Anna Fuhrman

Observation Lesson Plan

Honors Orchestra
May 10 2023

Objective
● Students will be able to improve rhythmic and note accuracy in Crown
Imperial through rhythmic warm up and warm ups in B flat major in order to
prepare for our performance at graduation.
● Students will be able to use effective sight reading strategies through a class
discussion in order to sight read all of Crown Imperial.
● Would like to get through all of Crown Imperial by the end of the lesson
without stopping

Alignment with Standards

● Highly performance based lesson, majority of the lesson will be students
playing through music while also creating their own artistic interpretations
and responding to what the composer wrote
● Creating and performing music, responding to discussion about sight reading
in order to be a more effective player

Sequential Lesson
Warm up:
● Give students time to get settled, talk about their concert from the night
before, go over announcements with mentor teacher
● Tune off of the A
● Tell students we will be working in the key of B flat major today, give
students some time to work through the scale on their own and go around the
room to give individual feedback
● Go through the B flat scale with 4 quarter notes on each scale degree with
metronome, look for students using full bow length on each note and
accurate pitches, especially F natural, B flat, and E flat, will move on when
bow lengths are consistent for everyone and pitches are all correct
● Go through B flat scale returning to tonic each time (ex: Bb C Bb, Bb D Bb,
etc) with a B flat drone to listen for intonation, looking for full bow length,
accurate pitches, adjusting intonation especially on notes that use low 2
fingerings (F, Bb, Eb, C), will move on when bow lengths are consistent for
everyone, all pitches are correct , intonation is being adjusted even if it is
not perfect
 Ask students which notes we are having the hardest time with when
listening to the drone and how can we work on this
● Look on screen to see rhythm written out (first two measures of Crown
Imperial), play each scale degree of the B flat major scale with this rhythm
on each pitch, looking for consistent bowing directions, separation between
notes, accurate rhythms, confident entrances on beat 2, accurate notes
Explain that this is the beginning of Crown Imperial and there will be a
cymbal crash on beat one for violins, say crash to help them get used to
this
Ask if we are starting on an up bow or a down bow if bowing is
inconsistent
Ask what type of articulation seems to fit this rhythm

Crown Imperial/Sight reading:

Discussion
● Crown Imperial may or may not be passed out to everyone, take time to
make sure everyone has the music and give students a few moments to look
at it, ask them to look for what they think might be the most challenging part
of the piece
● Bring the class back together, ask students what are the most important
things to look for when sight reading (time, key, tempo, etc) and ask students
to look at the piece for those things, ask students what they think the most
challenging parts will be and what the easiest parts will be
● Explain how the beginning will work with the cymbal crash again and sing
through their part so students understand their entrances, play through the
first three measures, listen for correct entrances and accurate rhythm that
we practiced earlier
● I will sing the melody from 1-12 while violins air bow so they can hear the
tricky rhythms, then have everyone try playing from 1-12, move on when
rhythms are accurately played, observing the key signature, and students are
entering at the correct time USE METRONOME
● Give students a few moments to look and practice from measures 1-46 to see
when those rhythms come back, then try to run that entire section, repeat this
step if needed if students are struggling with notes and rhythms, and have
students clap their parts if there are inaccuracies in this section, looking for
note and rhythm accuracy, especially holding the half note for the correct
duration USE METRONOME
 ● Start at measure 52 (meno mosso) to measure 70 (fermata), give students a
moment to look at it and then run through, this section is much easier and
students should be able to play it accurately without much actual rehearsal
● Start at 71 and remind students about the rit., demonstrate what that
conducting will look like, another section that should be simple to put
together.
● Give students time to look from 91-111, remind students to look for
accidentals, run through this section (ignore repeats for now)
● Start at 111, ask students what section this is similar to (the beginning),
the rest of the piece is long held out notes so remind students to count, and
try to run through the rest of the piece
● Give students a moment to practice any difficult section from the entire
piece, then try running the entire thing without stopping, or only stopping to
regroup at a rehearsal number

If unexpected note or rhythm issues come up:

-have students clap through their rhythms
-sing rhythms back to them
-hold out each note to listen for inaccurate pitches
-have students air bow their parts
-isolate the melody or section that needs to be heard have them play alone