Art of teaching advanced instrumentalist

Objective: Students will engage in a active listening activity, understand what section of the bow
is appropriate to play in for our piece, and be aware of and have tools available to fix intonation
issues.
10min. Lesson
Objective:
1. Intro
a. Goodmorning. How are we doing today?
b. (2nd attempt) Were we able to memorize the section?
2. Objectives
a. Today we will perform the piece without a conductor. (If section is memorized)
b. Today we will address intonation issues within the A theme section throughout
the ensemble paying special attention to the cellos at their first entrance with the
viola and the first in their first iteration of the A theme.
c. Today we will address tone quality with special attention to the basses.
3. Procedure
a. Engage in active listening through through student lead run of the memorized
section.
i. Encourage students to close their eyes and focus on the sounds around
them.
1. Have students turn their stands around as an alternative to this.
ii. Encourage students to breath and move together during this process.
1. Have students pay close attention to fluctuations in time/tempo
while they play without a conductor
2. Encourage students to pay more attention to their own and the
ensembles musical expression as they play from memory.
b. Isolate sections that are suffering from poor intonation.
i. Ask students to listen to each other and match pitch with their stand
partner and then later with their section
 1. Muscle memory recall activity to encourage student active thinking
through the correcting of the intonation process.
ii. Ask students to vocalize their part or at the very least audiate it internally
before they play.
iii. If time permits attempt a drone tone practice over the section in which
tonic is droned as the play the excerpt.
c. Components of tone
i. Address the parts of the bow and why we may want to play there.
ii. Discussion as to where we would like to play , within section.
iii. Identify what tone we want as an ensemble.
1. What sound are we going for? Why?
4. Closure
a. Today we continued to address intonation issues within the first theme, analyzed
the different parts of the bow and when it is important to use them, as well as
engaged in active listening through a conductorless rehearsal.