Name: Samantha Buchanan

District: LAUSD
School: Middle School XXX
Grade: 8
Date: 03/08/2018
Lesson Plan Number: 2

National Standards for Music Education

PERFORMING
- Analyze- Analyze the structure and context of varied musical works and their
implications for performance
-MU:Pr4.2.E.5a Demonstrate, using music reading skills where appropriate, how
the setting and formal characteristics of musical works contribute to
understanding the context of the music in prepared or improvised performances.

RESPONDING
-Interpret- Support an interpretation of a musical work that reflects the
creators’/performers’ expressive intent.
-MU:Re8.1.E.8a Identify and support interpretations of the expressive intent and
meaning of musical works, citing as evidence the treatment of the elements of
music, contexts, and (when appropriate) the setting of the text.

California Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards

2.0 CREATIVE EXPRESSION: Creating, Performing, and Participating in Music

-Apply Vocal or Instrumental Skills
-2.1 Sing a repertoire of vocal literature representing various genres, styles, and
cultures with expression, technical accuracy, tone quality, vowel shape, and
articulation—written and memorized, by oneself and in ensembles (level of
difficulty: 2 on a scale of 1–6).

-2.2 Sing music written in two and three parts.

Objectives:

1. To sing independent counterpoint lines confidently in the 16th century style.

2. To utilize dynamics that coincide effectively with the text for appropriate word stress and
aural diversity within a repetitive text.

Equipment and Supplies:

1. Piano
2. Sheet music
3. Pencil

Procedure:

1. I will ask the class to gather around the piano and ensure a pencil is with them to make notes
as needed.
2. I will start a warm up to encourage range extension and diction that are needed in the piece
we are studying today:

a. This exercise works well because it allows for word stress that is needed
throughout the piece through the utilization of amplified consonants.
i. i.e. the “f” in the word “fire”, “m” in the word “my”, etc.
b. I will continually check for good posture, breathing, and listening for diction
throughout the exercise. I will also change the initial consonant used throughout
the exercise.
i. These will include: “f”, “v”, “l” and “d”.
3. Following the exercise, we will begin to study “Fire, Fire”, composed by Thomas Morley.
a. I will divide the class into first soprano, second soprano, and alto sections as this
piece is in 3-part harmony
i. At this point, we will read through the A-section.
b. This is an English madrigal, so I will stress importance of the style of 16th century
madrigal pieces for choir.
i. To explain concept behind a madrigal, I will model the appropriate vocal
style needed throughout the piece. I will then ask:
1. What amount of vibrato am I using?
2. Is this considered “pure-tone” singing?
3. What sort of dynamics are you hearing throughout?
4. What type of diction do you hear that is used? How might you
recreate it?
ii. Madrigals are very dependent on text, so diction should be enunciated
consistently.
1. Particularly, the consonant “l” utilized in “la” is employed for
about half of the piece, specifically in the C-section. Students
should be made sure to say their “l’s” with the tip of the tongue at
the front of the mouth, in the common Italian style. This allows for
fluidity of the tongue with a quick motion and clear separation of
each “la”. It also keeps the tone forward, as “l” consonants tend to
suck the tongue, and furthermore the sound, back dramatically.
a. The tongue is distended in such a way that the point arrives
and touches the roots of the upper teeth
th
iii. The 16 century vocal style utilized very little vibrato and it was
commonplace to use a “pure-tone” (or senza vibrato) effect.
1. This is a straightening of the voice, as opposed to allowing it to
vibrate on a particular note.
2. I will tell the students to ensure tall vowels and a raised soft pallet,
in order to prevent any squeezing of the vocal chords that can at
times occur when singing pure tone. If the voice is properly
supported with appropriate space in the mouth, a beautiful and
unified sound should occur.
a. “in churches and public cappelle one sings in one manner,
and in private camere in another: for there in cappelle one
sings in full voice ... and in camere one sings with a more
submissive and suave voice, and without yelling.”
i. Source:
http://www.maurouberti.it/earlymusic/earlymusic.ht
ml
3. All dynamics should be observed to allow the text (especially
repeated text) to be realized as important as madrigals are largely
strophic works. Alternatively, in the “la” sections, the dynamics
 should be observed to ensure contrast and aural interest throughout
the piece.
a. Strophic works typically have the same melodic material
utilized repeatedly, with different words. The wording is
very important to understand the story, and the dynamics
help engage the listener in the story.
b. In order to continually engage the listener, differences
regarding diction and/or dynamic contrast must be used.
c. I will play each part in the A and B sections as needed, and the combine all
sections after making appropriate changes in diction, dynamics, and vowels as
needed.
i. I will discuss the counterpoint and how it is used independently
throughout the piece. Each voice/section should be equally confident in
order to ensure a balanced sound.
ii. Diction is of the utmost importance in this section, as it contains all of the
text and is the central component to understanding the piece as a whole.
d. Following successful study of the A and B-sections, I will move onto the C-
section (the “la” section).
i. Here we will heavily focus on dynamic contrast, to ensure aural interest
throughout, since there are no words to carry a story, we must create a
story with our dynamic contrasts.
e. After successful study of the C-section, we will run the piece as a whole.

Assessment:

1. I will aurally assess the success of the ensemble by periodically spot-checking sections and
having the sections sing a-Capella, then by having the students listen to their sections and discuss
any potential issues they may have discovered or what they are doing well.

2. I will have the students perform in trios to ensure they all know their parts equally well.
3. Regarding dynamics, I will go throughout each section and ask what dynamics should be
attached to each textual-phrase and why.

Evaluation:

1. The focus regarding independent part singing largely was focused in on the A-section,
due to the short time limit. This is, perhaps, the most difficult section of the piece and the
students did struggle somewhat upon reading it for the first time through. I chose to play
 each part independently and after each section grasped their part, I combined the sections
together. They did well regarding the independent counter point, however many of the
largely-syncopated counterpoint sections remained somewhat struggled, specifically
when sung a capella. However, the students did showcase significant improvement
regarding tone quality and overall knowledge of their combined parts together. The focus
on pure-tone singing in the madrigal style was effective and much improved.
2. Through focus on dynamic contrast and coinciding word-stress, there was significant
improvement. Because of the discussion regarding vowel modification and greater use of
diction, the word stresses were much more apparent. Following these improvements, the
adding of dynamics to accompany the text allowed for a much bouncier, madrigal-like
feel that I was hoping for.

Extension:

Due to the class only reaching the end of the A section, I would continue study of the B-section
and finally merging the piece together as a whole. I would use warm ups to allow more
quickness on non-pitched consonants (such as “f” or “h”). I would also allot more time to
learning the parts individually, with sectionals for the first part of the class and finally coming
together later in the class session. This would allow for each section to learn their parts
independently of one another with more certainty before singing altogether with the
counterpoint.