Oboe

picture source

What are the TOK and SOK in Oboe? How do we teach this to a beginner?

TOK is a thumb octave key and SOK is a side octave key. First have the student play the lower note. Then the teacher presses the designated octave key for the second note. Notice that the upper notes will be flat and that a faster air stream is required for the upper notes. The student then practices the exercise with pitch adjustments using increased air speed and/or a firmer lip cushion. 

Three ways the pitch can be varied on any double reed.

1. Changing Embouchure: (firmer cushion for higher and softer tone, softer cushion for lower and louder tones)

2. Air speed: Fast (higher pitch) Slow (lower pitch)

3. Amount of reed that is in mouth: More reed in mouth for higher and louder tones. Less reed in mouth for lower and softer tones.  

Bassoon

Common pedagogical problems (both physical and musical) that we often see in the beginning Bassoon player.

 ·        Reed problem: Not enough reed in mouth or too much reed in mouth (Flat/sharp sound) Dry reed won’t vibrate and make sound.

·        Embouchure problems like lips over teeth too far and chin bunched up.

·        Fingering problems such as lacking knowledge of alternate fingerings,  incorrect use of whisper key, incorrect use of half-hole fingerings, and lacking knowledge of flick keys which can cause breaks between pitches and inaccurate pitch sound.

·        Breathing problems: Lack of support for upper register, air used incorrectly

Flute

Basic things about Flute Teaching and Learning

1. Flute Assembly (head, middle and foot joint)

Step 1 Open the case which the brand name is shown on the top. Place the foot joint on the middle section. To avoid pressure on the keys, grab where there are no keys. Turn foot joint to accommodate length of right pinky, key rod of foot should align with the middle of keys of the middle joint

Step 2 Place the head joint on the middle joint. Align so that the center of the embouchure hole is in line with the center of the keys. 

2. Daily Care of the flute

1) After playing, swab the bore using a dry cotton cloth threaded onto the cleaning rod and wrapped over the end of the rod. 2) Wipe off fingerprints with a cotton cloth 3) If there is moisture under pads or if pads are sticking, insert absorbent cloth between key and tone hole and gently close keys.

3. 6 step body position check for flute playing position

1) Head up  2) Bring flute to mouth  3) Flute should be parallel to lips  4) Flute may be parallel with floor  5) Chest up  6) In sitting position, right elbow should not hook over back of chair

4. Developing a aperture

Verbalize and explain how to do air on hand [pencil dot] exercise

Samulnori

I want to introduce Samulnori today since I wrote about "Jing" last time. Samulnori is a Korean traditional percussion music and Samulnori performers wear the traditional clothes for performance. It is very rhythmic and entertaining. It requires four different Korean traditional instruments such as Kkwaenggwari (small gong), Jing (larger gong), Janggu (hourglass-shaped drum), and Buk (a barrel drum). Buk has a lower sound than Janggu and Jing has a lower sound than Kkwaenggwari. Kkwaenggwari sounds very annoying actually because it is very loud and relatively high in pitch. Each of the four instruments represents a different weather condition: the Janggu represents rain, the Kkwaenggwari is thunder, the Jing is the sound of the wind, and the Buk represents clouds. The formation of the performers is in the picture below.

http://samulnorimexico.blogspot.com/

  I give you this link to look at the actual performance to get the idea what Samulnori is.

Korean Music Samulnori

A Korean Traditional Gong, "Jing"

From my music classroom method II class, some people were interested in my Korean gong, "Jing." The Jing is a large gong used in traditional Korean music. It can be used in Samul nori music, pungmul, and daechwita music of Korea. The gong is made from brass and struck by a soft clothed hammer. Some people wanted to know how much it is and where to buy. I did not know that it is so difficult to find the place to buy it in America. I could not find any American website for selling Jings, but I found many Korean websites in Korea that sell Jings. The price of the gong in the picture is $250, which is not bad at all! You can ask someone to send it from Korea or you can visit Korea in order to buy this instrument. If you do so,  I recommend you to watch Samul nori performance in Korea. It will be fun and educational for all of us!

http://www.kugakki.com/shop/shopdetail.html?branduid=55&xcode=007&mcode=000&scode=&type=O&search=&sort=price

Silver Apples of the Moon

An american composer of electronic music, Morton Subotnick is best known for his Silver Apples of the Moon. This is the first electronic music which was commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch. Silver Apples of the Moon was written in 1967. This music can be accepted as highly abstract. For me, it is abstract and I do not like this kind of music personally. The rhythm is not regular and there is not noticeable consequence and patterns in this music. However, there is a sense of a regular rhythm at some point in this music. The electronic instrumentation has a variety and appear section by section. Electronic music can express something that acoustic classical music cannot express. It sounds like a future and technology. In my opinion, the title, Silver Apples of the Moon indicates our possibility to go to the moon and even find apples there. I do not know if you like this music or not (because I don't), but I will put the link for the recording.  

Music technology in 1979

Even in 1979, the interest in music technology was huge. This video, The New Sound Of Music is a BCC history documentary from the year 1979. This video is about the development of recorded music from the first barrel organs, pianolas, the phonograph, the magnetic tape recorder and the concepts of electronic music development. In addition, EMS Synthesizers and equipment were introduced in this film. This film also introduces a invention of a robot music that several instruments are played at the same time by using the holes on the paper. It is fascinating to see the organ making sound, as the music page is rolled. Even though it does not look fancy as these days' music technology equipment, at least it gives me the notion of  fun that can be found in music technology. Isn't the piano that is played without a performer interesting? I recommend you to watch this video!

Final Project: Technology Integration Project

I worked with a lesson plan on a beginner’s oboe lesson with middle school students. The lesson plan is designed for students to learn and play Hot Cross Buns on the oboe individually and in groups. The main goal of the lesson is to teach the students how to play three notes (D, C, and Bb) on the oboe and Hot Cross Buns song by using these three notes. The reason why I chose this lesson plan is that it has detailed procedures and NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards for music content area. Beyond the existing lesson plan, I infused some technologies and strategies for this final project. Now, allow me to lead you into my TechnologyIntegration Matrix.

On the matrix, I organized standards, strategies, and technologies in three columns. There are four steps to standards integration: access, analysis, evaluation/assessment and communication. In addition to the Music NJ Core Curriculum Standards in yellow, I put NETS for Students in green to help the lesson to be more interesting and beneficial for the students.

On the first row, I indicated my educational goal about this lesson: “Increasing student understanding on playing notes on the oboe.” Throughout the four steps to standards integration, I will work toward accomplishing this goal.

The rows 3-7 are an access stage with an opening activity: listening and trying. As the teacher models a simple pattern with three pitches (D, C, and Bb), the students follow the oral and visual instruction to try on their oboes (NJCCCS 1.3.P.B.1). In this stage, the students will smoothly get involved into the learning process. In order to make this lesson more effective, I would ask the students to record their individual three notes pattern playing on the computer by using USB microphones (NETS-S 6.b). They will listen to the outcome only by themselves and self-evaluate their playing in order to fix some problems. They can ask questions to the teacher but there will be no sharing for this activity.

The rows 8-12 are about an analysis. The goal is helping the students to understand theoretical part of the song before they play it. The students will be asked to answer some theory questions about the song, Hot Cross Buns: key signature, time signature, and notes that will be used (NJCCCS 1.3.12.B.2). By infusing technology, I take a further step for the students to analyze the music. The students will use the Finale (music writing software) to put the Roman numeral analysis for each measure (NETS-S 3.d). Once they finish their editing, they will print the music with an analysis and submit it to the teacher.

The rows 13-17 are on evaluation and assessment stage. The teacher will give certain note names randomly (C, D or Bb) and the whole class will play them in unison. While the teacher is conducting for breathing and rhythm, the students will follow by playing them on the oboes (NJCCCS 1.3.2.B.7).This is a good chance for the teacher to assess how the students feel comfortable to play three notes and evaluate the students’ progress in learning. The further evaluation will be not only a self-evaluation but also a peer-evaluation by recording their group playing with a digital camera (NETS-S 1.b). Immediately, I will put the video on a big screen and ask the students to evaluate or critique their playing. They also will discuss how they can improve the sound (Is this a breathing, an embouchure or a fingering issue?).      

The final rows 18-24 are a communication stage. Since they learned three notes in a Hot Cross Buns song beautifully, this is a chance to perform it with confidence. The students will play the song together as the teacher gives them particular conducting cues (NJCCCS 1.3.8.B.2). As they perform the song on the oboes, I will record the sound in MP3 file format by using a USB microphone. I would give this MP3 file to the class and they will use the garage band in order to build up this monophonic single melody to the polyphonic or homophonic music with different accompanying instruments. After finishing their projects, they will post their work on the school website. The students will discuss about each other’s work as a constructive critique on the discussion forum of the website (NETS-S 2.b). This way, I can evaluate students’ improvisation skill and music technology skill as well as their overall performance during the class. Also the students can communicate to each other about their performance and arrangement which will give them a chance to develop a critical thinking skill. 

After infusing some technologies on the original lesson plan, I felt like this lesson becomes more complete with the use of technology. I tried not to overuse the technology, but I tried to put as many technological devices as possible. I like the lesson with technologies better than the one without it. Because of the use of technology, all the access, the analysis, the evaluation and communication parts are elaborated and extended with a successful fulfillment of the original goal of the lesson. Furthermore, I could evaluate the students more creatively by using technology in the classroom. I would like to infuse and use more technological strategies for other lesson plans, because it definitely motivates my students’ understanding and learning.           

Music Ed Technology

If you are a music educator and wonder how you are going to use technology in your classroom, you should check this website. http://musicedtech.com/

This is called, Music Education Technology, "Teach music. Technology will follow."
On the website, it gives you information about sessions and workshops of usage of technology in music classrooms. Especially it is talking that how music composition can be done effectively by using garageband and other music softwares. I think this website and the contact info of Barbara Freedman would help many music educators who really want to adapt music technology in their classroom but have no idea how to.

Interactivity #5

I interviewed a middle school (5 -8) music teacher in Closter School District. For the first question, she was not sure if she has heard about NETS or not. When she rewrote her curriculum this year, she had to use new technology standards, but she is not sure if that was the new NETS. She did not know if her school has begun to implement the new NETS for students or not. She did not know if her state/province has begun to implement the new NETS for students either. For the question, “How will the NETS be used at your school, district, state/province,” she answered “I am not sure”. She also said that her school is a fairly technology oriented school, so she would believe that they would just continue to fund technology. Because her school district is interested in using technology, the transition will be smooth and fair. However, she did not know when her school, district or state will complete the transition.

During the interview, I did not get lengthy answers because the teacher was not that passionate about using technology. I received only short answers and most of them were “I do not know.” It was obvious that the teacher is not knowledgeable about the NETS-S or NETS-T. Her initial reaction to the standards was that she is familiar with some standards, but unfamiliar with the fact that there is such thing called, NETS. I do not know if this school has begun to implement the NETS-S or NETS-T, since she had no idea what is going on. However, the school definitely has a guideline or technology standards to use when they write the curriculum. The school was considering technology in education seriously. I was surprised at the teacher’s responses of “I do not know,” because I assumed that every teacher knows about NETS (at least, I am learning about it in college). It seems technology became more important and emphasized these days. The teacher I interviewed was very young and she perhaps learned about NETS from her technology education class. However, I could understand her indifference about NETS because she must be already very busy with all the band and orchestra rehearsals. She has to put more efforts on teaching students with their instruments. 

As a future teacher I would speak to others within my school about NETS-S and NETS-T with more knowledge and information. I will be able to explain some standards along with my lesson plans and I will try to pay attention to updates of new NETS.      

Google Spreadsheet

Interactivity #4

I chose the “Compose a Phrase” lesson plan because it has clear curriculum goals. There were three main goals: 1) teaching students how to play G and C scales on the keyboard, 2) helping each student to play from the piano book pp.23-51 and 3) challenging students to compose a short notation project using Sibelius software. Also this lesson plan has a lot of use in digital technology such as computers, Sibelius software, digital camera and projector which can grab students’ attention easily. This lesson definitely supports many of NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards.

In my opinion, there was no gap between the curriculum goals, teaching strategies, and technologies used. Because the writer of this lesson plan used each technology on the appropriate teaching strategies, the achievement of the curriculum goals was the natural outcome. For example, she used Sibelius software after teaching students notes in G and C scales. By the time, students were very confident with using these scales and working with Sibelius could motivate students to apply what they learned to the real composition. The usage of electronic keyboards was a great idea, too. It really helps students to play the instrument to remember notes in scales rather than just reading and listening.         

The technologies that were used in this lesson plan were essential to achieve the curriculum goals in authenticity. Without electronic keyboards or Sibelius software on the computers, students would not be able to actively participate in music making. The whole curriculum goals were written based on the use of these technologies. Without these technologies, the curriculum goals would be possible to achieve in 40 minutes as it was planned. Perhaps it is possible, but it would take much longer to achieve it.   

URL of my spread sheet 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AizMSVGMihqtdFgzYkEwVXVfb1BwOUgzdF9EOXl2MEE

Interactivity #3

The group process required by this interactivity was authentic collaborative and all of us worked together to fill the spreadsheet with our personal knowledge on music technology. We came up with ideas and reasonably listed names of technology and websites. I was not familiar with some of technologies and I learned many new sources through this project. The final inventory of our spreadsheet is Karaoke software website by Allison. Through this program, you can sing, record, watch and listen to yourself singing. 

Reading through the list, I was amazed at how many technological supports I can get for music teaching. Some of them inspire me to use them for actual music teaching. For example, Virtual Keyboard website, introduced by Ryan Freid was a great tool for kids to learn the keyboard. On this "virtual" keyboard, there are different sound options like flute, guitar and strings. Children will love spending time on music learning with this program. Since letter names are written on the keyboard nicely, students can learn letter names on the keyboard without a teacher. 

This complete technology inventory can serve my purposes in READ 411 (Language and Literacy). Music has its own literate world with musical vocabularies. Music teachers must test students' basic musical terms and in order to do that, I need a good website to support their study. Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary was introduced by Patricia Bruno and this website will guide students to find the answer whenever they do not know what a certain musical word means. 

This collaboration was good for all of us, because we could share our information on music technology and we learned a lot from each other.  

Interactivity #2



In 1900's, the invention of TV probably made the classroom more fun and diverse, however it is sad to see that this many students had to sit in front of a tiny little Television to figure out what they were talking about. 



Image source: (Pop Rocks/https://e-folio.web.virginia.edu/Q-folio/1/EDIS542/2006Fall-1/cs/UserItems/beb5z_1069.html)

Use of technology in music classroom

Using technology in the classroom opens many doors for young music students.
It grabs their attention faster and easier, proving music is not a boring traditional labor, but an enjoyable game in the world of sounds. If educators use this musical techonology in proper ways in teaching, music class would provide much more fun in learning for our students. We cannot buy all the fancy techonology system for our students, but some are affordable. Technological music products must be purchased in extra care because it is almost imposible to update devices often. It can be one of teacher's required abilities to buy proper device that really help students learning in long term. Digital equipment such as Roland RMP 12 can provide percussion sound both inside and outside the classroom without taking too much room. Music creation software helps students composing with different instruments. Finally, I would like to have a good recording system in my music classroom. Use of technology in music classroom is increased and now it is very hard to imagine a good music classroom without a good music technology device. It helps students as well as teachers.

Interactivity #1: Technology as Autobiography

STEP 1

#1: Laptop       #2: Cell phone                         #3: Navigation (GPS)

STEP2

Olivia’s famous technology tools are ipod, cellphone, myspace and online games. She does not own the computer but by using it in school and her friend’s house, she learned how to use it and how to enjoy it. There were only few students in her class who have a computer. Even in New Jersey, poor areas and poor school exist. Students cannot have their own computer and they rely on school to give instruction with technology. Olivia is very interested in learning new things especially using the computer and other technologies to create her own identity. Even though she does not have a computer, she is motivated to learn it and she figured out many things by herself without a teacher. Olivia teaches me that technology attracts young people and if they want, they can learn it fast and be well on it easily. I should use technology more when I teach music to grab their attentions. Also, her “big sister” Dawn, learns from Olivia about the technology, which means, when I teach in my classrooms, my students will know more about technology than I do. They are more interested in using the technology in my opinion and I feel that she spends more time with it even though I do own my computer.

STEP 3

MUSIC PRODUCTION, SOUND PRODUCTION, FILM PRODUCTION, WRITING, READING, PHONE, GAME, MUSIC, TWITTER, TEXTING, PICTURES, ASSIGNMENTS, CREATING IDEANTITY.

STEP 4

The three most influential communications technologies in my life are (1) my laptop, (2) cellphone and (3) the navigation

#1 My Laptop: I use my laptop for 5 hours a day, checking e-mails and doing homeworks. Because I do not watch the TV, I see the latest news and watch videos on my laptop. That is how it shapes my life for better. However, sometimes I waste my time when I spend too much time with it. I use it almost every morning and night. I wish I could spend more time on book readings.

#2 Cell phone: The second most influential communications technology is my cell phone. I try to charge my phone frequently because I have to pick up the phone whenever my boyfriend calls me from Korea. My cell phone is our only communication tool. On the other hand, the cell phone is very annoying when it is ringing while I am in the class and when I am concentrated on something.

#3 Navigation (GPS): I spend many hours in my car going to new places. Whenever I drive, I turn it on and use it to find the direction. The paper map does not work well with me. However, it sometimes guides me to take a local road and eventually it takes longer than I expected.              

Through using the laptop, I learn new information about people I know (facebook), about professors’ opinions on projects (email), and about what is going on in the world by watching news. Using my cell phone, I can talk to my friends. The navigation gives me the information of the direction while I am in the car.

There are similarities and differences between me and young people in the video with the usage of technology. The similarities are that both of us use the technology in order to get some kind of information. We use it for our homework assignments and school projects. Also, it is similar that the technology takes an important part in all our life. Some young people said that “I cannot live without my laptop,” and “my cellphone is like my third hand.” I do not think that we cannot survive without it, but it is obvious that it will be much uncomfortable living without it for all of us. Finally, we all form and shape our identity through the usage of technology. We enjoy using technology and get benefits out of it.   

However, it seems like young people use the technology more for fun than I use my technology for that. I use these communications technology in order to get information and communication for the most of times. I do not play the game or spend too much time with websites like myspace or facebook. In addition, some young people in both videos loved making and listening to music with their ipods and computers, but I do not love listening to music while I am using my laptop, cellphone or the navigation. I rather listen to music in the car while I am driving.