Assessment Unit Project

Method:

For this project, I worked with the horn players in Band 2 at River Springs Middle School on their

pitch accuracy. I began by talking with my CT to identify a group that would greatly benefit from a lesson

series. Her horn players in this ensemble were switching over from trumpet, so she asked me to work with

them; I decided that these students would greatly benefit from a lesson series on embouchure and pitch

accuracy using audiation. After a brief review of instrument assembly, playing posture, and embouchure

placement, I introduced the concept of audiation. I used this concept as the foundation for my teaching

method, as I built my lessons using exercises designed to improve their inner ear. My long term goal for

this lesson series was to equip the students with a technique that they can use to further advance their

playing. I also wanted to provide the students with example exercises that they can use to practice this

technique.

The series of lessons was built around the audiation their C major scale (Concert F). I began by

administering a pre-test where I asked the students to play each note of the C major scale, starting on the

bottom C, at whatever tempo they feel comfortable. I assessed their pitch accuracy on a scale of 0-8,

awarding one point for every note they played accurately on the first try. In the first lesson, I asked the

students to show me the C major scale fingerings and then led them through singing and playing each

note of the C major scale with a C drone for pitch reference. The students sang and played each note four

times for consistency, with specific related feedback in between repetitions. For the second lesson, I used

an audiation interval exercise to improve pitch accuracy using a C drone for pitch reference. I led the

students through singing and playing C>D>C in slow whole notes on their instrument. The students

continued to sing and play in this pattern: C>E>C, C>F>C, C>G>C, C>A>C, C>B>C, C>C>C. For the

third lesson, I led the students through an audiation based “target practice” exercise. With a C drone for

pitch reference, I led the students through singing and playing each note of the C major scale in 2

measures of quarter note, rest, quarter note, rest. I used the analogy of dart target practice as a transfer
about the kind of air accuracy and support the students must use for this exercise. For the final lesson, I

led the students through a review of the exercises and practice techniques covered throughout the lesson

series. This included a review of fingerings, buzzing the C major scale, singing and playing each note of

the C major with a C drone for pitch reference, and “target practice” on the top 4 notes of the C major

scale. After this review lesson, I administered the post-test. For the post-test, I asked the students to play

the C major scale at any tempo they feel comfortable. I also gave the students the option to hum the scale

up and down before they started the post-test. I awarded 1 point for each pitch the students played

accurately on the first try.

Data:

The two french horn players that I worked with for this project were GM, a 7th grade hispanic female and

ND, a 6th grade multiracial male. Neither of these students qualify for free/reduced lunch and neither of

these students are ELLs or have exceptionalities. The standard covered in this project was MU.68.S.3.

According to GraphMaker, the proficiency score was 6/8. GM was the first to take the pre-test and scored

a 3.5 out of 8. ND was the second to take the pre-test and scored a 4/8. GM was the first to take the

post-test and scored a 6 out of 8 and chose to sing before playing. ND was the second to take the post-test

and chose not to sing before playing.

Findings:

After assessing the information in GraphMaker, I have found that all students, regardless of race,

gender, economic level, or ability, were proficient at the standards addressed. This means that the students

were able to comprehend and remember the content of each lesson. It also means that the learning style

worked for each student and that the kinds of exercises benefitted them.

Something else I discovered when examining the data is that the female student did not improve near as

much as the male student. This could be due to a number of reasons, but I personally believe that she did

not improve as much because she missed the lesson that was aimed at pitch accuracy specifically using

“target practice” exercise. I feel like ND improved exponentially after participating in that exercise,

especially in terms of his efficacy and embouchure.