Today was the third Basics of Music Creation class. This was the breakthrough class! Everyone did all of their homework! I can tell that the kids are starting to develop a sense of camaraderie. If some one doesn’t do something or isn’t paying attention, the others will poke fun at that student. They tease each other and push each other to do what I ask of them. Even through this may sound negative, it is not. They are starting to act like a family – like a single unit. They pull each other along. They progress as a unit, not as individuals. This is really great. One exercise I did to take advantage of this “group-ness” was to have the older, more advanced students who understood concepts well help the younger, less experienced students who were struggling. These pairs worked well together and I jumped from one to the other to help and direct. This peer-to-peer learning is extremely effective. First, the more advanced students get to teach what they know, which reinforces that knowledge and empowers them. Second, the less advanced student gets individual attention from some one his or her age. When a child is taught by another child, the explanations of concepts are more effective because the teacher and the student are at the same level. Third, this fosters a sense of community and accountability. No student wants to need help from another student. This is an incentive to try harder next time and to do the work in advance. Here is the lesson plan for class 3:
Class Plan 3
Previous Assignment
Each student was to have completed the following assignment in addition to completing the packet’s written homework:
1) Keep up with your idea journal. Record at least three new ideas before next class!
2) Know all of the key signatures and how to write them. Know relative minor and major keys. You will be quizzed in front of the class.
3) Be able to play all six major and minor scales with both hands together from memory. You will be asked to play scales at random in front of the class.
4) Write a new composition/song/piece. Here are the guidelines:
1. Make the piece in either a major key or a minor key. It can not be in C major or A minor. Use a key signature.
2. Use professional, correct notation. Other people should be able to read what you wrote. Pick a title, pick a tempo, and add a copyright mark at the bottom.
3. Use the grand staff. You must use both hands at the same time. This means that you will have at least two parts.
4. Label the best fingerings for both hands. Your fingerings should make your piece as easy to play as possible. A good fingering should let you play the piece as fast as possible with your eyes closed.
5. Practice your piece and be able to play it perfectly in class.
5) Bonus: try to write down a melody of a song you hear on the radio. Figure it out!
Lesson Plan
· Make copies of all new and revised compositions, and all arrangements of radio songs. Hand out to students while students warm up and review materials.
· Have students play new compositions/songs in front of class. Discuss.
· Have students play revised compositions/songs in front of class. Discuss.
· Have students play arrangements in front of the class. Discuss
· Discuss idea journal. Read ideas aloud. Have students pick at least one idea from someone else and write it down in their idea journal. Encourage them to borrow ideas from people, and to give those people credit.
· Homework check. Brief concept check. Students who understand concepts well help students who do not understand concepts well.
· Key signature games. Use the small dry erase boards and the large dry erase board. Use flash cards.
· Ear training: play a four bar melody on the piano. Ask the students to put on their headphones, figure out how to play the melody, write it down on their individual dry erase board, and indicate the key it is in. See who can do it the fastest.
· New lesson: Basic Chords. New assignment pack handed out.
· Assignment read aloud by students in class and discussed.
Extra time: pair students together to collaborate on a new composition. They can play different parts on the same piano. Have them write their idea down.
Assignment
Each student is to complete the following assignment in addition to completing the packet’s written homework:
1) Keep up with your idea journal. Record at least three new ideas before next class!
2) Know how to construct each of the chords we learned from any key. You will be quizzed in front of the class.
· diminished triad: minor 3rd on bottom, minor 3rd on top
· minor triad: minor 3rd on bottom, Major 3rd on top
· Major triad: Major 3rd on bottom, minor 3rd on top
· Augmented triad: Major 3rd on bottom, Major 3rd on top
· Major 7th chord: Major triad and a Major 7th at the same time (four notes)
3) Write a new composition/song/piece. Here are the guidelines:
1. You must have a melody in the right hand, and chords in the left hand.
2. You must use one of all of the types of chords we learned, and each one must start on a different note.
3. Make it in C major or a minor. This means that you will use accidentals.
4. Use professional, correct notation. Other people should be able to read what you wrote. Pick a title, pick a tempo, and add a copyright mark at the bottom.
5. Label fingerings in the right hand.
6. Practice your piece and be able to play it perfectly in class.
4) Bonus: Now that you have written a new composition/song/piece, try to play it in a different key. If your piece was in C major, try playing it in G major or F major. If your piece was in a minor, try playing it in e minor or d minor. Start by playing the chords in the new key. The relationship between notes will be the same (intervals), but the notes you start on will be different. Write out this new way to play your piece.