1. I observed one of Kelly Berhdal's concert bands in rehearsal during 1st period at BHS.
2. There were definitely some problems with students being unprepared and unfocused . Like Mr. Berhdal said, sometimes you just have a bad rehearsal day. I was so impressed at how quiet they got when he raised his voice. I'm sure that this style of management probably only works for some people and it probably also only works now that he knows the student body pretty well. I don't think it would be such a great option for me.
3. This ensemble was kind of in a middle stage of repertoire learning--there are definitely some notes that still need to be learned, but they were able to work on some issues of balance and blend.
4. The two main pieces that we heard them work on seemed to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. the In This Quiet Place seemed much too easy and they were definitely bored with it, however the Cowboy piece seemed to be really challenging them.
5. I think this observation definitely made me realize that kids are sometimes just difficult and things don't go very well and you just have to shrug it off and make your next rehearsal better.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
3-22-12 BHS Jazz band observation
1. I observed Kelly Berhdal's 7:30 jazz band in rehearsal at BHS.
2. It kind of bothered me that they didn't really start on time and it seemed to take a while to get everyone settled in and into work mode. Once they got there though I thought that they got a lot done in a small amount of time.
3. I thought that the warm-up they did was great! I was really impressed at how well all the kids did with their improvised solo and I thought it was great that they also did a call and response type of exercise to focus on ear training. The band was working on some charts for an upcoming show so they were into a polishing up stage at this point and really working on uniformity of sound, attacks, releases, and dynamics.
4. I'm not very well versed in jazz band literature. I thought they sounded good and it didn't seem too hard for them. There definitely were a few rhythmic things that had challenged them, but none of it seemed beyond them. Can we maybe discuss how to evaluate literature for a jazz band, or an ensemble that isn't our forte???
5. I thought that it really seemed like the kids were enjoying themselves and working hard at the same time. I think its really important to develop strong courses like this outside of your main concert group because it develops musical skills in a different way and also is an extra engagement for the students.
2. It kind of bothered me that they didn't really start on time and it seemed to take a while to get everyone settled in and into work mode. Once they got there though I thought that they got a lot done in a small amount of time.
3. I thought that the warm-up they did was great! I was really impressed at how well all the kids did with their improvised solo and I thought it was great that they also did a call and response type of exercise to focus on ear training. The band was working on some charts for an upcoming show so they were into a polishing up stage at this point and really working on uniformity of sound, attacks, releases, and dynamics.
4. I'm not very well versed in jazz band literature. I thought they sounded good and it didn't seem too hard for them. There definitely were a few rhythmic things that had challenged them, but none of it seemed beyond them. Can we maybe discuss how to evaluate literature for a jazz band, or an ensemble that isn't our forte???
5. I thought that it really seemed like the kids were enjoying themselves and working hard at the same time. I think its really important to develop strong courses like this outside of your main concert group because it develops musical skills in a different way and also is an extra engagement for the students.
3-20-12 BHS observation/practicum
1. I observed and lead a warm-up for Mr. Certalic's Camerata orchestra (a group of high schools, the majority of whom are juniors and seniors) at BHS during one of their rehearsals.
2. I think the biggest management issue I notices was when the students needed their etude and fiddle tune books and it probably took at least 5 to 7 minutes for everyone to get a book and get re-settled. This could probably be remedied by having more than one storage area for the books (for example keep violins, violas, and celli books in different areas so there is a little less of a stack-up.) Also, I will definitely want to plan ahead so they have those books at the beginning of class and avoid the disruption.
3. The learning goals of Mr. Certalic's warm-ups are the foundations of everything that he does in orchestra. They are all founded on improving the basic tenants of string playing (intonation, tone, and technique) The call and response exercise that I led was meant to work on ear training development.
4. The variety of warm-ups that Mr. Certalic has is incredible. The etude book is a collection of many of the best traditional etudes for different stringed instruments arranged for an orchestral group. The collection of fiddle tunes is a great way to bring in some American culture/a style outside of western art music and to also work on improvisation which is often a skill that is neglected in the education of orchestra students.
5. I think it is really wonderful that these students are learning the importance of different warm-ups to develop their technique. I think one of the main things that I would add is that time on scales needs to be divided between working very slowly and carefully for accurate intonation as well as developing speed and agility.
2. I think the biggest management issue I notices was when the students needed their etude and fiddle tune books and it probably took at least 5 to 7 minutes for everyone to get a book and get re-settled. This could probably be remedied by having more than one storage area for the books (for example keep violins, violas, and celli books in different areas so there is a little less of a stack-up.) Also, I will definitely want to plan ahead so they have those books at the beginning of class and avoid the disruption.
3. The learning goals of Mr. Certalic's warm-ups are the foundations of everything that he does in orchestra. They are all founded on improving the basic tenants of string playing (intonation, tone, and technique) The call and response exercise that I led was meant to work on ear training development.
4. The variety of warm-ups that Mr. Certalic has is incredible. The etude book is a collection of many of the best traditional etudes for different stringed instruments arranged for an orchestral group. The collection of fiddle tunes is a great way to bring in some American culture/a style outside of western art music and to also work on improvisation which is often a skill that is neglected in the education of orchestra students.
5. I think it is really wonderful that these students are learning the importance of different warm-ups to develop their technique. I think one of the main things that I would add is that time on scales needs to be divided between working very slowly and carefully for accurate intonation as well as developing speed and agility.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
3-6-12 BHS Observation
1. I observed Mr. Certalic's Camerata Orchestra at BHS at 7:30 AM
2. I thought that the students did a great job of following instructions quickly and accurately. Also, Mr. Certalic had a wide variety of activities and the students were constantly engaged.
3. The students did a wide variety of warm-ups as a demonstration for us. The four main categories were a call and response echo exercise, scales, etude work, and fiddle tunes
4. The learning objectives here a continued refining of the basic techniques that musicians work on their entire careers: tone, intonation, use of bow, articulation, dynamics, ect
5. Mr. Certalic's class seemed pretty focuses and well behaved. The few times that they did get a little chatty they were quick to quiet down when Mr. Certalic just said "quiet down" or "be quiet"
2. I thought that the students did a great job of following instructions quickly and accurately. Also, Mr. Certalic had a wide variety of activities and the students were constantly engaged.
3. The students did a wide variety of warm-ups as a demonstration for us. The four main categories were a call and response echo exercise, scales, etude work, and fiddle tunes
4. The learning objectives here a continued refining of the basic techniques that musicians work on their entire careers: tone, intonation, use of bow, articulation, dynamics, ect
5. Mr. Certalic's class seemed pretty focuses and well behaved. The few times that they did get a little chatty they were quick to quiet down when Mr. Certalic just said "quiet down" or "be quiet"
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