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.