The Beginning Band INFORMance:A Showcase of Student Growth

Patrick HortonShelbyville Middle SchoolIMEA Southern Indiana SymposiumSeptember 9, 2016

In this presentation...

1. Some of the successes we have found at SMS in beginning band

2. Strategies and ideas that can be easily implemented into any middle school band classroom

3. A different approach for showcasing student learning

Music in Shelbyville

1. Curricular Optionsa. Band and Choir, grades 6-12b. Music Technology, SMSc. Music Theory, SHS

2. Co-curricular Optionsa. Instrumental: Marching Band, Jazz Band, Pep

Band, Musical Pit Ensemble, Solo/Ensemble b. Vocal: Show Choir, Musicals, Solo/Ensemble

Beginning Band in Shelbyville

1. Interested 5th grade students; instrument fitting night with parents in spring

2. Students choose an instrument; placed into a woodwind or brass/percussion class in fall

3. Beginner Band Camp; one week before school, students meet in like-instrument groups for 50 mins./day

4. School starts; we meet every day for 1 48-minute class period

What is an INFORMance?

An INFORMance is a way to showcase growth in a student-centered format that promotes building relationships and increasing parent understanding. It is a great time to inform parents, administrators, and other stakeholders about what you do!

Why an INFORMance?

1. Students are excited to show off their progress.

2. Families and Administrators may not know what really goes on in class and can observe growth first hand.

3. Families do not always get to hear their child’s individual contribution to the whole group.

4. Students may not be ready to perform a full concert.

INFORMance Standards (Indiana State)

1. Singing alone and with others a. Possible

2. Playing an instrument alone and with others

3. Arranging music within specified guidelinesa. Arrange a melody and bass line

4. Reading, notating, and interpreting musica. Reading rhythms

What is Sound Before Sight?

The sound before sight approach develops musicianship through listening and performing prior to the introduction of reading and writing notation.

Why Sound Before Sight?

1. This streamlines the learning process.

2. The focus is on MUSIC and SOUND.

3. Make music right away.

4. Aligns learning music to learning language.

5. Students are encouraged to “audiate” or think with in the language of music from the beginning.

Sound Before Sight Standards(Indiana State)

1. Singing alone and with others 2. Playing an instrument alone and with others3. Improvising melodies, variations, and

accompaniments4. Composing and arranging music within specified

guidelines5. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music6. Evaluating music and music performances

Our INFORMance Set-up

1. Students invite one guest to sit next to them

2. Cafetorium is set up twice the size of the normal band 3. All additional guests sit around the band

4. Everyone can see the projector screen

5. Guests and audience are treated to “A Day in the Life of a Beginning Band Student”

Our INFORMance Set-up

6th Grade Band Students (w/ One Guest Each)

Projector Screen

AdditionalAudience

AdditionalAudience

Director

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Beginning Band - Quarter 1

1. How do I hold my body and my instrument to produce the best tone (including embouchure, articulation, grip, and stroke)?

2. How do I develop a tonal and rhythmic understanding of the skills needed to perform music?

GOALS

Beginning Band - Quarter 1Students will

1. Demonstrate correct hand positions/posture

2. Demonstrate correct embouchure (grip)

3. Demonstrate correct articulation (stroke)

4. Develop/improve tonal memory

5. Develop/improve rhythmic awareness and basic rhythm reading

“A Day in the Life of a Beginning Band Student”

The INFORMance

Rhythm Readiness

Purpose: To increase coordination and prepare students to perform rhythms in upcoming lessons.(Grunow, Gordon, & Azzara, 2001)

1. No instruments2. Macrobeats vs. Microbeats (pulse vs. beat division)3. Introduce duples and triples (audiation)

Breathing Exercises

Purpose: To develop executive skills for proper tone production

1. No Mouthpiece - “Oh” shape for inhale

2. Brass/WW - taken from many sources including the Breathing Gyma. Throwing “paper airplanes”b. Slow exhale - in 4, slow out 12, 16, or 20c. 2-4-Hiss - in 2, out 4 (or 6, or 8) with “Hiss”

3. Percussion - dribbling on drum pad (Rick Dietrich, Palmer MS/Kell HS, Georgia)

Embouchure Development

Purpose: To develop the executive skills for proper tone production

1. Mouthpiece Alone2. Brass/WW - Long Tones

a. Brass - Sirens

3. Percussion - proper grip + multiple bounce strokes

Articulation Development

Purpose: To develop executive skills needed to begin each note (Byo & Duke, 2011)

1. Mouthpieces Alone2. Call-and-Response

a. Teacher led and Student led i. Say "tah"

ii. Use air - "too"

iii. Mouthpiece only (embouchure + articulation)

iv. Use entire instrument (after warm-up)

Long Tones and Scale Exercises

Purpose: To develop proper executive skills including posture, instrument position, hand position, finger dexterity for optimal performance.

1. Label notes with solfege (Grunow, Gordon, & Azzara, 2001)

a. Allows for ease of learning rote songsb. Develops aural skillsc. Promotes ability to decode a fingering chart (without the

added complexity of reading music.)

i. Woodwind fingering font was a great purchase (musicteachertools.com)

Rhythm Learning Sequence

Purpose: To connect rhythmic syllable patterns to rhythm notation

1. Hybrid rhythm system - some of my considerationsa. Each rhythm has a unique syllable (duples vs.

triples)b. Syllables are not connected to other rhythms c. Traditional counting (ex. 1 e + a) is still used at

HS level

Rhythm Learning Sequence

1. Sound Connections (Ester, 2010)a. Neutral Echoingb. Syllable Echoingc. Echo-Translationd. Connect Sound to Symbole. Application and Practice

Not demonstrated during INFORMancef. Notating

g. Melodic Reading

Rote Song Learning Sequence

Purpose: To develop a tonal vocabulary(Grunow, Gordon, & Azzara, 2001)

1. Whole-Part-Wholea. Sing it!b. Perform in chunksc. Perform entire melody

2. Add Bass Linesa. similar methodb. Jump Right In method suggests occasionally teaching

bass lines first

Rote Song Learning Sequence

3. Sudden Stop Game (audiation)a. Which note did I end on?b. Play the note that should come next?

4. Concert “Cheat Sheet” may be needed...

Introducing Other Concepts

1. Staccato vs. Full-Value 2. Dynamics3. Others...

4. Not demonstrated during INFORMance5. Introduce during Call-and-Response

a. Students are focused on listening

Which Tunes?

1. Hot Cross Buns2. Au Claire De La Lune3. Mary Had a Little Lamb4. Original Tune in 6/8

a. Student get to name it each year

5. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star6. Endless possibilities...

Creating Arrangements

1. Students determine the following: a. Who plays the melody?b. Who plays the bass line?

i. Can you hear both parts? (reflection)c. Which dynamic should be used?

i. How can we adjust our dynamics to improve our performance? (reflection)

d. Which articulation should be used?i. Did I use the correct articulation? Did everyone use

the correct articulation? (reflection)

Dynamics: Articulation:

Melody:Flutes, Alto

Saxes, Trumpets, Percussion

Forte Staccato

Bass Line:Clarinets,

Trombone, Baritone

Transition to Music NotationQuarter 2

Tonal Patterns

Purpose: To connect tonal vocabulary to written music notation

(Grunow, Gordon, & Azzara, 2001), (Ester, 2010)

1. Begin with Call-and-Response2. Assess through Tonal Pattern Guessing

Game

Method Book

Purpose: Application and practiceof rhythm and tonal reading skills

1. Standard of Excellence: Book 12. Tradition of Excellence: Book 1

3. Melodic Reading (Rhythm Learning Sequence)

Additional 5-note scales

Purpose: To build skill in commonly used key centers

1. Add additional 5-note scales to warm-upa. Concert E flat Majorb. Concert C minorc. Concert G minord. Others...

2. Give them only what they need to know

3. Transpose familiar melodies to new keys (audiation)

Notating Music

1. Write down the tunes we learned by rote (audiation)

2. Give structure - not just a blank piece of staff paper

Reading Music

Repertoire for the December concert is learned through reading!

1. Count first2. Then Perform (chunks first)3. Other strategies

a. Say it with note namesb. Say it with “Tah” c. Say it with “Tah” while doing fingeringsd. Perform rhythm/pitches on mouthpieces

Showing Growth with Data

Collecting Data

Pre-test/Post-test format

1. Growth is most reliable

2. Sometimes awkward to administer

Terminology or Theory Assessment

PROS: easy to administer, can be easy to grade, can incorporate literacy standards

CONS: difficult to assess standards that involve musical skills

Example Standard:

6-8.RT.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific technical music context relevant to grades 6-8 texts and topics.

Listening Assessment

PROS: promotes listening and analyzing, offers ways to include new and different repertoire

CONS: may not show a great deal of growth

Example Standard:

6.6.1 Listen to recordings of instrumental ensembles playing appropriate repertoire. Identify and describe instrumentation, and basic musical form, style, and genre.

LISTENING EXAMPLE: 1

1. Title: _________________________________________________________________

2. The ensemble performing includes which of the following instruments?

a. saxophone, trumpet, trombone, snare drum

b. violin, accordion, trombone, tuba

c. violin, flute, oboe, snare drum

d. bagpipes, cornet, alto horn, xylophone

3. We can identify the genre of this tune by listening to the rhythms. The rhythms

use:

a. accelerandos

b. whole notes

c. diminution

d. syncopation

4. Which kind of improvisation is used in this style of music?

a. collective improvisation

b. no improvisation

c. double improvisation

d. quarter note improvisation

Composition Assessment

PROS: connects to musical skills, promotes musical creativity and music literacy

CONS: grading can be time consuming, needs very specific guidelines

Example Standard: 6.4.2 Compose and notate short melodic patterns for individual instruments within established guidelines.

● Also could use the “Writing Down Our Songs!” worksheet seen earlier (notating)

Performance Assessment

PROS: connects to specific musical skills, can connect directly to concert repertoire

CONS: grading is time consuming, pre-test can be awkward

Example Standard: 6.2.3 Play musical selections with accurate pitch, articulation, rhythm, and appropriate tempo, dynamics, and balance.

Suggested Reading

Byo, J. & Duke, R. (2011). The Habits of Musicianship. Publisher: Author

(University of Texas, Center for Music Learning (cml.music.utexas.edu))

Ester, D. (2010). Sound Connections. Publisher: AuthorAvailable through educationalexclusives.com or through the author

Gordon, E. (2012). Learning sequences in music: A contemporary music learning theory (2012 [8th] ed.). Chicago: GIA Publications.

Grunow, R., Gordon, E., & Azzara, C. (2001). Jump Right In: The Instrumental Series - Teacher's Guide for Winds and Percussion Books 1 and 2. Chicago: GIA Publications.

The Beginning Band INFORMance:A Showcase of Student Growth

sms.shelbyvillebands.comFind a copy of this presentation under “links”

Patrick Hortonpwhorton@shelbycs.org

Shelbyville Middle School