| Analysis & Reflection: Video Segment #3 |
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Martha Nelson Portfolio - May 2005
| Philosophy | Analysis & Reflection | Academic Development | Additional Materials | The Future |
Analysis & Reflection: Video Segment #3
- Video segment #3: "Clave Rhythm" (Chorus)
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: To introduce the clave rhythm and instrument.
NYS STANDARD(S):
ARTS 1: Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts
ARTS 4: Understanding the Cultural Dimensions and Contributions of the Arts.
MOTIVATION: Play clave rhythm and have students clap along.
CONTENT:
Introduce clave as an instrument and a rhythm
Use "Shave & a Haircut" to learn rhythm
Have all clap and say words aloud
Have half sing and other half say words, then switch
Add clave and/or other hand percussion
Sing through chorus of "Amigos"
Sing with the clave rhythm
Practice having different students sing while others play
SUMMARY/ASSESSMENT/CONCLUSION:
Perform section of "Amigos" while playing clave rhythm
Please note: there is a snippet of a band rehearsal just before this lesson that was erroneously left on the tape. It turned out that taping a rehearsal of one of my performance groups proved to be a difficult exercise. Originally, I had a great lesson that was taped for MUS 660 during November of 1994 that fell victim to a hungry VCR. You can read the paper written about what was one of my best choral rehearsals by clicking here for the Word document.
Now that you have seen me at my near best, you can witness the other end of the spectrum. This lesson was taped on an “off day” but I decided to use it because there is probably more value in critiquing myself on a bad day than at any other time. Not only was it the end of a long day, but I had trouble with my choral students prior to this taping. I collect them from their classrooms and bring them down to the auditorium for rehearsal, and we had many behavioral problems in the hallway on this particular day.
I recently changed the way I conduct my choral rehearsals and instead of having them sit in the auditorium seats, I moved them to the stage and put them in a circle. The day we first moved to the stage, there was a miraculous change in the way they sounded because suddenly they could hear one another much better and therefore did a better job of blending and singing in general. However, I’ve since had some logistical problems with my position in the group. Where I stand to conduct, etc. has not felt comfortable since the move. I am still working on the best way to set up. Plus, here again I have little set up time and therefore tend to be a bit scattered as far as preparation.
As for the lesson, this was an exploration of an idea I had for a song that we are working on for our final concert called “Amigos.” This selection contains the same phrase in several different languages, but has never gelled very well and feels bland for such a study in multiple cultures. So I decided that perhaps we could try putting it to a Latin beat and that might help invigorate the students. The idea for using “Shave and a Haircut” to teach a clave rhythm was one I garnered from the internet. Since I had never tried it before, I think it was a bit confusing until I told them to eliminate the “and a” and just clap on Shave, Haircut, Two Bits. Once they did that it tightened up tremendously.
The energy level in this class was the lowest I’ve ever seen it and that is due to two factors: 1) the behavior problems before class and 2) my own energy level was low. Unfortunately, this played a big role in how the lesson progressed. I had originally thought we would try to add the clave rhythm to “Amigos” right away, but because the kids’ interest seemed to be waning, I thought it best to save that somewhat complex exercise for another day. In our next rehearsal I will review the clave rhythm and then we’ll put it with our tune.
So instead of moving to that as I’d originally planned, I decided to do a quick warm up with “America” and then move to reviewing the words to another song (“Ode to Joy”) that we’ve been asked to perform at the end of the year.
I was very unhappy with this lesson overall, particularly with my conducting skills, which is one of my weaknesses to begin with. My directions were obviously unclear due to my low energy level, my last minute change regarding the material we covered and the fact that I was uncomfortable conducting from that angle. (Not to mention being videotaped!) In any case, I want to make some changes to these things and then tape myself again to see if there is a significant difference. I’d like to spend some quality time working on my conducting in the coming weeks prior to our final concert.
If I were to do this lesson again, I would likely begin by doing a better warm up to get us all more relaxed and “in the zone.” Then I would start the rehearsal by singing “Amigos” before teaching the clave rhythm. They might have been more awake and motivated if I had approached it that way instead of introducing it from out of nowhere.
I also think I need to be a better listener with my chorus. Often times I am so caught up in my teaching that I don’t take the time to be in the moment and hear what they are doing, then teach to that.
First of all, it seemed as if this class went pretty well, in spite of the fact that it seemed as if both the teacher and the students were starting to lose a bit of focus and it appeared that everyone was running out of steam. Overall the lesson seemed to have been covered and the attitude and excitement of the kids seemed pretty decent. I liked how Ms. Nelson built the lesson starting a little slower and saving most of the memorization and more focused work until later in the class. I also thought it was clever to switch off who clapped and who played the percussion instruments, to involve everyone and change it up a bit. I also appreciated the idea of having “listeners” so they could critique themselves.
The choir itself sounded good with lots of good suggestions for blending, as well as generally singing in tune. I also really liked the way that Ms. Nelson experimented with having the children memorize the verses, rather than just reading it and also how she did a short warm up piece so as not to start singing cold.
Throughout the lesson, there was lost of good stuff going on such as encouraging words to the children, good ability of “stepping back” and re-evaluating where to go next and I really liked some of the things that were said to the class that brought her down to their level and kept it from the kids feeling like they were at a distance from the teacher, yet she still seemed to have a good run of the class and was able to discipline when it was required.
I guess the only other constructive criticism I could suggest, which seemed the most evident in this class, was that at times the performances needed a clearer beginning and end, with more clarity throughout. There were times when the overall structure of the songs became a little too loose. I feel this could be remedied through clearer conducting of the pieces, making sure that beginnings and endings are very clear and that timing and structure throughout are very pronounced so that tunes are easy to understand and follow. Otherwise, I found all 3 lessons to be stimulating and extremely well executed.