CTSE 130 FINAL PROJECT

1. CTSE 130 FINAL PROJECT By: Peter Brown

2. Standard: Music Grade 9-12 Proficient 1.3Objective: Sight-read music accurately and expressively • Motivation: learn to be more proficient at reading music one has never seen before. • Quicker and more detailed rehearsals • Become an overall better musician • Input of Information: Explain in words what it means to sight-read and share some tips on sight-reading. • let them sight-read to let them experience it. After the experience, discuss methods they have found that work and do not work. • Checking Comprehension: Continue to sight-read music at the same level of difficulty to see if the sight-reading improves. • Practice: Sight-read music • Practice: Try to sight-read more difficult music after they have grasped the easier level of music. • Closure: Ask the students to explain what was learned and the relevance. If at first there is no answer, throw in some suggestions, hopefully to get the conversation started. If there is no discussion, sum up what they learned and how it applies to other aspects of music.

3. Standard: Music Grade 9-12 Proficient 2.10 Objective: Understand what improvisation is, what chord progressions are, and how they are interrelated. • Motivation: Play some jazz music with solos, gospel spirituals, freestyle rap). • Ask what it is they hear and if they have anything in common. • After they have thought about it, tell them it is improvising and that is what they are going to learn or be introduced to that day. • Input of Information: Explain what chord progressions are. Then explain what improvisation is (including jazz solos gospel spirituals, freestyle rap, etc.). Then explain how they are interrelated. • Checking Comprehension: • Have a discussion about what chord progressions and soloing are and how they are interrelated. • Practice: Try soloing over a 1-4-5 progression as well as playing chord progressions • Practice: If all goes well, put students in groups and have one play the progression and the others solo over the progression. • Closure: End with another recording of a jazz improvisation solo and ask the students to listen for the chord progression and the expression within the solo itself. Have them relate in discussion what they learned in class to what they heard on the recording.

4. Standard: Music Grade 9-12 Proficient 4.4 Objective: Come to a realization that feelings are evoked through music. • Motivation: Ask if the students have ever heard a song that gave them the chills, gave them a certain feeling, or just to think about songs the like and songs they dislike. Then tell them what they are going to learn that day will help them assess their feelings and help shed some light on why they are stimulated. • Input of Information: Play songs in different keys and ask for different emotional responses (how does the music sound? Sad, Happy, etc.). Point out the trends in responses (songs in major keys often give a happy feeling, songs in minor keys often give a sad feeling, etc.) • Checking Comprehension: Play chords for them on the piano. Ask them to explain the feeling associated with the sound. Then ask them to associated a chord with the feeling if they have learned it (Major=happy, Minor=sad, etc.) • Practice: Listen to major and minor songs and ask them to describe their feelings • Practice: Listen to a song with no clear major or minor prevalence, then have them try to explain their emotional response. • Closure: Ask how this can be applied to other aspects of music. For example, when playing music, it is important to keep in mind the intended evocation of feelings by the composer so that the musician can help to portray that kind of music. Tell them that the next time they listen to music, they should think about what feelings are evoked and why they do or do not like that song.

5. Justification • Standard 1.3: Sight-read music accurately and expressively (level of difficulty:3; scale: 1-6 • In order to learn how to sight-read, one must know what sight-reading is. This lesson introduces sight-reading to the students and allows them to have a hands-on experience with sight-reading. • Standard 2.10: Improvise original melodies over given chord progressions. • In order to improvise over given chord progressions, one must know what it means to improvise and what chord progressions are. This lesson helps the students to learn a chord progression and allows them to try improvising over one. • Standard 4.4: Describe the means used to create images or evoke feelings and emotions in musical works from various cultures. • This lesson gets the students thinking about music and attempting to figure out why they get the feeling they get from listening to music. This lesson will help the students to think about the aesthetic value of music on a deeper level. • All of the Lessons reflect the music framework in that they allow for students to look in depth at music, they allow students to play in a group, they teach students about creative expression, and they help to stimulate and develop aesthetic value.

6. Justification (continued) • My lessons include a great amount of discussion because when I was observing at Foshay, I found that the students responded best to discussions. It made them get out side of what they were learning and think of why they were learning it and how it could be applied to anything else. Moreover, discussion fostered critical thinking and analysis.

7. Technology to support lessons • A stereo or some sort (record, tape, or CD) would be required to play the sample recordings of improvisation. • Could use Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia to show some of the early jazz clips. It could also be used to compare the different forms of improvisation. • Could use Microsoft PowerPoint to deliver the didactic part of the lesson. • Could use a digital or tape recorder to record the students playing so they could hear themselves while not playing at the same time, hopefully to catch something they could not hear while playing.

8. Technology to organize and assess student learning • Could use Microsoft Excel to keep track of student grades and attendance. • Could use a midi program to help the students develop their improvisation solos and unique melodies. • Would require Synthesizer/electronic keyboard • Could use a video camera to record myself and class to look for any patterns and behaviors that need to be changed

9. References • Electronic Toolkit CD set, “Teaching and Learning with Microsoft” • California Frameworks and Standards. Nov. 2002 <http://www.ctc.ca.gov > • How to use cite a source. Nov. 2002 <http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html > • Personal Observation at Foshay Learning Center

10. Appendix containing all threaded discussions • Current Forum: 12/3 Presentation Date: Sun Dec 1 2002 7:37 pm Author: Brown, Peter <pjb@usc.edu> Subject: Question • I was just wondering if lesson plans are supposed to cover an entire standard or just be related in order to partially fulfill the standard so by the end of the year the standard will be fully completed? • Current Forum: 12/3 Presentation Date: Sun Dec 1 2002 10:18 pm Author: Tran, Nguyen Tu <ntran@usc.edu> Subject: Re: Question • Peter, • The lesson plans can partially cover a standard and be a part of a series for the term.

11. Current Forum: 12/3 Presentation Date: Sun Dec 1 2002 11:01 pm Author: Brown, Peter <pjb@usc.edu> Attachment: presentation1.ppt (59392 bytes) Subject: Presentation Here is my presentation, after reviewing, could you please give me some feedback so I can change it before presenting on Tuesday? thanks Current Forum: 12/3 Presentation Date: Mon Dec 2 2002 5:09 pm Author: Tran, Nguyen Tu <ntran@usc.edu> Subject: Re: Presentation are some suggestions to better improve it: Hi Peter, 1. Reduce the number of items/points in each slide to 3-4 max under each objective. Unless you plan to provide handouts, keeping each slide brief will allow your audience to follow. This will also allow you to increase the size of the fonts to make them more readable for the people in the back. Overall, your final project looks good. Here 2. Use different colors and font types to differentiate the various parts of each slide. 3. Under technology, what type of computers will be required to run those programs you’ve mentioned (MAC/PC, minimum system requirements)? Any peripherals needed (keyboard/synthesizer, speaker systems, LCD projector, etc.)? 4. Since your lessons rely heavily on student participation, do you have a systemic way to keep track of who participates for grading purposes? Is there a rubric to evaluate both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the discussions? Margo, please add anything else you think Peter can use. Regards, Tu Appendix containing all threaded discussions