High+School+Choir+-+Intonation,+Listening

This lesson was used with the top auditioned Chamber Choir. It focuses on intonation and on how knowing what is going on harmonically affects how the singers tune to one another. This was an issue in multiple pieces of multiple choirs so I decided to tackle it with Chamber since this piece, O Filii et Filiae, is a cappella and very difficult to tune due to its harmonic pallet. It also tied in pretty well with their music theory content for the week: diminished and augmented chords and how to distinguish between them. All choirs have 15 min of Music Theory every rehearsal, so the students are mostly all on the same page. They were having a hard time hearing the different chord qualities, and actually singing the chords helped solidifying those differences. Should take about 20 minutes. **Concepts/Skills/Values** Intonation, Overtones, Major/Minor/Diminished/Augmented chords, Seventh chords **National Standards** Performing – Analyze, Rehearse/Evaluate/Refine Responding – Analyze, Interpret **Behavioral Learning Objective** Students will apply the concept of intonation to "O Filii et Filiae" and respond to hearing/analyzing the different harmonies and chords in order to stay in tune **Assessment** Informal-Formative Verbal feedback on intonation and identification of chord qualities **Materials** “O Filii et Filiae” by Ivo Antognini, piano **Sequence & Duration** (1-2 min): Explain the plan for the day and have students stand in a circle around the piano in their sections (10 min): Warm up and chord qualities review (10 min) O Filii et Filiae If enough time is left (1 min): Give general wrap up comments – reinforce the importance of audiating/listening to each other to stay in tune
 * Introduction**
 * 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 on “zim”
 * 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 (minor) on “zim”
 * Humming – Basses on a C, Tenors find the 5th
 * Ask for student input on:
 * What happens when the 5th locks in tune? (overtones) What are overtones and how do they relate to intonation? (Higher pitches that can be heard when the interval is in tune)
 * Altos find the 8ve above basses, Sopranos find the major 3rd. What is the quality of this chord? (major)
 * Remind students to listen to each other. Intonation is often a mistake in audiation and listening. If you notice you are out of tune, you need to adjust your pitch up or down until it locks in with the rest of the group.
 * If students are having trouble adjusting, remind them you need to listen and imagine the correct pitch in your head (audiate) and then make sure you are feeding it enough air and energy.
 * o S move down a half step. What is the quality of this chord? (minor
 * o S and T move down a half step. What is the quality of this chord? (diminished)
 * o T move up a half step. What is the quality of this chord? (augmented)
 * o Augmented chords are more spaced out, while diminished have tighter harmonies.
 * Start at beginning – what key are we in? (f minor) What is the quality of our first chord (minor)
 * Sing until m. 7 – ask for student input on how the intonation was in that passage. Provide strategies to fix specific trouble notes.
 * Talk about the harmonies and play the basic harmonic progression on the piano
 * Add the sevenths – how do they change the harmonies? Each student will hear a different kind of effect, but the specific term that should be mentioned is color. What is musical "color"? (tone and timbre)
 * What are seventh chords? (be brief about explaining this concept. It is like a major/minor triad with an added major/minor 7th)
 * Keep going, freeze on m. 18 beat 4 – what is this chord? (augmented) Who has the augmented note? (tenors) How do we keep it in tune?
 * Continue singing through and watch for intonation on difficult chords (m. 24, 26, 33)
 * Work on the ending – when do we change keys? What is the musical term for key change? (modulation)