Oren Logan

November 27, 2017

22 minutes
Listening Chorale Warm-up

Setting:

Palmer Ridge High School Symphonic Winds Ensemble.

Rationale:

Students are showing high proficiency in playing their own parts, but they have often shown lack of attention to what is being played in
others parts, and what is being shown by the conductor and other students that would help repertoire/music being played be more
balanced and musical.

Standards addressed (CDE):

Expression of Music
o Demonstrate informed participation in music-making activities
Aesthetic Valuation of Music:
o Informed judgments through participation, performance, and the creative process

Materials: Instrument, warm-up book (with chorale), stands, baton

Objectives:

#1 SWBAT: Watch and listen for visual and aural cues, as well as musical phrasing, breathing, dynamics, balance and blend
in an ensemble setting.

Anticipatory Set: (2 minutes)

Engage: Play Chorale #3 from the warm-up book
Frame: Pick one student to lead the ensemble in playing through the chorale
Procedure:
Obj #1 (5 minutes)
Acquisition
o Ask students guiding questions on what students need to listen/watch for before engaging in the exercise.
Questions
As the leader, how do you start the piece?
o Visually and aurally?
Possible answers: breathe together, make eye contact, move
with the breath.
How do you signal the tempo of the chorale?
o Speed of the first breath.
How do you end the piece?
o Possible answers: visual cutoff, cresc/decresc (niente) cutoff, let the lows
be the last to cutoff.
o Have student lead the ensemble through the chorale.
Elaboration (10 minutes)
o Ask the student who led the ensemble, if the ensemble responded how he/she wanted.
o Have the ensemble give feedback on both the leader and what they heard (positive, constructive, positive)
o Ask students critical thinking/guiding questions on what can be improved. (play some of chorale if
needed)
Questions:
What phrasing was used? Two bar? Four bar? Did some sections push through
measures while others took a breath?
o How do we decide this in the moment? What does the leader want?
Was the first entrance and final release clear? How can we improve this?
o Have the leader lead the chorale again with this feedback in mind.
o Have other students lead the chorale.
Elaboration for future lessons
o Vary the location of students that have to lead
How do we follow someone at the front of the ensemble vs. someone at the back?
o Impose limitations on how the students lead the chorale
Change the tempo up (largo vs. allegro)
Change articulation/style (accented/smooth and legato)
 o Change phrasing how do we coordinate breaths on 2 vs. 4 bar phrasing (or anything in-between)?
o Have students grade themselves on how well the ensemble was led
o Have the students grade the teacher on how well they lead the ensemble through conducting and playing
(teacher should purposefully forget to follow certain guidelines established, and have the students teach
them the right way).
o Have a student conduct the piece instead of leading it as an instrumentalist.
o GOAL: pick one section leader (first chair) to lead the other section leaders in the chorale.
Guiding Question:
What is the role of first players?
o PA: they are followers of the one leading the ensemble, but they are the
leaders in their own section.
Play the chorale again with just section leaders.
Have everyone play the chorale: Ensemble leader section leaders section members
full ensemble.
Multiple levels of listening.
o Let the students fully run this part of the warm-up (playing, feedback, leading, etc.)
Memory Strengthening (3 minutes)
o Play through the chorale again, but this time having the teacher conduct/lead the ensemble.

Closure: (2 minutes)
How is this exercise different or similar to repertoire we play in class?
How is it different from when you have a conductor leader, and an instrumental leader?
o Can we have both at the same time?
Review the qualities of how to listen and watch effectively in the ensemble setting.
How can we apply this to the repertoire: Adventum/Polar Express (or any other piece?)