Summary for 9-26-06 MMS

Teaching Observation Notes

 

Date: 9/26/06

Time: 7:15 a.m.

Length: 3 hours

School: Mannheim Middle School

Teacher: Mr. Tambroni

Grade: 6-8

School address:

 

Mannheim Middle School

2600 Hyde Park Ave, Melrose Park, IL 60164

 

 

School Phone:

Mannheim: (847) 455-5020

 

Summary:

 

The first orchestra period of the day starts with Mr. Tambroni playing a Hammond B3 organ patch for tuning—he has the class sing the open string and then tune that string. Mr. T has a student start working with the fine tuner. This singing method is good—I’ll use that in my own class teaching.

 

The first scale of the day is the A scale, but it will be a low A scale for violins (1^st finger on G string). It sounds like most violinists start on an open A for scales at first, which makes sense.

 

Mr. T always writes out the day’s activities as an outline on the whiteboard. This is a good idea—I will be sure to do this myself.

 

 

 

Today’s whiteboard outline:

 

7:15 tune

 

7:30 A scale and arpeggio

 

(Mr. T’s A scale diagram on whiteboard)

 

A scale and arpeggio:

 

1 2 H3 4

A B C# D

E F# G# A

 

C scale and arpeggio

 

Addams Family

 

Las Mamgnites

 

 

 

Mr. T accompanies the students during the scales on the keyboard. He talks about pulses/counts versus beats for 6/8 (6 pulses/counts and 2 beats). Today Mr. T is working with the baton today on The Addams Family. He mentions that a pencil is a necessary thing to have for orchestra. The piece starts with three pick-up notes, and Mr. T tells the students that these three notes do not count as a bar. There is a D# in the part, and Mr. T describes the difference between D natural and D#, playing both at the same time to show that these are not the same notes!

 

He builds the line from the pick-ups of The Addams Family, starting with them and then adding a note one at a time. As he does this he points out articulation differences (long versus short). Next up is El Rancho Grande, which Mr. T accompanies on guitar.

 

La Bamba is up next in the orchestra rehearsal. Mr. T is also accompanying the orchestra of guitar for this. The electric keyboard plus guitar gives the orchestra some hip factor—I will definitely be sure to use both of these tools in my classroom. The keyboard that Mr. T has is perfect because it is just on a keyboard stand—it takes up almost no real estate and is more flexible and useful than a nasty upright piano (and it never goes out of tune!). The kids obviously love playing this one, especially with the guitar.

 

The next period is a lesson session with two cello players. A potential violin student stops by–Mr. T will start teaching him violin. This class lesson is now two celli and one violin—the violinist is just observing. The two cellists practice while Mr. T teaches the basics to this new student. He covers:

 

• Holding the violin (under the arm to carry)
• Putting the instrument under neck
• Left hand on shoulder of instrument
• Show how to use a sponge under instrument – this student will go without
• Introduce fingerboard
• 4 strings – get thinner (higher) as they go up
• We will be using the middle two at first
• Starts him pizz – no bow for now
• Turn body to right of stand when standing so you can see music
• Starts on page 1 of Essential Elements – this starts as only open D and A – this student will practice (with a mute right now) while Mr. T works with the cellists

 

Mr. T starts with a D scale with the cellists. Mr. T demonstrates this scale on the student’s cello. He gives the students advice—play more on fingertip, cut nails to facilitate this. Mr. T has the students play once, then gives them some advice for the bow:

 

• Keep it even
• Don’t wander
• Keep it right between the fingerboard and bridge – no going up and down when you play

 

Mr. T now goes back to the violin student and teaches him the basics of the left hand, starting with the D scale notes on the D string at the beginning of Essential Elements.

 

Back to the cellists, Mr. T works out of the beginning of the Essential Elements book with the cellists playing pizzicato. The cellists then start working on the D scale:

 

1 2 3 4

D E F# G

 

Mr. T goes back to the violinist and gives him a little more specific information on the left hand—fingers on tapes, position of left hand thumb. MR. T calls this guided practice—give the students a concept, give them 5 minutes to practice it (and hear what mistakes are being made), and then move on to another concept. This is a more effective way to use the hour than to simply work on concepts for the hour and expect students to go practice on their own. Teach them how to practice in schools—this is something I may try to a certain extent in my own lessons.

 

Mr. T plays the students an orchestral sampler that he has created on his iPod. Great idea—get the students hearing real orchestra playing already:

 

• Britten Simple Symphony (Pizzicato Polka)
• Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio Espanol
• Irish fiddle tune
• Copland Rodeo
• Irish fiddle tune with cello
• Nutcracker – Trepak
• Rock tune

 

The next period of orchestra starts with Mr. Tambroni checking practice records. Those who didn’t fill it out and give some guff get told “No Excuses”, which is a good way to treat this. This class has two violinists and one violist. Mr. T talks through the circle of 5^ths with the students. Mr. T then moves to another couple of posters on the wall. There is the flat box:

 

BEADGCF

 

And the sharp box:

 

FCGDAEB

 

The sharp/flat boxes are like shopping lists. We are either baking a sharp cake or a flat cake. The key name calls for certain ingredients:

 

D is a sharp cake – we need ingredients from the sharp box – F# C#

 

C is like water—no ingredients. Good analogy!

 

Mr. T has a student go up to the board and write the fingerings for the F scale:

 

F G A Bb C D E F

L2 3 0 L1 L2 3 0 L1

 

He has the students derive the F arpeggio from what is written on the board—early development of arpeggio concept—good!

 

Mr. T has the two violinists put on metal practice mutes and practice (like the earlier class today) while he works with the violist. Again, I think that this is a great way to run multiple-instrument (or even same instrument) group (or even solo?) lessons. Each student gets instruction and practice time during the period. He teacher needs some practice mutes, however, or it will be chaos!

 

Mr. T starts working with the students on harmonics. The students get it, and they start working on it—there is an exercise in Essential Elements combining closed notes, open strings, and octave harmonics.

 

When shifting, just from the elbow—don’t worm your way around.

 

Mr T. has a great way to practice moving lines—hold each note with as many bows as you need, then go on to the next note when you are ready. Never let there be a hole—keep playing the note, then look at the next note and think about where it is and where you are going, THEN go on to the next note. This encourages smoothness and fluidity in playing. I am definitely going to be using this!

Video Observation – Green Bay Preble High School

Teaching Observation Notes

 

Jason Heath

April 5, 2007

 

Date:               4/5/07

Time:               10:10 a.m.

Length:            50 min.

School:            Green Bay Preble High School

Teacher:           Susan McAllister

Grade:             Chamber (advanced) Choir

 

Summary:

 

Mrs. McAllister has an extremely engaging style of teaching, and she kept the classroom under control in an environment of positive learning.  She used a variety of accompaniment and direction styles within the course of a rehearsal, from conducting and clapping to singing and piano playing.  When she was not rehearsing a piece, she engaged students with questions and demonstrations (both with her own voice and with recordings).

 

Creating a rehearsal that is engaging yet fun is a real skill, and her years of teaching experience are quite evident when watching her classroom demeanor.  Students seem engaged in the rehearsal process and responsive to the various activities undertaken during the class period.

 

Her animated style and obvious affinity with the students made for a productive and enjoyable rehearsal, and I am sure that her classes were sad to see her retire.  Mrs. McAllister is, to me, a great role model for music teachers of all disciplines.

 

 

Notes:

 

-teacher at door handing out sheet of music at the beginning of class

-Mrs. McAllister plays pop songs on piano as students assemble

-students do back massage as she plays piano – turn and do same thing to person on other side

-very disciplined classroom

 

Activities Covered During the Class

 

-introductory routine

-announcements

-stretching and “shh” routine

-“mmm” exercises

-syllable and dynamic exercises – shifting up and down chromatically while singing chords (major, minor, other forms)

-solfege exercise with hand signals, harmonies in SATB

-segue into 1^st piece

-combination of conducting, clapping, singing, and piano playing

-make “sectional circles” to work of reinforcing SATB parts

-good individual attention (in a subtle, non-embarrasing way) while the group continues rehearsing

-group sits when resting, gets out half-sheet of Gregorian chant

-has students raise hands when they identify a difference between this music and their typical choir music

–discuss these differences with the class

-she sings demo of the music for the class, then plays Sinead O’Conner CD of it

-tells story of her Catholic schooling and familiarity with this music at a young age

-chorus then sings it

-move on to last piece of the rehearsal – painting circles while singing, “punching” the rhythm (sonically and visually) – first with the bases and then with the entire choir

 

 

recent LHS handout 10-23-06

Summary for 9-26-06 MMS

Teaching Observation Notes

 

Date: 9/26/06

Time: 7:15 a.m.

Length: 3 hours

School: Mannheim Middle School

Teacher: Mr. Tambroni

Grade: 6-8

School address:

 

Mannheim Middle School

2600 Hyde Park Ave, Melrose Park, IL 60164

 

 

School Phone:

 

Mannheim: (847) 455-5020

 

Summary:

 

The first orchestra period of the day starts with Mr. Tambroni playing a Hammond B3 organ patch for tuning—he has the class sing the open string and then tune that string.  Mr. T has a student start working with the fine tuner.  This singing method is good—I’ll use that in my own class teaching. 

 

The first scale of the day is the A scale, but it will be a low A scale for violins (1^st finger on G string).  It sounds like most violinists start on an open A for scales at first, which makes sense. 

 

Mr. T always writes out the day’s activities as an outline on the whiteboard.  This is a good idea—I will be sure to do this myself.

 

 

Today’s whiteboard outline:

 

7:15 tune

 

7:30 A scale and arpeggio

 

(Mr. T’s A scale diagram on whiteboard)

 

A scale and arpeggio:

 

1          2          H3       4

A         B         C#       D

E          F#        G#       A

 

C scale and arpeggio

 

Addams Family

 

Las Mamgnites

 

 

Mr. T accompanies the students during the scales on the keyboard.  He talks about pulses/counts versus beats for 6/8 (6 pulses/counts and 2 beats).  Today Mr. T is working with the baton today on The Addams Family.  He mentions that a pencil is a necessary thing to have for orchestra.  The piece starts with three pick-up notes, and Mr. T tells the students that these three notes do not count as a bar.  There is a D# in the part, and Mr. T describes the difference between D natural and D#, playing both at the same time to show that these are not the same notes!

 

He builds the line from the pick-ups of The Addams Family, starting with them and then adding a note one at a time.  As he does this he points out articulation differences (long versus short).  Next up is El Rancho Grande, which Mr. T accompanies on guitar.

 

La Bamba is up next in the orchestra rehearsal.  Mr. T is also accompanying the orchestra of guitar for this.  The electric keyboard plus guitar gives the orchestra some hip factor—I will definitely be sure to use both of these tools in my classroom.  The keyboard that Mr. T has is perfect because it is just on a keyboard stand—it takes up almost no real estate and is more flexible and useful than a nasty upright piano (and it never goes out of tune!).  The kids obviously love playing this one, especially with the guitar. 

 

The next period is a lesson session with two cello players.  A potential violin student stops by–Mr. T will start teaching him violin.  This class lesson is now two celli and one violin—the violinist is just observing.  The two cellists practice while Mr. T teaches the basics to this new student.  He covers:

 

• Holding the violin (under the arm to carry)
• Putting the instrument under neck
• Left hand on shoulder of instrument
• Show how to use a sponge under instrument – this student will go without
• Introduce fingerboard
• 4 strings – get thinner (higher) as they go up
• We will be using the middle two at first
• Starts him pizz – no bow for now
• Turn body to right of stand when standing so you can see music
• Starts on page 1 of Essential Elements – this starts as only open D and A – this student will practice (with a mute right now) while Mr. T works with the cellists

 

Mr. T starts with a D scale with the cellists.  Mr. T demonstrates this scale on the student’s cello.  He gives the students advice—play more on fingertip, cut nails to facilitate this.  Mr. T has the students play once, then gives them some advice for the bow:

 

• Keep it even
• Don’t wander
• Keep it right between the fingerboard and bridge – no going up and down when you play

 

Mr. T now goes back to the violin student and teaches him the basics of the left hand, starting with the D scale notes on the D string at the beginning of Essential Elements. 

 

Back to the cellists, Mr. T works out of the beginning of the Essential Elements book with the cellists playing pizzicato.  The cellists then start working on the D scale:

 

1          2          3          4

D         E          F#        G

 

Mr. T goes back to the violinist and gives him a little more specific information on the left hand—fingers on tapes, position of left hand thumb.  MR. T calls this guided practice—give the students a concept, give them 5 minutes to practice it (and hear what mistakes are being made), and then move on to another concept.  This is a more effective way to use the hour than to simply work on concepts for the hour and expect students to go practice on their own.  Teach them how to practice in schools—this is something I may try to a certain extent in my own lessons. 

 

Mr. T plays the students an orchestral sampler that he has created on his iPod.  Great idea—get the students hearing real orchestra playing already:

 

• Britten Simple Symphony (Pizzicato Polka)
• Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio Espanol
• Irish fiddle tune
• Copland Rodeo
• Irish fiddle tune with cello
• Nutcracker – Trepak
• Rock tune

 

The next period of orchestra starts with Mr. Tambroni checking practice records.  Those who didn’t fill it out and give some guff get told “No Excuses”, which is a good way to treat this.  This class has two violinists and one violist.  Mr. T talks through the circle of 5^ths with the students.  Mr. T then moves to another couple of posters on the wall.  There is the flat box:

 

BEADGCF

 

And the sharp box:

 

FCGDAEB

 

The sharp/flat boxes are like shopping lists.  We are either baking a sharp cake or a flat cake.  The key name calls for certain ingredients:

 

D is a sharp cake         –           we need ingredients from the sharp box         –           F# C#

 

C  is like water—no ingredients.  Good analogy!

 

Mr. T has a student go up to the board and write the fingerings for the F scale:

 

F          G         A         Bb       C         D         E          F

L2        3          0          L1        L2        3          0          L1

 

He has the students derive the F arpeggio from what is written on the board—early development of arpeggio concept—good!

 

Mr. T has the two violinists put on metal practice mutes and practice (like the earlier class today) while he works with the violist.  Again, I think that this is a great way to run multiple-instrument (or even same instrument) group (or even solo?) lessons.  Each student gets instruction and practice time during the period.  He teacher needs some practice mutes, however, or it will be chaos!

 

Mr. T starts working with the students on harmonics.  The students get it, and they start working on it—there is an exercise in Essential Elements combining closed notes, open strings, and octave harmonics. 

 

When shifting, just from the elbow—don’t worm your way around. 

 

Mr T. has a great way to practice moving lines—hold each note with as many bows as you need, then go on to the next note when you are ready.  Never let there be a hole—keep playing the note, then look at the next note and think about where it is and where you are going, THEN go on to the next note.  This encourages smoothness and fluidity in playing.  I am definitely going to be using this!

Summary for 9/25/06 LHS

Summary for LHS 9-25-06

 

Teaching Observation Notes

 

Date: 9/25/06

Times: 8:20 a.m., 9:20, 10:20 a.m., and 2:05 p.m.

Length: 4 hours

School: Libertyville High School

Teacher: Mr. Marino and Mr. Helvie

Grade: 9-12

School address:

Libertyville High School

940 W Park Ave, Libertyville, 60048

 

 

School Phone:

Libertyville: (847) 367-3159

 

Summary:

 

The first period of the day today begins with the standard tuning procedure that Mr. Marino uses: A-D-G-C-E with the Dr. Beat.   After tuning Mr. Marino has the orchestra play a C major 2 octave scale using a scale and arpeggio packet.  (I actually put together the bass section of this packet).  After playing through the exercise once the orchestra plays the scale slowly.  “Playing a scale must not be a mindless exercise”, says Mr. Marino.  Scales are practiced to improve intonation for this level of class and group activity.

 

Next up is a 16^th note scalar exercise.  The exercise moves up and down diatonically and is an excellent coordination exercise.    First this exercise is played in C.  After running it a couple of times Mr. Marino asks the orchestra to mentally transpose the exercise into G.  The group plays this very slowly a few times.  This is a valuable exercise, cementing transposition skills in the minds of the students.

 

The orchestra painted a window in downtown Libertyville for Homecoming, which is this week.  The orchestra is being pulled out of class this Thursday for a field trip/music festival.  It sounds like the high school orchestra will be playing together with the Highland Middle School 6^th grade orchestra, and that there will be clinicians working with the individual orchestras.  Thursday evening the orchestra will be playing for Homecoming.  After a concert there will be a reception for the performers and parents. 

 

Next up in the class period is Viva Violas!  I have been hearing this piece being rehearsed the last couple of weeks here while observing.  It sounds like this week they will have a chance to play it in concert with the 6^th grade orchestra.  This piece has a nice Latin feel, with a lot of pizzicato.  Mr. Marino works on getting the orchestra to play with more confidence. 

 

I am not fantastic with names, and it must be very challenging to remember the names of all of the kids in your class when you start teaching.  Maybe some pneumonic devices will help!  Mr. Marino uses the Dr. Beat very effectively as a device to keep the orchestra in tune.  He will go around to the individual player in a particular section when something is out of tune.  There’s no arguing with the Dr. Beat.

 

Sometimes students have a hard time hearing that they are out of tune with the Dr. Beat, and it becomes necessary to teach a student what out-of-tune is.  I have found that students who have some piano skills have much better pitch than students who have no piano skills.  It must be the fact that things are automatically in tune on the piano and that all melodies and harmonies are immediately in tune that trains the ear to effectively discern intonation.

 

This Viva Violas is a pretty fun arrangement.  “Ritard means watch me!” instructs Mr. Marino.  This arrangement has a lot of Latin tunes as a medley.  True to its name, the viola section usually carries the melody for the orchestra.

 

The class ends with some repetition on one of the more syncopated sections of Tudo Rem, another piece that I have heard the orchestra rehearse over the last couple of weeks.  Mr. Marino has a really creative way to describe how to play dotted eighth – sixteenth rhythms.  After working on this for awhile Mr. Marino has the orchestra sing their parts with the Dr. Beat clicking away, which the orchestra really seems to like.  They then go back to playing the licks.  Mr. Marino works with the violas and basses using the Dr. Beat. 

 

The next period I observed today was an LHS marching band rehearsal with Dustin Helvie, the assistant band director at LHS.  Mr. Helvie was working with trombones, saxophones, euphoniums, Sousaphones, and horns.  This is the first band rehearsal that I have observed for my MED_095 teaching observation, and it is quite a contrast to the orchestra rehearsals.  Conducting a band is a lot like conducting a powerful monster.  The sheer volume of a band is a real contrast compared with the more modest sound of the orchestra.

 

Bands seem to be rowdier in general than orchestras (at least this band is rowdier than the LHS orchestra), and Mr. Helvie has to keep them in line from time to time.  The marching band reads off of those little books clipped on the instuments.  Mr Helvie has an energetic style of conducting, and he runs a very effective rehearsal.  He doesn’t use a baton and has a clear beat.  The band was working on “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” for Homecoming.  It is sounding good but just a little ragged.  Mr. Helvie has the band sing their lines together to get the rhythm.  He often does this:

 

• Sing for the students while clapping
• Have the students sing with him while clapping
• Have the students play the line while he conducts
• Make specific corrections and repeat the above process

 

Mr. Helvie is good at running an efficient rehearsal, getting things don, keeping the students in line while not seeming like a jerk.  This is a hard thing to do—I am often coming off like either a pushover or a jerk.  It is a very difficult line to walk!

 

The does the same kind of work with the trombones individually.  He also sings with a specific section while conducting or clapping, making corrections, and repeating.

 

This class is definitely rowdier than what I have observed.  It is pretty clear based on all of my schooling, performances, teaching, and observations that the typical band is much rowdier than the typical orchestra.  Orchestras are definitely nerdier in general.  There’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to notice this.

 

Next out comes “Stayin’ Alive”.  Mr. Helvie talks through the choreography of these scenes.  There are eight counts of downward points, eight counts of funky chicken, eight counts of monkey, eight counts of robot, eight counts of Travolta eyes, eight couns of Prince.

 

The period ends with the entire class doing these moves.  Horns go down, ten these moves all happen.

 

The next period was back to orchestra with the LHS Symphony Orchestra.  Mr. Marino urges the class go get to their seats fast and that this is a concert week.  The symphony orchestra is playing tonight as well as Thursday.  He mentions that the orchestra will alternate with the 6^th graders (similar to what Mr. Marino told the previous orchestra).

 

First up for this rehearsal is Latin Gold.  I have heard this piece over the last few weeks as well.  This medley is rehearsed from the top.  It starts with a slow string arco introduction, followed by clapping from the orchestra and a Latin line from the basses, then the melody in the violins.

 

In contrast to Mr. Helvie’s clapping, Mr. Marino raps his baton on the stand and sings, counts, first by himself, then with a section, then with the whole ensemble, in the manner described in the bulleted section above.

 

Oye Coma Va is next up in the medley.  The percussionists aren’t here today, which makes this arrangement less cool.  It also makes the orchestra’s rhythm a little shakier.  La Bamba comes next in the arrangement.  Mr. Marino works with the violins on a tricky chromatic melody.  He works with the entire orchestra on the La Bamba section, then just with the basses.  When he works with the basses he goes back to them and works with them directly in front of them.  He really funny comparison of how the bass part switching on the fourth repetition will really amaze the audience, and it works—the bass players sound much better after that.

 

Next up for this rehearsal is Carmen, which I have also heard over the last few weeks.  He begins this section of the rehearsal working on a tricky trill in the violins, and then moves on to the Toreador theme played tutti. 

 

Engaging students—it’s hard.  Sometimes it seems like it impossible.  I notice this in my own teaching, and it is true in a group setting as well.  The B section of Carmen is worked for the intonation.  There are some difficult chromatic spots in the melody, and Mr. Marino woodsheds these with the group.  Mr. Marino goes back to work with the cellos, just like he did with the bass section.  The cellos are significantly weaker than the other string sections I this orchestra for whatever reason.  There are some significant pitch problems, and Mr. Marino works with the Dr. Beat drone to clean this up. 

 

The last period of the day was spent observing LHS’s chamber orchestra, an orchestra that is only two years old.  It is the premier orchestra for the school.  A couple of years ago these students were together with the symphony orchestra, but the numbers have grown enough at LHS that there are three orchestras.

 

This orchestra is quite good.  This school district has a lot of talented string players, and this select orchestra shows off the talents of these players.  These students are also going to be performing tonight as well as Thursday.  Mr. Marino talks through the rehearsal tonight and the sequence for Thursday.  The pit cover is not up, so the orchestra will be working with a reduced stage, which will make things tight.  This orchestra will be recording this November for some interesting performance opportunities.  This orchestra will be excused for the day on Thursday for the Homecoming orchestra festival, and they will be rehearsing with the 6^th graders during the day.

 

Latin Gold is first up for this rehearsal.  Great vibrato, great sound, and great ensemble!  This orchestra allows Mr. Marino the opportunity to work on higher-level musical concepts like phrasing, vibrato matching, bow stroke matching, and the like.

 

This chamber orchestra has only two cellists but three bassists!  Wonder if it’s because they have an awesome bass teacher?  The bass players negotiate the syncopations and time changes that were tripping up the younger orchestras with ease.  There are also some extremely talented violinists in this orchestra.  This is an unusually good high school orchestra. 

 

Some of these players are in both this orchestra and in the symphony orchestra, and some are just in this orchestra.  I think that if there are AP class conflicts then the talented kids in Chamber (who also tend to achieve well academically) can still be in orchestra during a period that doesn’t conflict with when many AP classes meet.

 

The LHS orchestra was a featured orchestra at the 2004 Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic held annually in Chicago.  The orchestra has kept up its quality over the years since this event. 

 

This rehearsal is at a much higher musical level overall than anything else I’ve heard.  It is great to hear a professional orchestra rehearsal in a high school.  This group sounds better than many college orchestras I’ve heard. 

 

The next piece rehearsed is Portuguese (in preparation for the LHS orchestra Brazil trip later this year), and it is roughly translated as Sugarloaf Mountain (I didn’t catch the Portuguese name).  It starts entirely pizzicato, very quickly and quietly. 

 

It sounds like the festival happening this Thursday will also involve other school districts.  I’m not totally sure about this. 

 

A great deal of time is spent this rehearsal on viola intonation, and Mr. Marino works the viola part and the bass part together.  The bass part is very syncopated and interesting. 

 

Visit my teaching observation website (https://teachingobservations.wordpress.com/) for my detailed class notes and copies of handouts from this day of classes.

 

Summary for MMS 9-22-06

Teaching Observation Notes

 

Date: 9/22/06

Time: 7:15 a.m.

Length: 3 hours

School: Mannheim Middle School

Teacher: Mr. Tambroni

Grade: 6-8

School address:

 

Mannheim Middle School

2600 Hyde Park Ave, Melrose Park, IL 60164

 

 

School Phone:

 

Mannheim: (847) 455-5020

 

Summary:

 

Mr. Tambroni starts the first orchestra class of the day by playing an A on the keyboard.  He uses a nice sustained string patch on the keyboard and has the students sing A for a few seconds.  Then the orchestra plays the A together.  Individuals who sound out of tune play alone while Mr. T points up or down.  The same method is used for each individual string: D, G, C, and E (this seems to be the standard order for tuning strings). 

 

Next up after tuning is a C scale and arpeggio.  The students play a one octave C scale together plus the arpeggio from memory as Mr. T accompanies on the keyboard (he plays an Alberti bass pattern in the left hand and the scale in the right hand).  A discussion starts up about whether octave and October have the same derivation—the students will get some scholarship points if they can figure out if there is a relationship.  The class then plays a D scale/arpeggio in the same manner.

 

Mr. T asks the students what is different about a C scale and a D scale.  He goes over to the circle of 5ths poster on the wall (C is at the top of the chart) and shows how as you go clockwise you get more sharps and as you go counterclockwise you get more flats.

 

The class takes out music for “Addams Family”.  The students are instructed to take a look at the first four measures and see how it relates to the scales they just played (the first lick is in C and the second lick is in D).  Mr. T talks about the difference between how many counts there are in a measure and how many beats are in a measure.  There are always four counts in a 4/4 measure but there can be two, four, six, or any number of counts.

 

Mr. T describes to the students how an up bow doesn’t have to start at the tip.  Usually, in fact, when you start a phrase on an up bow you start at the balance point (because it is usually a quarter or eighth pickup).  He does a lot of detail work on the first couple of bars:

 

• how to count the lick
• fingering the lick
• coordinating the bowing and the bowing
• intonation work on he keyboard note-by-note

 

Mr. T mentions that he will be bringing in a trumpet player for the mariachi tunes that they are performing.  They start working on the mariachi medley that I observed last week, and Mr. T pulls out his electric guitar.  I really like the idea of having a guitar in the classroom, and I’ll be sure to have one in my own classroom.  He plays an intro on the guitar and the students come in with the opening strain of the mariachi arrangement.

 

This is a very tricky arrangement, and Mr. T has a great way of working on it with the class.  He plays rhythm guitar chords and has the students count straight eighths, then pick up the violins and play the lick now that they are feeling the groove.  The class moves to the coda and works on it—it is full of hemiolas and is very tricky but very cool.

 

After orchestra today comes an hour and a half of lessons.  The first lesson class has two violinists in it today.  Mr. T works out of the Essential Elements series for strings.  He feels that this is the most effective method for class string teaching.  Most of my private double bass students work out of this series in school, so his seems to be a popular series.

 

The newest edition of this series is really slick.  Not only does it include a CD (which this series has included for years), but it now also features a DVD!   I will be checking out this series more on my own, since it is likely to be the series I use in my own teaching.

 

Mr. T uses carbon fiber bows in his class.  The line he has chosen is from either Shar or Southwest Strings.  The violin bow is around $80-100, and the bass bow (labeled PRESTO) is around $175.  Carbon fiber bows are great because they are always straight (if you buy a quality brand – no Glaesel!) and they have pop, punch, and excellent balance.

 

A good dealer for stringed instruments in metro Chicago is the Guarneri House of Grand Rapids, MI.  They make weekly trips to Chicago to outfit schools, and their entry instruments are much better than what I’ve heard from other shops.

 

These two students are working out of the intermediate book of Essential Elements.  This book begins with the third position, and the students start working on page 2.  Mr. T starts 4^th graders only pizzicato—in fact, the first concert that students play is done completely pizzicato.  Parents love it because there is no screeching!  While working for this first concert Mr. T also has students start some right hand bowing pantomime exercises so that it will be more comfortable when the students begin with the bow.  This is a good idea and one that I will implement in my own teaching.

 

Next Mr. T covers how to count in 6/8 – think eighths always, and play quarter – eighth.  The class starts work on the “Addams Family” lick from today’s orchestra period.  This version of “Addams Family” is kind of country!  The score is marked “ghoulish but fun loving”, which is a marking I’d like to see in more scores.  This class ends with Mr. T taking photos of the students for the school orchestra poster.

 

Mr. Tambroni’s Practice Tips (on the wall in the classroom)

 

• Play SLOWLY & ACCURATELY
• Use your mind – THINK
• Practice one thing at a time
• Clap and air-bow the rhythms
• Use a metronome
• Use a tuner
• Practice 6 days a week

 

• Find the problem
• Fix the problem
• Play it correctly
• Repeat it correctly

 

YOU CAN DO IT!

 

The next period of lessons has two students.  Mr. T starts by talking and playing through the three octave G scale and the two octave C scale.  One of the students isn’t at class at the beginning, so Mr. T starts working with the one student.

 

He describes a really excellent method of shifting which I have not done in the past.  Working though the G scale, he has the violinist play the shifting note (D in this case) twice, thereby cementing the shift and the finger replacement concept so valuable in string technique.

 

This is a concept that can be applied to any scale fingering.  Take (on the bass) playing A B – C#.  Play 1 on A, 4 on B, then replace 1 with 4 on B, then put down 4 on C#, then replace 4 with 2—inching up the bass, cementing the idea of note relationships, teaching the muscles—this method is great!

 

 

This is a concept that Greg Sarchet of the Lyric Opera taught Mr. T—when first learning arpeggios, play the arpeggio with the same finger that you used in the scale.  This makes for some wacky fingerings at first, but it totally cements the arpeggio concept in the mind of the student.  When the student is more advanced they can then get a more effective fingering for the arpeggio.  I really need to use this technique!!

 

Mr. T recommends that students pick up a metronome and a tuner.  He prefers Korg tuners and metronomes, and recommends a model that is a two-in-one that allows both functions to happen at the same time. 

 

After scales, the student works on “Addams Family”.  This student is a strong player, and she would benefit from getting her own instrument.  She and Mr. T talk about this as well as getting a tuner and metronome.

 

Usually Mr. T doesn’t spend lessons entirely on orchestra music.  A typical lesson consists of scales and arpeggios, material from the lesson book (I am not familiar with a student lesson book—I will have to learn more about this), and a little orchestra music at the end.

 

Mr. T gives the students some shifting possibilities for their orchestra music.  The other student arrives, and Mr. T talks with the other student about getting a tuner, metronome, or tuner/metronome.  Mr. T works with counting both by rote (Suzuki-style) and on the whiteboard writing it out for a more cerebral understanding.  The latter is more effective but takes more time.

Summary for LHS 9-21-06

Teaching Observation Notes

Date: 9/21/06

Times: 8:20 a.m. and 10:20 a.m.

Length: 2 hours

School: Libertyville High School

Teacher: Mr. Marino

Grade: 9-12

School address:

Libertyville High School

940 W Park Ave, Libertyville, 60048

 

 

School Phone:

Libertyville: (847) 367-3159

 

Summary:

 

This orchestra period begins with some theory work.  The students have a theory and composition assignment to work on from yesterday.  Mr. Marino has written out several guidelines for this assignment, including keeping the notes in the staff, using at least two accidentals, a variety of quarters, eighths, and half notes, plus a few (not too many) rests.  Overhead work is done at the beginning of this class using a staff paper transparency.  Mr. Marino writes out 4/4 and the clef of D major – students have the option of using quarters, eighths, half notes, and rests (but not too many!).

 

 

The sectional begins with the students listening to a recording of Tudo Rem on the stereo.  Mr. Marino then begins violin section work on these riffs.  He goes around the group checking the starting pitch of the individual violinists.  He tells the students to assume that any intonation problem is their fault, and to adjust accordingly.   This is a valuable comment—I mention this to my students all the time.  He mentions that grooves are all about the bigger feel, not the individual notes.  They all combine to form the larger groove.

 

Mr. Marino plays on an electric piano (Korg) and sings and counts from there.  The piano is loud enough for all the students to hear.  When he needs to talk about an individual rhythm he moves over to the whiteboard to write it down.

 

He tells the students to use a fast bow and short notes.  This helps to give the rhythm accents and to give the music energy.  The students don’t want to use a lot of bow.  I am quite used to seeing this—younger/less advanced students often use far too little bow.  It requires confidence to use a lot of bow.

 

The Brazilian riffs start to creep up the E string into the upper register, and Mr. Marino slows it down to work on the intonation.  When two instruments are playing at the same volume but one instrument is an octave higher that instrument will sound louder, so the lower instrument must compensate and play louder in order to balance the sound.

 

After woodshedding these riffs, Mr. Marino gives the students some phrasing ideas (crescendo/diminuendo, tapering phrases, more accents, etc.).  The students continue working on these licks with these phrasing concepts in mind.  Mr. Marino works on tuning the chords when the line splits into divisi in the violins.  Later in the piece everybody starts snapping and tapping to the top of their instruments, which is actually a pretty cool sound.

 

Mr. Marino goes back to the recording and plays this snapping/tapping section.  This section is accompaniment to the violas/cellos/basses, which have the melody at this point.  The violas, cellos, and basses come back in and the group plays the piece together (this is for about the last 10 minutes of rehearsal).  Mr. Marino doesn’t use a baton for this rehearsal—it really isn’t necessary for this type of work.  He snaps and claps, which works well here.

 

The last couple of minutes of rehearsal are spent working on some music from “Carmen”, which is coming along well.  This arrangement is called “Viva Violas!” for whatever reason.  The basses are particularly strong in this ochestra!

 

 

Mr. Marino begins the second session of the day with tuning using the Dr. Beat through the stereo speakers.  His typical order for string tuning is A-D-G-C-E.  Some students have mixed up the instruments that they are assigned (instruments are provided during school for all string players).  On the whiteboard Mr. Marino has written a rhythm used all over the place in Carmen: and eighth followed by six 16ths.  He wants the students to play this rhythm off-the-string. 

 

The class starts by playing an A major scale unison just bouncing 16ths.  He has the strings move the bow to the balance point to bounce.  Some students are having touble with this stroke, so he slows the class down considerably (to about quarter=60) and then slowly accelerates the tempo to move it to the tempo for Carmen.  I use this technique a lot in my private teaching, and it also works in a group setting.

 

Now the class starts doing the actual Carmen rhythm on a 2 octave A major scale.  I’ve often heard conductors use the phrase, “let the rosin dust fly”, which seems to work well for teaching a group this stroke.  It encourages them to be into the string with sufficient weight to rebound for the stroke.  He also works the group up to tempo like he did with the straight 16ths.

 

This rhythm runs into a rhythm that incorporates slurs in the actual piece, so Mr. Marino writes the two rhythms in different colored marker on the whiteboard to demonstrate the change.  He then works the slurred section up and down the A major scale just like he did with the off-the-string section. 

 

The class then takes out the music for Carmen (the Toreador movement).  Before starting he takes a troublesome instrument (a viola) and works with the pegs to keep them from slipping.  The orchestra starts this movement unison (it is sounding pretty good).  After playing unison for a while Mr. Marino works with just the violins on some tricky business.  The bass players get pretty squirrelly during this section work.  The orchestra starts the movement tutti again, and Mr. Marino turns his attention to the entire group.

 

“Latin Gold” is up for the second half of the rehearsal, and Mr. Marino chats a little about the Homecoming game.  The orchestra starts at measure 76, and the playing is a little fuzzy.  Mr. Marino gets them in line rhythmically and the orchestra continues tutti. 

 

Some more sectional work happens, with Mr. Marino working with the second violins.  He works with them on playing more aggressively in general, with the bow strokes close to the frog and a lot of weight.

 

The orchestra moves back to Carmen, only his time they work on the end of the first movement.  The orchestra then moves to the beginning of the first movement and they are joined by four percussionists.

 

The orchestra’s Brazil trip will consist of an orchestra of strings with these four percussionists, which should make for an interesting group.  This arrangement of Carmen is one I have done before (or it at least has some elements of the one I did).  The Toreador theme has several sections where, strangely, there is no theme!  We did a version with this weirdness in the Milwaukee Ballet a few years ago.

 

The orchestra moves on to rehearsal 78, and Mr. Marino works with the first and second violins.  The intonation is very good on the melody they are playing (the B theme from Toreador).  Three of the four bassists are standing, which is interesting because they all have stools—most high schoolers don’t want to stand if they don’t have to. 

 

The upper strings are having trouble making the transition from pizzicato to arco, and Mr. Marino works the last couple of pizzicato notes into the arco notes to nail the transition.

 

The percussionists sound extremely good!

 

I feel like I’m learning what to focus on and what to let go in a high school setting—how much to be a disciplinarian and how much to be an entertainer.  A teacher is a little of both plus about 100 other things.

 

Visit my teaching observation website (https://teachingobservations.wordpress.com/) for my detailed class notes and copies of handouts from this day of classes.

9/14/06 Mannheim Middle School Summary

9/14/06 Mannheim Middle School Summary

Today’s Total Hours: 3.5

 

I observed several different periods at Mannheim Middle School today.  Mr. Tambroni is the orchestra director at this school, and he has a very nice setup.  He has his own dedicated orchestra room complete with computers, stereo, an electric guitar and electric violin with amplifier (!), a MIDI keyboard, lots of storage space for rosin, music, bows, student folders, student instruments and instrument cases, and the like.  The room is part of a new addition to the school, and it is very state of the art.

 

The first period I observed was a violin sectional in the morning.  The section was working on La Bamba, and Mr. Tambroni was accompanying them on electric guitar.  He worked with the group on keeping the eighth notes straight (not swung), and on how to count out the tricky rhythms.

 

The next period I observed was a group lesson with three very pleasant 6^th grade violinists.  Mr. Tambroni recently had chamber orchestra auditions, and one of the students had done the audition.  The other two were still thinking about doing the audition, so Mr. T (as the students call him) asked them:

 

·         Why do you want to be in chamber orchestra?

·         Do you think you can handle two orchestras plus your homework?

 

Mr. T mentioned to the students that it is not too tough to balance homework with the extra time commitment of the chamber orchestra, but that it did involve some additional responsibility.

 

Mr. T then walked the students through a supplemental packet for school orchestra.  This packet (of which I have a copy) contains rules, guidelines, plus scales and technical exercises.  After some discussion with the students about rules for scales, the instruments came out and the C major scale (1 octave) was played.  While working on this scale Mr. T accompanies the students on the keyboard.  The class then worked on the C major arpeggio.  Usually the concept of arpeggios is introduced later than 6^th grade, but Mr. T’s explanation and demonstration made it easy for the class.

 

The class then started working on “La Bamba”, and more specifically on how to count the tricky rhythms of this work.  After some clapping and counting Mr. T has the class play some excerpts from this music while he accompanies hem on the electric guitar.

 

I then got the opportunity to tour Mannheim Middle School, which was really cool.  It’s amazing to see how much of a difference having the right gear and motivated teachers makes in creating a quality program.  Franklin Park is not a high income area, but this school is equipped as well as any I’ve seen in ritzier North Shore schools, and the quality, enthusiasm, and interest of the students I’ve encountered at this school matches or exceeds what I have observed in these other schools.

 

The last class I observed today was another violin sectional.  This class had four violinists, and the topics covered were basically the same as the sectional earlier in the day.  Mr. T’s delivery method changes even when the topics remain the same.  He is really a excellent teacher, with an improvisatory style that adjusts to the mood of the class.

 

I never in my life thought that I would ever want to work in a middle school, but after observing this school today I have to say that I am considering it.  I have always gotten along well with students of this age.  It seems interesting to work with this age group because they are just starting to grasp more adult ways of thinking, and musically they are starting to become more mature.  I like teaching basic theory concepts as well, and this is the age when people start to do that.  Taking a tour of the facilities with Mr. Tambroni was a real eye-opener.  A very significant part of the footprint of this building is dedicated to music and the arts.  It seems like about 30% of the building is for the arts (including their new performance hall).  This school is really excellently equipped technologically—it seemed that every room I walked into had a bank of computers (all Apple computers), and laptop carts were all over the place.  Several of these laptop carts (and all the computers in the music department) have a suite of music applications installed, including Finale and some audio recording software (the exact application’s name escapes me).

 

The school recently had a new performance hall built for them.  It is really a great facility—about 800 seats, a full light booth and recording booth, and extensive backstage facilities (make-up room, warm-up rooms, props department, and more!).  What a great way to get kids involved in the performing arts, and what a great place for parents to come see their kids involved with school plays, concerts, and productions!

 

Visit my teaching observation website (https://teachingobservations.wordpress.com/) for my detailed class notes and copies of handouts from this day of classes.

Summary for LHS 9-13-06

Summary for LHS 9-13-06

Today’s Total Hours: 2

 

I saw a combination of introductory theory study for freshman orchestra and a rehearsal for Bizet and Latin American music at Libertyville High School today.  The first class I observed today was the introductory theory session.  Mr. Marino used the overhead projector and a basic major scale key signature study sheet to organize the class.  The order of flats in key signatures was covered first, with Mr. Marino pointing out that “BEAD” is the pneumonic device used to remember the order for flats.  “Fat cats going down alley eating birds” was the device used to remember sharps, which is new to me.

 

Mr. Marino reminded the class that we number the ines of the staff by counting up from the bottom line.  Line 4 on the staff is the 2^nd line from the top, for example.  Generally, sharps and flats are kept in the staff.  G# in the treble clef is an exception, however—it is placed on te G# above the staff.

 

Also covered were several of the patterns useful for figuring out what key one is in by checking out the number of flats/sharps in the key signature.  Go a half-step up from the last sharp and you have the name of the key signature for a sharp key.  Find the second-to-last flat and you have the name of the flat key.  Students were then quizzed on example key signatures, and Mr. Marino answered several question from the students.

 

The second orchestra period was a typical orchestra rehearsal.  Being a bassist myself, I attend to notice the lower end of the string section, and I was pleased to see six bass players in this orchestra period.  The first orchestra has four players and the chamber orchestra has three for a total of 13 bass players in the school (great numbers for a school of 1800!).

 

The first section of rehearsal consisted of group work on the F major scale, with crescendo/diminuendo work and bow speed focus.  The second part of the symphony rehearsal consisted of work on the Toreador music from Carmen.  Concepts covered include having the orchestra determine where the third phrase starts, adding a crescendo in the up bow at this point, working on crescendo in third and fourth phrase, and working on getting more contrast out of group.  The group gets the concept after a few attempts.  The basses come in correctly at repetition of theme

 

The LHS orchestras are preparing for a trip to Brazil this year, and a lot of the music this year will be Brazilian.  The orchestra rehearses “Latin Gold” with the percussion section to finish the rehearsal, and the students obviously really enjoy playing this music.

 

Visit my teaching observation website (https://teachingobservations.wordpress.com/) for my detailed class notes and copies of handouts from this day of classes.

Mannheim Middle School Observation

Teaching Observation Notes

 

Date: 9/14/06

Time: 9:05 a.m.

Length: 45 min.

School: Mannheim Middle School

Teacher: Mr. Tambroni

Grade: 6-8

 

Notes:

 

GROUP LESSON

 

Equipment: also an iMac (G3 slot loading and eMac (with OSX) in classroom

 

4 violinists

 

Talk to some of the students about auditioning for chamber orchestra – not too late

 

Student asks, “Can you bow a guitar?” Mr. T tell students how people can

 

I assisted in tuning the class, tuned up two violins – one was very easy to tune and one had slippery pegs and was very difficult.

 

Mr. Tambroni showed me a trick for putting tapes on fingerboards – use pinstriping from an auto detailing shop, just a roll of pinstriping tape – it is vinyl – very thin tape – good because it is not too think – cheap – about $1.89 a roll

 

After setting the students up with tape, the students take out the supplemental packet and turn to “String Orchestra Warm-Ups” look at the D scale exercises, then look at C scale

 

C scale has no flats/sharps – work through the fingering for C scale

 

Talk about how all scales begin and end on their letter name

 

A scale begins/ends on A

A# scale begins/ends on A#

Juan scale begins/ends on Juan

 

Mr. Tambroni accompanies students on piano as hey play C scale

 

Work on figuring out arpeggio for C scale

 

One student figures out the arpeggio almost immediately

 

One student has a very strange brand of rosin, which Mr. T replaces

 

 

LA BAMBA

Talk about violin Mariachi playing

 

Very multi-cultural classroom – Mexican, Italian, Greek, Chinese

 

Start on measure 9 bottom set of notes – discuss rhythm of the line (what was covered in the previous class)

 

Similar materials covered as in last class, only a different style of teaching – Mr. T varies the method of presentation (different analogies, musical examples, order of materials), but the end result is the same – very masterful teaching

 

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

 

Quarter note always gets a number

 

Eighth note can get a number or a “+”

 

Instruments in lap – have students clap rhythmic example – break it into two chunks

 

Qtr – 8^th – 8^{th –} 8^{th –} Qtr – 8^th

 

Repetition in a very engaging way on the two chunks, then combining the chunks together (still clapping)

 

Instruments up – do the rhythm with the bow

 

Point out lesson record in supplemental packet – it is the student’s responsibility to make sure that the record is filled out after each lesson

 

Warn about hanging violin from scroll on stand – very precarious

 

Mr. T picks up electric guitar and demonstrates