Spring 2019

High School Placement

Video Response #1
For my first video response assignment, I chose to record myself conducting the 2nd
band at my high school placement. This school uses a block schedule so this ensemble meets
2 or 3 times a week depending on the week. This ensemble consists of all of the standard
instruments for a symphonic band and has 5 percussionists. In this lesson, the ensemble was
reading “Sea Songs” by Ralph Vaughan Williams for the first time.
At the beginning of class, I had the students go through their regular breathing
exercises and warm up routines. Because “Sea Songs” had a few characteristic rhythms and
was in the key of Ab major, the warm up was centered around those aspects. The students
were also given the opportunity to show their knowledge on the front whiteboard by writing
in the counts underneath the rhythms that were already on the board. As the students were
talking about the rhythms, I used this opportunity to talk about style how it applies to “Sea
Songs”.
After working through those exercises, we then transitioned over to “Sea Songs”.
Because I knew it was their first time reading “Sea Songs”, I set the metronome a good bit
slower talked briefly about approach. At the time, I felt that the most important thing the
students could do was to play confidently and to make mistakes. If the students were fearful
and hesitant in their playing, then that would have been how they learned the piece.
Overall, I felt that I set an achievable goal for the rehearsal; for the students to be
able to play up to the first key change in the piece with the intent on playing the right
dynamics and style. Going in to this rehearsal, I knew that the rhythms and notes were going
to be an issue, so I also made sure to prioritize those aspects of the piece. After watching this
video, I felt that I could have given the students some time on their to practice their parts
because I noticed that when I was working with a section, the rest of the band would just sit
there unengaged. By giving them the time to practice on their own, it allows them the
freedom to practice the sections of the music they are struggling.
I was pleased with how I asked my students questions. By asking the students
questions, I was able to check if they were listening as they played and kept them engaged.