TheoryMinorScale


 * **Teacher Name:** || **Joseph Busby** || **Date:** || **September 25, 2008** ||
 * **Subject/Grade:** || Music Theory; High School ||


 * **Focus Concepts/Skills:** || Minor Scales: Harmonic and Melodic ||

**National Standards (put X before all that apply):** 
 * || **1. Sing** || X || **2. Play** ||  || **3. Improvise** ||   || **4. Compose/Arr.** || **X** || **5. Read/Notate** ||
 * **X** || **6. Listen** || **X** || **7. Evaluate** ||  || **8. Related Arts** ||   |||||| **9. History/Culture** ||

 **Objectives:** || Given instruction today, the student will identify and construct Melodic and Harmonic Minor Scales. ||
 * **Learning**

 **Activities:** || * Review of Natural Minor Scale
 * **Sequence of**
 * Using A minor, begin with Melodic Minor
 * Quick Review of the Major scale (as appropriate)
 * Identify the Theory behind the scale (in terms of H/W steps)
 * Translate melodic minor to different keys
 * Using A minor, continue with Harmonic Minor
 * Review about the Leading tone (as appropriate)
 * Identify the Theory behind the scale (in terms of H/W steps)
 * Translate Harmonic Minor to different keys
 * Wrap up
 * Identifying Minor keys?
 * __The Lowered Third scale degree!__ ||


 * **Assessment:** || The concept of this plan is to provide multiple ways for the students to comprehend the lesson. Stepwise motion vs. Aural recognition vs. comparability to a Major scale. The end will show that the Minor Third will make the minor scale. The students should comprehend at least one of these processes for minor scales. ||

On this Lesson:

It may seem fairly bare bones, but this lesson was my first attempt at teaching in both ways that I had learned, and in ways I was not taught. My greatest complaint in Music Theory class was that there was "One way" to explain it, and sometimes, that one way didn't fly so well with my comprehension. In a later Theory class, a different professor found alternate ways of teaching, and thus, I learned through different ways of thinking, teaching and explanation than previously.

Taking this to heart, I explained the guts of this lesson simply at first, then delving deeper into the minor scale in different ways of thinking and observing them. The natural minor I first explained as a series of half and whole steps. Then, I explained it as a major scale with ^3, ^6, ^7, lowered a half step, and then I performed it (post the major scale as a starting point they all knew at this point) aurally on bells for them to understand the sound of it. Moving on to the Harmonic, I did the exact same concept, but also compared it to the Natural minor scale as well (aurally and theoretically as well [raised ^7]). Finally, we worked on the Harmonic minor scale. As this is unique to all scales, ascending differently than descending, took a bit of explaining. As it had the same components of the Natural Minor descending, I spent a small amount of time re-explaining this, but then explained the Ascending as both a series of half and whole steps, as well as a Major scale with the 3rd lowered.

In result, 8 out of my nine students were able to identify the scales on paper and as played with 100% accuracy on the test, and the other one simply ran out of time to get there on the test. (It was an extra credit question.)

Joe, Great idea of proposing several ways of learning the scales. Scales may not exactly be the most interesting topic to students. I really like how you make connections and refer back to the major scale. By having several teaching strategies, it's objective takes of not only what is being learned, but helps the student how to learn. I would make it a little more clear how they will construct the scales by playing, by writing them out, or both. This will also help the assessment section because it needs to be a little more detailed on how you are evaluating the students knowledge. So identify in the actual lesson if you give them a quiz on paper or have them perform them as well. This will help people use this lesson plan and follow it a little better. Also list any materials used and make connections to songs they may know that use the scales. Listening to songs or playing them helps them hear the effect scales can have rather than just playing the scale. Great lesson!

-Tim