Choral Music Introducing Lesson Plan

 

Level of Students:

• College Students -Music 140 and Music 343 students (Mostly Freshman and Seniors).

 

Class Type:

• Mixed Vocal Choir.

 

Piece:

• The Long Day Closes by Arthur Sullivan.

 

Materials:

• The teacher will need The Long Day Closes by Arthur Sullivan conductor score.
• The teacher will need a pianist at the piano with music.
• Students will only need their The Long Day Closes music and their singing voice.

 

Personal Goals:

• The teacher hopes to focus on conveying expressive conducting.
• The teacher hopes to maintain a steady Andante tempo.
• The teacher hopes to focus on providing adequate conducting for split vocal parts.
• The teacher hopes to provide accurate musical pitch instruction to students.
• The teacher hopes to be successful at conveying the musical meaning and style of the piece to the students.

 

Learner Objectives:

• The students will perform in SATB measure 1 to 4 on a neutral syllable, focusing on pitch and rhythm accuracy.
• The students will perform in SATB measure 19 to 22 on a neutral syllable, focusing on pitch and rhythm accuracy.
• The students will perform in SATB measure 43 to 46 on a neutral syllable, focusing on pitch and rhythm accuracy.
• The students will perform in SATB from beginning to end using the holistic Run and Gun strategy.
• The students will analyze their singing
• The students will be provided reinforcement, models of concepts, and involvement through questions.

 

 

Procedures:

• Introduction: Provide the students the name and title of the piece with some background information of the composer and the piece.
• After having the pianist provide the opening pitches, have the students perform in SATB measure 1 to 4 on a neutral syllable. Have the pianist provide the playing of the SATB parts. Listen to the choir making sure to correct any pitches and rhythm inaccuracies.
• Ask the students where else in the piece this four measure opening comes back. Provide positive reinforcement to students.
• Have the students/pianist perform in SATB measure 19 to 22 on a neutral syllable, again listening to the choir for pitch and rhythm accuracy.
• Ask the student where else in the piece this four measure opening sections reoccurs. Provide positive reinforcement to students.
• Have the students/pianist perform in SATB measure 43 to 46 on a neutral syllable again listening to the choir for pitch and rhythm accuracy.
• Transition: Use the holistic Run and Gun strategy and have the choir sing the entire piece.
• After having the pianist provide the opening pitches, have the students perform the entire piece with the pianist accompanying with SATB parts.
• Focus and work through with students any problems that might occur during the singing of the piece. For example probably alto part measure 13 to14, alto part measure 24, bass measure 34 to 41, tenor part measure 57, and soprano part measure 59 to 61 are areas that might need work. In these cases have students sing their part separately before adding the entire ensemble.
• Closure: After having the pianist provide the opening pitches, have the students perform the entire piece with the pianist accompanying with SATB parts.
• Add positive reinforcement for the work the choir did for the introductory rehearsal.

 

Assessment Strategies:

• Assess the students' progress on the neutral syllable singing, focusing on the consistency of pitch and rhythmic accuracies at all times during the rehearsal.

• Assess the students' understanding of the reoccurrence of the opening four measures.
• Assess the students' knowledge of the pieceÕs style and feeling.
• Assess the students' individual ability to correct intonation.