INCORPORATING MUSIC COMPOSITION IN MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND REHEARSALS Alexander Koops

Transcription

1 INCORPORATING MUSIC COMPOSITION IN MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND REHEARSALS Alexander Koops The purpose of this action research project is to develop, field test, and assess a researcher created music composition curriculum for middle school band Research suggests that the top reasons band directors do not include composition in their curriculum include time, training, and lack of resources Additionally, teaching composing in the context of a large ensemble maybe a factor The specific research questions investigated are: 1 In the opinion of the participating band directors, does the use of this curriculum provide adequate training and materials for music teachers who want to include music composing in middle school band? 2 In the opinion of the participating band directors, is the time frame of teaching 10 lessons, each 15 minutes long over the course of 5 weeks, conducive to allowing adequate time for other areas of the middle school band curriculum, including performance preparation of concert works? 3 In the opinion of the participating band directors, does the curriculum work successfully in addressing and overcoming the obstacle of teaching composing with a large ensemble? In summer, 2008, the researcher created and taught over 10 composition lessons to a middle school band in Southern California as a preliminary pilot project The lessons were based on ideas from books on music composition, research projects in music composition in schools, and ideas from living composers including Frank Tichelli, John Whitener, and Michael Colgrass Most of the lessons were completely changed after the preliminary project and remade into 10 new composition lessons The researcher taught the revised lessons as a pilot project with two other middle school bands in Southern California in February and March 2009 Six middle school band directors and their bands have been chosen to participate in the project as well as three composers who will review the curriculum and give feed back Composers Frank Tichelli and John Whitener have made comments on the current curriculum and Michael Colgrass will be making comments in the future All participating band directors will be given the curriculum and a brief explanation of the project, following which each director will be required to teach the curriculum involving ten lessons to be taught over approximately five weeks Each lesson is designed to take approximately 15 minutes to complete, with the option of extending if time is available Data collection will include the researcher as an observer in rehearsals taking notes, attending a minimum of one composition lesson per band director Each band director will make brief notes on the actual lesson plans commenting on any things that they felt went well or poorly, or changes that they made These lessons plans

2 will be returned to the researcher at the end of the five week teaching period Additionally, the researcher will conduct formal and informal interviews with the participating band directors before, during and after they teach the curriculum Additional data collection included the initial gathering of lesson plan ideas and developing a composing curriculum from journals, dissertations, living composers, and video materials The researcher will maintain a journal through out the process of creating, pilot testing, implementing, and assessing the curriculum to provide a description of the negative and positive lessons that were learned For example, in the preliminary project of summer 2008, the researcher noted that the small group composition lessons with four to five students per group resulted in chaos in the band room and only two viable composition products out eight different groups at the end of the lesson This along with additional lessons resulted in the revised curriculum that eliminated all small group projects in favor of large group projects that involve the whole band working on one composition simultaneously Data analysis will consist of coding interview notes, field notes, and written notes on the lesson plans from each band director, and analyzing these coded documents for emergent themes For each code, I will note the breadth of use (by band directors, researcher field notes, and/or composer reviews) and depth of use (how many times each code appeared) Emergent themes will be identified and applied to a final revision of the curriculum The final results will help contribute towards developing basic needed resources for music teachers to use to teach composition to middle school students and for college music education professors to use to teach pre service music educators how to incorporate composing in to their teaching Outline of Band Director Curriculum Handout that includes the ten lesson plans developed by the researcher: Table of Contents Lesson 1 Introduction; Soundscapes Lesson 2 Rhythm from life Lesson 3 Ostinato (Rhythm Part 2): Lesson 4 Textures Lesson 5 Melody based on a scale Student Handout: Pentatonic Scale for building a melody Lesson 6 Poetry Inspiration Melody based on words Student Handout: Paul Revere s Ride Lesson 7 Harmony and Tension Lesson 8 Timbre/Instrumentation/Range Lesson 9 Form part 1 Lesson 10 Form part 2 Bibliography

3 Lesson 1 Introduction; Soundscapes Vocabulary words: composing; soundscape; composition Introduction: What is music? What is composing? Music is organized sound Composing is organizing the sounds! Composing is creating sounds in an organized manner that is planned and prepared in advance, not improvised We are going to work together for ten lessons to learn about music composing! Composition project: Soundscapes Teach the composition below: Soundscape 1 1Say Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 2 Laugh repeatedly until cued to stop 3 Snap fingers 4 tap pencil on stand (together, as conducted when the conductor gives down beat, hit the stand one time for each time the conductor s hand gives the cue) Practice each part individually, and then perform the whole piece a couple times following the boxes in order one at a time, numbers 1 through 4 Then perform more than one box at the same time, as the conductor points Try different orders/sequences and repeating to compose different pieces, as well as combining different boxes and different orders: for example point to boxes 1 and 3 at the same time, then 2, etc Have some students come up and point to boxes and be the conductor (They LOVE this! And this is part of composing: organizing the sounds!!) Record and listen back If time permits: Students compose group composition: (Optional, have students write down a composition with 4 boxes) Ask students to meet in groups of 3 with the people directly on either side of them and come up with one or two sounds they like and they can make, not using their instruments in the traditional way, and not limited to their instruments Give them 1 minute to experiment Then pick 4 ideas from the class and write them on the board Pick a student conductor to come up and lead the class in the new composition with sounds picked by the class Optional: record and play back (Students LOVE this!) Optional, come up with a theme for the composition to help organize it, like funny and scary movie scene music

4 Lesson 7 Harmony and Tension Revised Lesson 7 Harmony and Tension Vocabulary words: Harmony; major, minor, cluster, tension, resolution, Procedures: Have students look at the hand out on harmony Play each example as a band: Example 1 Play Bb, D, F (assign players to play certain notes, for example, flutes and clarinets all play the top note, saxophones and horns the middle note, low instruments, the bass note) This is the most common chord in band, probably What character does it have? (Happy; nice) this is a MAJOR chordoptional: is there a way to make it sound more tense or more restful? (triple forte, with very fast rhythm is more tense; mezzo piano whole note is more relaxing; try playing 8 eighth notes very fast and loud, then one whole note mezzo piano) Example 2 Now, how do we make it minor? (Hopefully a student will answer) For a MINOR chord change the D to Db; now we have Bb minor What character does this have? Sad in general Optional: is there a way to make it sound more tense or more restful? (similar to above: triple forte, with very fast rhythm is more tense; mezzo piano whole note is more relaxing; again try playing 8 eighth notes very fast and loud, then one whole note mezzo piano) Optional: explain that a major chord has a major third; a minor chord has a minor third, that is what makes them major or minor Example 3 Cluster chord: Pick your favorite note, or play the example from the hand out What character does it have? (tense, angry if played loudly; unsettling, scarry, or just colorful if played piano ) Study tension and release/resolution with harmony: Write in large letters on the board: Major, Minor, Cluster, Silence Have the students play each chord and listen to themselves thinking about character of the harmony Ask which chord has the most tension? Which has the most calm and could be a resolution? Then have a student conductor come up and point to each chord in different orders have the band play what ever chord the student conductor points to, for as long as the conductor is pointing to that chord! Ask the students: Which chord has the most tension? Which word on the board represents resolution or release? (Could be major, minor, or silence) Do we have tension in release in our regular lives? We use music to express our emotions, including tension and release from that tension (how is that expressed in music? see next page)

5 (during the IMTE conference, participants discussed this lesson plan and one person suggested a dialogue about an ipod would be something that Middle school students might relate to, so here is my revision below): Optional, if time (try to get this in!!) Sample demonstration of tension: have two students come up and read and act out this script (or the teacher and one student) Dialogue 1: between child (student A) and parent (student B) Student A Dad/Mom, can I get an Ipod? Student B Ok Teacher ask the band: was there any tension in this dialogue/skit? (no) Dialogue 2: Student A Dad/Mom, can I get an ipod? Student B (soft, calm) no Student A Please! Student B (a little louder): No, I said no! Student A all my friends have one! Student B (loud commanding voice): No, You can t have an ipod! Student A (shout): Ahhh!!!!!!! Student B (shout): Go to your room! Student A (calm): Sorry for shouting Student B (calm, but reassuring): I forgive you Teacher asks the band: was there tension? Was there resolution? What is tension? Is tension important in music? What is release/resolution in music?

6 Optional: Finalize a composition by putting the numbers of the chords in a given order and maybe repeating some, creating tension and release Do you want to end with tension or release? Option to add rhythm, dynamics, articulations, repeats, tempos, etc Suggested: Sample composition: Student A will be performed by one half the band (right side of band) and will play major chords Student B will be performed by other half of band (left side) and will play minor chords Ahhh will be cluster chords Decide whether to end with major or minor or both! Have the whole band practice all parts Then assign the 2 parts to each half of the band Either conduct it yourself or have student volunteers conduct One conductor could stand in front of group A, the other in front of group B band plays on cue from there conductor

7 Rhythmic Suggestion for lesson 7 harmony, tension, release \ h- Group A-Major chord "Dad Can I get an \ h D Group B-Minor chord "No" Group A \ D i "Please?" \ i- Group B D "No, I said no!" \ Group j A \ j j "All my friends have one!" \ Group B j D D - D I- pod"? "NO! \ k - Group A-cluster chord \ k - You Can't have an i- pod!" "Ahhhhhh!" \ k Group B- minor chord "Go to your room!" \ h Group A-major chord "Sor- ry \ h Group B-minor chord: for shout- ing" "I for- give you"