, rhythmic accuracy, and steady beat. For each of those three categories, I decided what would constitute different grades based on the age/ability level of my students. A similar type of assessment could also take place while the students call and respond improvisatory rhythmic patterns with each other.
 * Assessment


 * //Edited by GREG WOOLFORD//**

Sample Rubric:


 * || **Excellent** || **Satisfactory** || **Needs Improvement** ||
 * **Technique/Grip** || Consistently correct stick grip and playing technique. || Generally correct technique with minimal errors, fixes problem easily when reminded. || Stick grip and/or playing technique is consistently wrong and affects overall playing ability. ||
 * **Rhythmic Accuracy** || Rhythms are accurate throughout. || Most rhythms are accurate with less than five errors. || Many rhythms are incorrect. ||
 * **Steady Pulse/Beat** || Pulse/Beat is steady throughout. || Pulse/Beat is generally consistent with few deviations. || Pulse/Beat is unsteady throughout. ||