How to reach every student

 

In any beginning orchestra class, there will be students learning at different rates.  Each student comes from a unique background with various exposure to music.  Some come to my class already reading notes with years of piano experience while others are experiencing instruments for the very first time.  This week I've been working to help each of my students get to the 'next level' of playing by determining what each individual students needs to focus on the most.  

A great video to introduce this is any of the Rob Landes videos where he played iconic music from 'noob' to 'epic.'  We discuss in class how each student and progress to the next level.

On Monday, I have students self-assess their skills throughout the rehearsal using this tracking sheet:

After students completed the evaluation, I had them circle one 'level' where they would like to focus and improve.  

Tuesday, I took the student evaluations from the day before and stapled a practice activity to the back - customized to help the student improve on the level they selected.  The 3 areas of focus were TECHNIQUE, NOTE READING, and CONCERT MUSIC.  

When class started, I explained how to complete the practice assignment.  As students practiced, I was free to roam the room and provide one-on-one help for individual students.  I didn't have time to listen to every single student, but I made sure to listen to any student on the yellow level (Technique).  It was so good to have the time to give students a mini private lesson and I believe students improved a ton.  It is magical to see their eyes light up as they see themselves improve and grow in playing and confidence.   Since I didn't have time to listen to every student, we talked about how we have to be our own teacher when we practice by paying attention and fixing our own mistakes. 

This was a great way to meet the needs of my ALL of my students - at any level.  

EPIC or FAIL Lesson Plan

 

My students sounded better today then ever and I attribute that to my lesson plan.  I introduced the theme of the lesson using this video:  

Students voted with the audience during the video using a thumbs up or thumbs down.  After the video, I explained to students that I could tell if their playing would be 'epic' or 'fail' even before they start playing.  

It is so important to set up the bow hand, bow placement, and left hand properly before playing anything.  It determines whether we will have strong tone, straight bows, and good intonation.  For an example, I asked my bass players to set their bows on the D string and freeze in place. I asked the class to decide if their bows were going to be straight or crooked when they started playing.  (We kept the vote to ourselves...I like to keep the atmosphere positive and don't call people out unless it's praise).  The basses then played open D 4 times and it was very apparent that the straightness of the bow was determined by how it was set on the string.

The lesson flowed as follows:

I had students 'spy' on their stand partner and decide if they bow would be straight or crooked based on bow placement or if their tone would be clear or squeaky.  (Again, we did not reveal our guesses...this was more about students feeling like their technique was being 'checked' by someone...and also it made students very aware of what they were doing in their own playing).  To keep things positive, I walked around the class and called out names of students who I could tell were going to be successful.  Students LOVE to hear their names...especially when it's followed with someone they are doing well.  For example, "I can tell Sue is going to have a really straight bow stroke because of how she's places her bow."  

Next I had students place left hands and I told them I could tell who was about to play in tune based on how their left hands were placed.  "I can tell Tom is going to play in tune because of the way his fingers hovers directly over the tapes."

We checked left hand placement again for this warm-up.  Students just learned this warm-up and it's great for helping tune improve intonation for G in the D string.  "I can tell Bobby is going to play in tune because he already lined up his fingers above the tape."

Next we quickly practiced rhythms. I inserted them into my slides from rhythmrandomizer.com.  I told students that I could tell who was going to play rhythms correctly because I could see them moving/counting to the beat.  My students did extra well with rhythms today because they ALL wanted to be noticed being 'epic' and counting the rhythms.

Students who are 'epic' at reading notes stand out by setting up great left hand placement so they don't have to watch their fingers. They keep their eyes on the notes.  My students cruised through note reading...and I'd never heard them so well in tune while note reading.  It was like everything clicked into place.  They wanted to be 'epic' by setting up play position with accuracy and focusing on the notes.

We worked on concert music for the rest of rehearsal.  My students are working on Country Gardens, Pepperoni Pizza Rock, Hall of Heroes, We Will Rock You, and I just passed out Ninja.  They were totally EPIC!

This lesson plan works well for ANY level.  I used the same plan for my 2nd year players, altering the warm-ups, adding shifting exercises (how can you tell if someone will play the shift in tune?), practicing extensions (epic players start to reach for extensions BEFORE the note).  

ACCESS EDITABLE LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE HERE

Note Reading with SMARTIES

 

I posted about this idea on social media...here's a template for the worksheet.

I buy Smarties in bulk on Amazon

First Concert for Beginning Orchestra

 

I love the first concert of the year.  You would think people wouldn't get too excited about hearing a beginning orchestra after just a couple months of instruction, but the families of my students LOVE this concert and every seat is filled.  That's because I have a reputation for having fun, family friendly concerts...lots of audience participation, students who sound great, and I keep it short (never over 30 minutes).  I don't combine my concerts with other groups.  Instead, I let the students perform for the entire concert and parents get to see their own kid the entire time.  In the past, I combined concerts with other levels and tried to get the students and audience to stay for the entire thing...but here's the deal.  Families are busy.  Parents just want to see their kid. Some students might be inspired by watching the older students so let students choose to go to 'extra' concerts on their own.  You can always use class time to show videos of amazing and inspiring performances to motivate students.

You might wonder how I can fill an entire concert with beginning orchestra students.  My teaching has changed over the years.  I used to teach note reading and playing skills simultaneously.  I now hold off with 'real' note reading until after the 1st concert.  This gives me a lot of time to focus on building proper technique.  I've found that my students learn notes much more quickly after they are comfortable and confident with basic playing skills.  I see my students every school day for 45-50 minutes.  Here's what my students are playing for their first concert this year...without any real note reading:

1. Bluey theme.  I give my students the notes written out and they taught themselves.  I keep the notes on my board during tuning and students practice it over and over without me ever telling them to do it because they all want to learn it so badly!  At the concert, I will introduce the orchestra using this theme. The violins will play it, then yell, VIOLIN, then the violas play it and yell, VIOLA! etc.  I bought a cute little violin costume for a student to wear during the part of the concert and the student will wave their arms and point at each section as they play.

2. Twinkle Twinkle - Pepperoni Pizza Rhythm.  Students will play this piece with a backtrack.  While they are playing, the audience will be tasked with counting how many times the orchestra plays the 'pepperoni pizza' rhythm.  I'll call on someone in the audience after we play and ask for the answer.  If they are correct, I'll have a student run over wearing a Dominos Pizza delivery uniform and hand the audience member a pizza box (with a gift card inside for a pizza).

3. Regular Twinkle - Students will perform this version with long, beautiful bow strokes along with a backtrack.  While we play, audience will be tasked with keeping some 'stars' in the air.  I have HUGE 36 inch balloons for 'stars' and it looks super cool to have the audience bounce those in the air throughout our playing.

4. Boil 'Em Cabbage - We play a few repeats of this one...I'll have each section play the main melody one at a time while the other sections play a simple back up part.  Then the entire group will play the piece using a different rhythm (I call it 'yum cookie').  The audience with stomp and clap along.  After we play this fiddle tune, I'll invite young kids in the audience to come to the front to participate in a good old fashioned sack race.  Each kid will get to wear a cowboy hat.

5. Sourwood Mountain - This is another fiddle tune we play.  There are 2 parts to each of my fiddle tunes --- an open string pizzicato part, then the melody part. I let students choose which part to play so it's great for differentiation and the melody parts are a nice challenge.  The audience will clap along.

6. Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammar (kind of).  I've posted about my version of this song in the past.  I used an app to change the key of the song and wrote out a play along version for my students. I love the play along because it's great for beginner technique... (lots of repetition at setting G then playing down the D ladder).  Students will play along with the karaoke backtrack. I wrote all new words to the entire song that are all about orchestra...so a student get to act like a famous pop star and sing the song with the new orchestra words while we play

7. Tip Toe Concerto - This is a piece I wrote for my students a few years ago.  Students love this piece and it's very playable with the note names in the note heads.  I love it because it's a real ensemble piece where different sections play different parts. Students think it sounds so cool.  The challenge is teaching them to play it without rushing!  I recommend adding a drum track.  This year I have going to teach the audience a little body percussion to 'play' along with us during the piece.

8. Dance Monkey - I have a subscription to Tomplay which has been a fun resource to use with my students. Sometimes before school, I project a piece on my screen, start the backtrack, and students love to play along.  I love how the site has music for lots of different levels.  I am using the 'easy' version of Dance Monkey (viola version).  I wrote the notes out for students and they will play it unison with the backtrack in the concert.  While we play, 3 of my students will dress up in monkey suits and dance for the audience.

9.  Clocks by Coldplay - I'm not positive we'll have time to learn this one, but hopefully we'll get there!  I got this one from Tomplay as well.  Students will play along with a backtrack from the site and I wrote out their parts.  The audience will use glowsticks to keep the beat while we play.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL lesson plans

 

Maybe I'm crazy, but I love the first day of school.  I try to make my class stand out on the first day by making it fun, meaningful, and memorable.  Here's what I do for my beginners and HERE is a link to the actual slides.  Visit my TPT STORE for an editable version.

1. As students come into the room, I greet them with excitement and energy. I have fun music blasting and instructions on my screen:

2. When I bell rings, I welcome students and start introducing our class theme for the school year. This year my theme is POWER UP.  I start by sharing a YouTube video of what super heroes look like without the special effects.  I tell them that super heroes are special because they can do things the average person is not able to do.  But it's not real!  But the amazing thing is there is real power inside of you.  We discuss what kind of power we have to harness in order to learn new skills and make progress.  We watch couple short clips from YouTube about the difference between talent and skill.  All students are capable to learn an instrument.  We watch a short video with Rob Landes demonstrate the progress on the violin from the first minute up to a several years.  The amazing thing is that all of us have this ability super ability to grow and improve at whatever we decide to work on.

3. After introducing the theme, I tell students that it is time to POWER UP.  It's time to start putting forth the right kind of effort and focus to learn how to be amazing.  I teach important procedures in with entertaining stories and we practice following procedures.

4.  Students get their custom folders and write their names on it with a sharpie.  Inside the folder are items they need for the first week.  

5. Time to start learning!  We pass out straws and I teach students hold to hold a bow using the straw with fun music in the background.  We move together and practice bow exercises.  Then I tell them I am paying them to come to school today and I give them each a penny.  They practice balancing the penny on top of the straw. I challenge them to a game of 'minute to win it' the next day.  They are instructed to put the straw and pennies in their folder and to practice for tomorrow.

6. We talk about the need to practice and put in effort at least a tiny bit each day. They are given and tracker to help guide their practice.  It very simple and doable.  I guide students through a short information sheet and teach students how to hand in papers...I use these papers to make my seating charts for the next day.

7. I quickly review the supplies students need for the class so students who don't yet have instruments can begin the process of renting.

8. If time, we do a 'first day survey' where students answer some fun questions.

Warm Up Zone - a new book for beginning and intermediate players

I am so excited about this warm-up book!  I've been needing a warm-up book to use with my year 2 players.  I tend to find myself repeating the same scales the same ways, only to find that my orchestra struggled to play in tune once the notes were all mixed up in the concert music. 

This warm up book is perfect for many skill levels. There are ways to differentiate each exercise so all students can succeed as they master scales, fingerings, intonation, bowing, time signatures, and key signatures from 2 sharps to 2 flats. 

Check out the many ways to utilize this book as your daily warm-up:

1.  Help students learn the scales by having them play ONLY the first note in each measure. You can have them hold the first note as a whole note, or have them play the rhythm of each measure on the scale pitch (first note). If you have students who struggle, you might allow them to play only the first note of each measure while the class plays the other notes.

2.  Divide the orchestra into 2 groups. You can group students a few different ways:

       -By section - violins in one group and viola, cello, bass in another.

       -By row - alternate rows for each group.

 

       -By stand partner - one person in group 1 and one person in group 2.

Once students are groups, assign various ways to practice the sequence:

       -Group 1 plays only the first note, group 2 plays as written

       -Group 1 plays measure 1 as written, then group 2 echos measure 1, etc.

       -Group 1 plays measure 1, group 2 measure 2, etc.

3. Add challenge and difficulty by asking students to practice the bowing suggestions. You might have more advanced students play challenging bowings while others play the sequence as written. When experimenting with bowing, you can experiment with starting down bow or up bow. Add bow lifts as desired.

4. There are rhythm variations to help students get the feel of the sequence in different time signatures. Once students have mastered the rhythms, you could have students create bowings for those variations. You could also use the rhythm variation stems for students to create a composition or develop improv skills by coming up with ideas as to what could come next. If students struggle because the rhythms stems do not show the entire variation, have them write it out. It’s great practice!

5. After each sequence, there is a challenge activity for students to create their own variation or experiment with technique. By completing the challenges, students develop their creativity, composition, and improv skills

149 pages total includes score and parts for violin, viola, and cello/bass. Each student book is 33 pages.  Purchase at TPT or my website!

 

The secret to note reading

 

To me, teaching note reading is a huge deal.  If students don't learn to read notes in my beginning orchestra class I know they were struggle at the next level and perhaps not be able to continue playing.  Some students get very creative in their avoidance of note reading.  They guess, watch the teachers fingers, watch their stand partner's fingers, or even get really good at memorizing and playing by ear.  To help my students to learn to really read the notes, I tell them the secret to reading notes.  It may sound simplistic...but it's a real strategy!  'YOU HAVE TO READ THE NOTES!'  That's the secret.  You can't try to get around it.  You keep your eyes on the notes and play without looking away.  There will be a temptation to stop when you make a mistake or look at your fingers.  You have to keep looking at the notes, follow along with the tempo, letting your brain tell what fingers should move.

Students need a LOT of note reading practice.  There is no way for a method book to provide enough practice excerpts.  I decided to create a resource which gradually increases in difficulty with a ton of examples for students to really practice reading notes. There are 15 levels and over 300 slides for students to really practice note reading mastery. 

This resource was made in google slides, so the download is EDITABLE!  That means there are so many ways to use this with your students.  Here are some ideas as listed in the slides:

It's organized so all students can read the notes on the same screen:

Purchase at TPT or OrchestraClassroom.com!

Revenge of the FIFTH (Sith)

 Themed lesson plans are so much fun!  I just put together one for May 5th - REVENGE OF THE FIFTH!  You can access and edit your own version HERE!  

Preview my version HERE.

Hope you enjoy!