20 Guided Practice Lesson 1.6
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- control articulations with varying attacks and releases with good tone
- play chromatic and diatonic sequences
- play a simple melody with consistent tone, pitch, and articulation control
Materials
- Instrument
- Metronome
- Tuner
Activities
- Santa. Breath in on 4 counts and exhale on three counts saying (Ho, Ho, Ho). Focus on fast air attack and full resonance on the vowel. Repeat 4 times.
- Chromatic long tones. Start in the middle of the register and play a 4 count long tone with the metronome. Rest for 4 counts. Play a half step lower for 4 counts. Rest for 4 counts. Continue for at least 7 half steps.
- Lip Slur #2 or Lip Slur #3. Focus on consistency of air between notes and tension free transitions, particularly on the ascending partial. If three partials can be played comfortably, use lip slur #3. If not, use lip slur #2. Take 4 counts off between each passage.
- Broken Remington. Set a drone to concert F (concert C for horn). Play through the Remington exercise without breaks between measures (except to breath). Pay attention to returning to the fundamental with the drone.
- Articulation Contrast Play on a comfortable pitch. Focus on keeping consistent tone between adjacent notes. Particularly with the accent articulation, pay close attention to control of the attack of the note. On the staccato articulation, make sure that the air column stays engaged between notes by use of a glottal stop after the release of the note. Once notes can be played accurately on a single pitch, add a melodic pattern (e.g. scales, pentachords, interval patterns).
- Dexterity Exercise #3. Choose four keys that are comfortably in the middle of your register. Set the metronome at a rate that you can accurately play each note with proper fingerings. Pay close attention to intonation tendencies, particularly 2-3, 1-3, and 1-2-3 combinations. Make sure to adjust using proper techniques (e.g. 3rd valve slide, 4th valve, hand position)
- Melody. Select one of the simple melodies from Practice Materials. Pay particular attention to accurate fingerings, consistent tone, and good phrasing.
