Balance

This lesson was used in a high school concert band of approximately 80 members, players in grades 9-12, with focus on demonstrating ensemble balance through identifying primary and secondary themes.

Subject/Grade: high school concert band

Concepts/Skills/Values: recognizing motives/repeated sections, texture, demonstrating which lines are more important

National Standards: play, listen, evaluate

Behavioral Learning Objective: The students will demonstrate ensemble balance through identifying primary and secondary themes.

Materials: "Cajun Folk Songs" - Frank Ticheli

Warm-Up 1) sing and play concert Bb, Bb major scale - part of band plays whole notes while rest play various rhythms, focus on hearing the moving notes 2) concert F major scale (key of "Cajun" mvt. 2) 3) concert F major scale - each pitch to syncopated rhythmic motive in 2nd mvt. of "Cajun"

"Cajun" mvt. 2 1) play beginning to m.28 while students listen for who has melody, then find it somewhere within their part 2) practice demonstrating which lines are more important (beginning to m.52) - changing notes or repeated pitch 3) have students raise hands when they have/hear primary or secondary themes in the music 4) review same concepts m.92-114 5) when not playing, have students listen and assess which parts they can/can't hear 6) review concepts to my, and the student's satisfaction

Teacher Effectiveness Reminders: clear, specific feedback, less talking/direction giving to keep behavior on-task and students actively engaged

April: I like this lesson, I don't think that texture is focused on enough at the secondary level, resulting in all ensembles sounding like the same mezzo-forte blob, regardless of what is being played. I especially liked having the ensemble sing in the warm up, once students are accustomed to this, I would have them sing even more. One idea I had for this is maybe to have them sing their part only when they have the melody, forcing them to take accountability for knowing exactly when they are the most important part. Also, you could set up a game where students pass a beach-ball to the next section who has the melody, depending on how much chaos you're comfortable with in your ensemble. Great lesson. -Michael B.

//I am also appreciative of the fact that you're working on balance from a conceptual standpoint with your group. I think it's important that we don't simply go through the piece saying "trombones, play softer there," or "flutes, you're too loud there!" Instead, It's best to give students some sort of tool so they can try to balance things themselves, without the teacher's help, and by having them focus on thematic material, you're doing just that. One thing that could make it easier for students to identify the themes is if they all were able to work on them together. In choral settings, students have the entire score in front of them, and if a conductor wants he can say, "Everybody sing the tenor part, that's the melody!" In band, we can't do that as much, because students don't have access to other parts of the ensemble. However, if you make a short handout of the primary and secondary themes, then the whole band could play them (and sing them) in unison - this could even become part of your warm-up into the piece. Better yet, you could teach the primary and secondary themes to the whole band by ear!!!! If they internalize the themes to that degree, they should not have too much of a problem recognizing them across the ensemble, and they will demonstrate a better understanding of the piece through performance. I also think that it's important to note that in working on balance, knowing where the melody is being played is only one tool needed in order to acheive ensemble balance. Students should not only know to get out of the way of the melody, but they need to know how to support the melody. On top of that, students need to know how to acheive balance within their respective sections, and how to fit into the "pyramid of sound." These concepts are harder to approach during a piece where there are so many different things going on, but you could easily incorporate focus on those concepts into your warmup, where the band is playing in unison, and where they're playing scales or long tones that are familiar so that they can focus on other things. You already did this to some degree, so these are just some other ideas you might think about trying out sometime.//

//Paul K//

//This is a very strong lesson! (Add singing to Nat Stands) With my group, I would start right away in F major to find the sound of the day. Playing in a style that is reflective of the style in mvt. 2. Then I would choose a choral warm up or an exercise from the Ultimate Band Warm-Up book to have the opportunity for students to be set into roles. I would take out #3 of the warm-up, unless it was a secondary objective. If the focus is balance, then I'd spend my time in a choral and emphasize the roles of each part. What I think this lesson is missing overall is the subtle changes and roles in a piece. Each piece is different and every moment in a piece is different. This lesson discusses nothing about the supportive roles of bass lines and how they change throughout the piece. There is no mention of how the motive develops or moves through different settings of the piece. A comprehensive assignment to construct the piece could be for a student to make a chart of the piece and identify with their part what type of role they serve during each section, or perhaps only a specific section to keep the assignment shorter. A variation on this assignment would be a chart to identify where the primary melody is in the band. A writing assignment could be how the motif changes throughout the piece through color, timbre and settings.// //In the rehearsal list, the assessment should be more specific. How will the teacher know how or if the students are assessing the piece correctly or at all? This is possible, but planning for student evaluation and assessment of that evaluation/observation is challenging in this setting. Questions can be asked to specific students, but then not all students are accountable and thus not engaged. If I used this structure, I'd require every student to have a notebook and I would plan specific questions for students to answer in their notebooks. I would provide the materials necessary to complete the activity with the best possible results.//

//Jenny W//