Timbre+and+Style+-+They+can+change,+and+so+can+YOU!

This lesson spawned from my frustration that one of my concert bands sounded the same regardless of what they were playing. They'd play a choral setting featuring a legato clarinet melody and all I'd hear would be flutes, trombones and saxophones clunking all over the place. Then they'd play a fanfare, and instead of hearing marcato trumpets I'd hear the same folks pseudo-legato tonguing. As the piece in question - Kentucky 1800 - featured folksong melodies presented in various styles I thought I'd present some listening examples to convey the songs and sounds I wanted them to produce, instead of trying to verbalize those nuances.

Teacher Name: Dave Sanderson Subject: High School Concert Band Focus Concepts/Skills: Style/Tone/Timbre National Standards: 1, 2,5,6,7, and 9. (Sing, Play, Read/Notate, Listen, Evaluate, and History/Culture)

Learning Objective: Students will be able to identify the folk melody "Bound for the Promised Land" in the band work Kentucky 1800, perform it in the appropriate style as written, and verbalize those stylistic features.

Materials: Speakers the entire class can hear (I used my band rooms sound system) Laptop (Or other audio media playing device would work) Kentucky 1800 by Clare Grundman - Score and parts for ensemble members Students Instruments Recording Examples (specific ones listed in the lesson)

Sequence: 1. Have band play Kentucky 1800 from rehearsal A - D (First major section, subtitled "The Promised Land") to get students reacquainted with the piece.

2. Have students listen to a recording of “Bound for the Promised Land” as sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (either off of their album 'Spirit of America' album, or find a recording of it off of Youtube). [If it is possible to find a more 'authentic' treatment of the hymn tune that would be ideal, I'm just working with the best I could find.] Give brief (under 20 seconds) history of the folktune. (It's a spiritual, first published in America in The Southern Harmony by W. Walker in 1835, hence it was origianlly sung as a hymn.) 3. Have students sing the melody on a neutral syllable preferably a 'loo.' [Or have them hum, as long as they vocalize the melody to demonstrate they understand it.] 3. Have students identify which instrument groups play that melody at rehearsal A (clarinets, low saxes, euphoniums) and which ones have it at rehearsal B (trumpets and horns). 4. Have students verbalize the difference in styles of those to sections (rehearsal A & B) in Kentucky 1800. Rehearsal A is a choral-type setting, and rehearsal B is a fanfare setting. Have students identify which style is more like the 'authentic' version (using the Mormon Tabernacle example, it'd be the section at rehearsal B). 5. Have students play from rehearsal A through rehearsal C, emphasis bringing out the melody and backing off the accompaniment parts to reinforce the idea of melody being the predominate idea of the texture.

5. Have students verbalize playing considerations in a choral style (articulation, tone, balance, etc.). [If you have the time, a listening example of a choir singing in a tradition choral hymn style would be appropriate to insert here, my class time restricted me from doing so.] 6. Have students listen to the opening of "Russian Christmas Music" (off the album Sleigh Ride by the Northsore Concert Band, John Paynter), citing it as an example of how a band plays in a choral style. Have students pay attention to which instrument(s) dominate the lead in the texture (answer: clarinets). 7. Have band play Kentucky 1800, starting at rehearsal A, with the goal of clarinets being the dominate instrument in the color of the ensemble. (Probably will have to back off the saxes.) 8. Listen again to the previous example, this time have students pay attention to how smooth other instruments enter into the texture, 'sneaking' in and growing out of that clarinet sound, instead of clunking in. 9. Have band play again from rehearsal A, with the goals of the clarinets being the dominate instrument in the texture, and the rest of the parts 'growing' out of them.

10. Have students verbalize playing considerations in a fanfare style (articulation, tone, balance, etc.). 11. Have students listen to the opening of the "20th Century Fox Fanfare" (off any soundtrack to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, though I'm sure it's on other Fox movie soundtracks). Pay attention to the clarity and tone of the trumpet section and the articulation of the orchestra. 12. Have band play Kentucky 1800 starting at rehearsal B, this time trying to match the trumpet clarity, intensity, articulation, and tone. 13. Have students listen to the example again, this time paying attention for which if the texture changes in the piece. (Trumpets lead in the first part, then strings take over.) Have students compare this to the section at rehearsal B in Kentucky 1800 (Trumpets trade off to woodwinds halfway through). 14. Have band play at rehearsal B trying to mimick the smoothness of the texture change in the 20th Century Fox Theme (woodwinds picking up right where the trumpets lead off in both intensity and volume).

15. Have students listen to a recording of Kentuck 1800 (Just through rehearsal D) by a professional group (I used a recording off of Teaching through Performance by Eugene Corporon and North Texas), followed by a recording by a group that plays at a typical high school level (I pulled a recording off of Youtube, there are plenty to pick from, I just picked the one that sounded the most like the band I was teaching). Before listening tell them they have to pick one of the two as being superior, but they have to give a reason why, and intonation can't be used as a reason (easy cop out, and doesn't address what the lesson focused on). 16. Have students give their responses, commend students who address aspects discussed during in the lesson. 17. Have students listen again, and guide them through the instrument texture and style aspects discussed in the lesson as they appear in recordings. 18. Have students play Kentucky 1800 from rehearsal A - D (rehearsal C repeats B), with the goal of adding everything covered so far in the lesson. 19. Have students respond to which of the two versions they sounded like at the beginning of class and which one they sounded like at the end.

Assessment: Students will be able to perform and verbalize the differences in the A and B sections of Kentucky 1800 in the correct styles. Section A will be legato, smooth, and led by the clarients, while section B will be marcato and led by the trumpets until the woodwinds take over the melodic line.

Teaching Tips: This is a lot of listening for one class session. Really guide the students through it, always giving them specific things to listen for. Always ask questions at the end of a listening, and pick students from all over the room so they feel accountable for the information and stay engaged. Don't let there be much dead time before or after playing a selection, ask questions immediately after it stops and start the recording as soon as you say what you needed to.

Don't let students play something through just once and call it good in the playing steps in between listenings. Really be nitpicky. It's preferable to have them play a section multiple times to get it right and not get through the entire lesson than not hold them accountable to the standards they've listened to for the sake of completing the lesson. The more they are all playing the more they will be focused, so having them play more will mean you can spend longer on listening. More importantly, if you let them just go through the same motions they did prior to the listening example, they won't gain what they need to out of the lesson.

While this lesson is tailored to a specific piece, one could transfer the concept to other pieces. I essentially repeated this lesson later for the folksong "Cindy" in Kentucky 1800, just finding different listening examples of the folksong in as close to its original form as possible (again, using the Mormon Tabernacle as an example) and examples in a similar style to what Grundman composed (I used the song "Charlie Rutlage" by Charles Ives and the transcription for band by James Sinclair for example).

//Dave, I appreciate how thorough and detailed you made the entire lesson. Kudos to the level of planning. At this level, listening can be infinitely useful for a band to get a desired style; in fact, I've had lessons similar to this in my teaching. The one thing you really have to look out for (as I'm sure you know) is where their focus is (especially when playing a humorously familiar tune like the 20th Century Fox theme). Going straight from point to point without being rushed is certainly a challenge, but if its done effectively you can get a lot of good teaching in. I also liked how you had the band sing the folk song -- that certainly helps them internalize the music, even if they aren't directly playing it on their instrument. I'm not sure I would have two recordings of the same song -- especially if one is superior and one is inferior. To me, that suggests you saying to them, "well, you're never going to sound this good, and here's why that's a bad thing." That's an exaggeration, but some students might be disheartened to compare an almost professional group to one that is close to them. Instead, I would play the North Texas recording as a style/sound/whatever to shoot for, and ask the class what they hear in their approach and ways to get that sound. If they play something different to the way you want your students to hear it (perhaps a passage isn't articulated as sharply as you would like), it's not too big of a deal to say, "now, they're playing it like this, but I'm going to have you play it this way." I mean, we all know that a high school will never sound like North Texas, but there's no point accentuating the fact. The only other adjustment I would make would be to spread things out (unless you're on a block schedule...in which case I can see you getting to everything). It's always good to overplan, but this is certainly something that could be drawn over two or even three lessons. That way, you can spend some time perfecting the style and really having them internalize your lesson. Other than that, this is a very well-thought-out lesson and I'm sure it did wonders to their approach. ~Doug Bo

Not to start a fight here with Doug or anything, but I actually do like the idea of bringing in two recordings of a particular piece - a good example and a poor example. One of the most difficult things as a musician (professional or student) is to here how we are projecting to our audience. For example, most of the time, we think that we're doing a great deal of dynamic contrast, when we're really not. I also think that if you're trying to establish fundamental concepts, students need to know what not to do just as much as they need to know what to do. For example with intonation, I've noticed that students start having an easier time finding the center of the pitch when they know what "out of tune" sounds like. If they've only been shown good examples, it becomes harder to identify the poor examples in other musicians' playing, and in their own. However, what I think would make this lesson even more effective, is rather than bringing in a recording of a Youtube band that sounds similar, I would actually record your own band playing it, and use that in comparison to the North Texas group. Students will hear so much that they didn't know was there on their own recording, and will learn even more trying to compare themselves with North Texas. This will not only give them a vague idea of what sounds good and what doesn't, but it will show them exactly where they are as an ensemble, and it will show them the end-goal. Are they going to end up sounding just like North Texas? Probably not... But there's no reason a high school band can't play with characteristic tone quality,articulation, intonation, balance, etc. It may help to explain to students that North Texas is one of the premier college bands in the country, and there's no need to be frustrated at not sounding like them. Explain that it's not what they're supposed to sound like "right now," but instead it is the goal.

Paul K

Paul, I whole-heartedly agree with your suggestion of having the band listen to a recording of themselves playing, and if the means are available I wouldn't hesitate to do so. However, along those lines and respectfully countering Doug, I found that by listening to groups playing below their level, the band doesn't take for granted things the usually do (pitch, balance) and the maturity of their performance actually improved more from listening from a "bad" recording than a good one. In terms of North Texas setting the bar too high, I think I owe it to my students to hold them to that standard. I had a co-operating teacher say, "once they play a chord perfectly in tune and really hear it, if you give them the occasional reminder, they won't settle for anything less again," and in my experience with this lesson that holds true. If students don't hear a noticeable difference between themselves and a model, they won't improve because they don't know what needs to be adjusted to make that improvement. I haven't had any students be disheartened by 'bad' recordings, as one of my trombone players said, 'oh, we can outplay them,' and since they know some specific things NOT to do, they don't do them, and then they already sound far better than the 'bad' model, more like the ideal model, and they all seem to recognize it. As long as they hear their own improvement, I don't think the fact they aren't at the level of a world-class ensemble bothers them, they understand and are pleased that they're bridging the gap. Thanks for your feedback guys! Dave S.

Dave, Nice idea for a listening lesson. Not only do you use two recordings of the piece, but you also incorporate popular music (the 20th Cent. Fox tune) for a model and a vocal representation of the piece that not only also shows great tone but the importance of lyrics and how this might effect the band performance. I like the idea of "setting the bar high", something that does not always occur in the classroom. The North Texas recording would be a prime example for the students. The idea of playing a recording of a band similar to your own is not a bad idea either. Be careful that you accentuate positive and negative things in this example, noting some good playing and things that you don' want your band to do. This also sets up the opportunity for you to do a little of your own recording, and then assessing. Great Lesson.

-DM//