Prepping+the+ensemble+for+sight-reading+a+new+piece

This lesson was used with an 8th grade band, covering warm-ups, and sight-reading a new piece of music having never seen it before. The purpose of this is to improve initial processing of new music, having them go through the steps to minimize the number of first-time mistakes. All listed times are approximations. National standards used include Reading/Notate, Playing, Evaluating

Materials for the lesson: - Whiteboard & markers - Function Chorale packet - Score for 'Rhythm Machine'

1. Warm-ups (10 minutes) - B-flat concert on quarter note/eighth note pattern, scale and arpeggio - Quarter test scales (B concert and F-sharp/G-flat concert) in quarter notes, scale and arpeggios - Articulation exercise: have the ensemble play a scale following a particular set of articulations as written on the board. Repeat at least twice. - Pull out the function chorale #5 in B-flat - Have a rhythmic passage from the music being sight read (In this case, Rhythm Machine) to be written on the board.

2. Pre-teaching and prepping (10 minutes) - Have students perform the rhythm on a single note (Up to the discretion of the educator, but the key of the piece being played is recommended, B-flat in this case) - Include all articulations (or as close to the original articulations as possible, two note slurs can be confusing) - Once they have it down, put it into a scale that fits the beats (half note changes usually work well if the rhythm lines up evenly) Repeat steps using a secondary rhythm if there are multiple you wish to use.

3. Sight-reading the new music (15 minutes) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- Before starting, give ensemble 2 minutes to scan the piece (sharps/flats, tempo, accidentals, rhythms, signs) and allow them to share what they find with the group. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- Ask them to identify any noticeable sections <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- Play the piece straight down at a tempo where the entire ensemble can follow and maintain consistency. 100 bpm is usually a reasonable speed for this age group. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- Stop and regroup if necessary.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">4. Follow-up (10 minutes) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- Ask the ensemble where they had the most issues (at the personal/section/ensemble levels) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- Having hear the piece in its entirety, have the ensemble identify clear section changes (There are multiple throughout the piece) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- Take time to work on the "A" theme (the piece is in Rondo form) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- Work with the clarinets and flutes to build up a bit of confidence on this motive going forward. It'll save a lot of time going forward.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Long-term assessment: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Upon giving them a new piece of music in the future. Ask them what they should look at first with any new piece (referring back to the process they went over previously). Find basics (time/key signature, tempo/style), scan for trouble (accidentals, time/tempo/key changes, difficult rhythms). Did they retain the process used with the previous pieces?

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #5c626d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">This was probably my most successful class, and these kids are practically begging to play Rhythm Machine almost every time they walk in the door, now. They already have all the notes and rhythms down after less than two weeks. I've actually had to really dig down to find critiquing material for them. I still have a lot to go over, but we'll be in plenty good shape for the concert.