Ensemble Rehearsal Plan: One Star

Conductors Name: Alexa Kleiman Zimmerman Ensemble Name: Choir

Title of Piece: One Star (Alfred Choral) Grade of Piece: 8th
Composer/Arranger: Words and Music by Sally K. Albrecht and Jay Althouse


Learning Goals (Objectives):

What singers will:

Be able to do (behavioral): By the winter concert, singers of the eighth grade choir will be able
to accurately perform One Star by Sally K. Albrecht and Jay Althouse in tune and with balance
with a success rate of 80%.

Understand (cognitive): Students in the eighth grade choir will be able to have perspective on
how musical texture can impact the overall aesthetic quality of a performance.

Encounter (experiential): Students will be able to sing a ballad that combines polyphonic and
homophonic melodies.

Construct meaning (constructivist): By the end of warm-ups, students will transform their
understanding of how the open vowels will affect their singing as a group.

Aligns with the New Jersey Core Arts Standards:


Materials
Piano
Musical Score


Technical Skills (Intonation, Posture, Breath, Phonation, Balance, Bowing, Sticking for
Percussion, Diction for Singers)

Balance between three parts, intonation not sounding too much like the pop style,
functions of ties/slurs into phrasing, proper vowel shapes and breath support for a unied tone,
accurate diction for clarity of lyrics throughout the ballad.

Musical Concepts (Melody, Rhythm, Harmony, Form, Timbre, Texture)

The texture of the piece creates a picture with sound, and incorporating the feeling of the
song through music will be challenging yet affective. The form compares to a story with a
beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion, which will build with intensity
toward the middle. Focus on dynamics to affect the overall timbre and texture of the piece. Both
homophonic and polyphonic melodies occur throughout the piece.

Empowering Musicianship (Historical Perspective, Stylistic Integrity, Musical Artistry)

By learning this piece, students will have experienced the effectiveness of musical
texture and what it takes to enhance the overall feeling and integrity of the music. Students will
then be able to utilize their own musicianship to enhance the artistic process towards
performance.


Process

Present: (Sequence of lesson steps. Take the learning from their world to the world of the
classroom. Present the information and allow time for students to practice and respond. Engage
critical thinking, problem posing, and problem solving).

Warm Up
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What do you know about breathing?, Where should our breath come from?
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Fill your body like a balloon. Imagine what it would look like if you were lled with air like a
balloon can be lled. Remember where that the balloon is placed by your diaphragm and
not in your chest!
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Assume your back has strings like a marionette and the string gets pulled up to elongate your
back, and just relax your heels back on the oor. Same thing with your head.
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Bring your arms all the way up, then bring them down but keep the ribcage up. Sing from this
position.
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VOICE
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Hm Hm Hm Hm Hm/ 1, 2, 3, 2, 1.
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Alphabet: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (diction).
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Vowels -legato, consonants -marcato.
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Do So/1, 5. Ascending up the major scale
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Texture in a 4/4 pattern:
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Do, do, so, So, rest, rest, mi, mi, rest, (low) so, do, do Ask students for their
suggestions, conductors cue sections for warm up.
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One Star 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (for open vowel placement before beginning the piece)
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Siren from the top of your voice to the bottom.

Recite Lyrics like a poem:
One star, shining in the darkness,
growing ever stronger, shining in the night.
One star, shining like a beacon,
glowing in the heavens, shining so bright.

One star, leading ever onward,
burning with a passion, shining in the night.
One star, leading to a baby,
in a tiny stable, shining so bright.

Lead us, o star of heaven, lead with a light so clear.

Guide us, o star of wonder to the babe so near.

One star, shining in the darkness,
growing ever stronger, shining so bright.
One star, calling all the shepherds,
leading ever eastward, shining in the night

One star, guiding all the wise men
leading to the stable, shining so bright.

Lead us, o star of heaven, lead with a light so clear.
Guide us, o star of wonder, to the babe so near.

One star, shining on the hillside,
shining on the valley, shining from above.
One star, telling us a story,
telling of the glory, bringing us love.

One star, shining in the darkness, growing ever stronger, shining so bright.

Q: After hearing these lyrics, what kind of style do you think goes best with the words to
enhance the poem? Start a discussion about how music can have certain stylistic qualities to
determine the overall feel or quality in a piecewe call this musical texture. With musical
texture there can be different layers or elements that can be simple or complex. When you
describe the texture of a piece of music, you are describing how much is going on in the music
at any given moment. In the piece that we are about to learn, there are many different kinds of
layers that are included within the one song. For example, we talked earlier today about
homophonic and polyphonic music.

Have students go through their music and pick out the spots that are polyphonic and
homophonic melodies. If we were to analyze the texture a step further, then we would look how
the piece starts at the beginning and how it ends. Tell students that the piece starts with a solo
or two, then adds the polyphonic melody, then the homophonic melody, back to the polyphonic
melody, then builds to having a descant and adding so many extra layers, back to the
homophonic melody, back to the polyphonic melody, and ending with a solo again. The texture
starts off small, builds like a rising action to a climax, and then falls again towards the
conclusion. Analyzing music like this in the beginning before you start to actually learn the
notes is a great introduction to any piece of music to become familiar with it. It is something that
you should all think about before any piece of music you begin to learn.


Teach music by sections:
Week 1: Measure 25-41, 41-49, 50-60
Week 2: Measure 61-69, 70-77, 78-88
Week 3: Review and solo auditions
Week 4: Measure 89-96, 97-106
Week 5: Review and solo auditions
Week 6: Memorize and get performance ready


Perform: (Demonstrate teaching music when singers perform)

The seventh grade choir will perform the piece, One Star by Sally K. Albrecht and Jay
Althouse at a combined winter concert.


Assessment:

Formative: The ensemble will improve their open vowels during warm-ups. Increased
understanding of the impact of musical texture in a choral piece.

Summative: Students will show mastery of the piece while actively participating in
rehearsals, and paying attention to the musical elements that contribute to texture.

Integrative: Teacher answers the following questions:

1. In what ways did the lesson add value the students on learning how to analyze a piece of
music before learning the notes?
2. Were the students actively engaged throughout the warm ups?
3. How can this lesson be used as a reference for future lessons and rehearsals?