Weekly Lesson Plan

The lesson plan for the module, as taught at Leeds, comprises a weekly teacher-led

lecture/workshop (two hours), and an additional weekly self-directed rehearsal (two hours) in which material from the group session is revised independently by small groups of students. In Leeds, the module concluded with a public performance of the aforementioned five contemporary pieces for string orchestra.

The following weekly lesson plan, adapted from Harmer (2007: 161), outlines in detail the Learning and Technical Objectives, teaching materials and activities covered in each of the ten teacher-led lecture/workshop sessions. Each session addresses one aspect of intonation technique in detail. For each teaching activity aims are defined, as well as how the activity fits into the ESA framework. Interaction patterns track the proportion of time spent in teacher-led activities, in comparison to time spent in group-participation or student-led activities. A greater proportion of time should ideally be spent on the latter.

Week 1: The Glissando Continuum

Aims: To introduce concepts of tuning practice and intonation technique.

Learning Objectives: To introduce musical pitch as a continuum; to introduce and give practice of relational intonation.

Technical Objectives: To introduce and give practice of active listening as a component of intonation technique; to give practice of hearing and recognising acoustic beating and difference tones; to give practice of slow bowing technique; to give practice of slow glissando technique.

Materials: Handout 1; Score: Pauline Oliveros – Out of the Dark; Supplementary Video: ‘Beats’

(Bozeman Science, 2015); Supplementary Video: ‘Beat Frequency’ (Kahn Academy, 2016)

ESA Lesson Plan (Week 1):

Stage

(E/S/A) Time Activity Aim Interaction Pattern

E 40 topics through reflecting on lived experience

To facilitate embodied discovery of key characteristics of string

intonation; to refine perception of

‘accuracy’ in pitch matching &

interval placement

score; to apply Learning &

Technical Objectives in a musical context

Rehearsal: group participation, teacher-supervised

Week 2: The Harmonic Series

Aims: To present and give practice of hearing and sounding the harmonic series.

Learning Objectives: To introduce the harmonic series; to introduce low-order ratios as models for familiar intervals.

Technical Objectives: To give practice of playing harmonics 1-9 on open string fundamentals; to give practice using harmonics to realise and recognise low-order intervals.

Materials: Handouts 2, 3; Video Tutorials 1, 2; Score: Scott Mc Laughlin – Threads of the Social; Score: Pauline Oliveros – Out of the Dark

ESA Lesson Plan (Week 2):

Stage (E/S/A)

Time Procedure Aim Interaction

Pattern Harmonic Series, its physics &

mechanics on string instruments

To establish technique of playing harmonics; to begin recognising the sound of the harmonic series, and locating partials within it

Small student

To clarify how harmonics can be used to realise Just intervals

Teacher-led lecture

observation of intervals that can be realised between harmonics in the same series

tempered ones (as observed on the piano)

To build on previous week’s work by adding newly learned material

Rehearsal: group

To introduce Scott Mc Laughlin’s score; to apply Learning &

Technical Objectives in a musical context

Rehearsal: group participation, teacher-supervised

Week 3: Tuning Systems

Aims: To introduce the characteristics of (and key differences between) Just Intonation (JI), Pythagorean Intonation (PI), and 12-Equal Division of the Octave (12-EDO).

Learning Objectives: To introduce the construction of scales in JI, PI & 12-EDO; to present possible applications of JI, PI & 12-EDO in musical context.

Technical Objectives: To give practice of playing scale sections and intervals in relative systems (their feel & behaviour on the instrument).

Materials: Handouts 3, 4 & 5; Score: Isaiah Ceccarelli – Bow; Supplementary Handout: Melodic

& Harmonic Intonation (Kimber, 2005b)

ESA Lesson Plan (Week 3):

Stage (E/S/A)

Time Procedure Aim Interaction

Pattern

To highlight the implications of open-chain vs closed-chain tuning systems; to encourage students to consider the impact of very small differences of pitch upon their practice of intonation (language used is still

un-specific, eg. ‘a little bit higher’)

Teacher-led lecture

S 15 mins Discussion of Handout 4

To present Pythagorean

Major/minor Scale construction Teacher-led lecture S 15 mins Group task: revisit between tuning systems (using a common scale of measurement)

To present one common example of the use of different tuning systems in different contexts

Teacher-led lecture

A 45 mins Group reading of Ceccarelli score

To introduce Isaiah Ceccarelli’s score; to give practice of the potential application of JI/PI in a common practice pitch notation score

Rehearsal: teacher-led, group

participation

Week 4: Cents and Ratios

Aims: To present and give practice of ratio and cent notations.

Learning Objectives: To introduce cent deviations as a means of modifying common practice pitch notation; to introduce cent measurements for common low-order ratios.

Technical Objectives: To give practice of reading cent deviations as components of ratio notation; to give practice of audiating Just intervals as expressed by ratio and cent notation.

Materials: Handouts 3, 4 & 5 (review); Video Tutorial 3; Taylor Brook – Ptolemy’s Observation (Score)

ESA Lesson Plan (Week 4):

Stage

To elicit questioning about how decisions about/interpretations of

notation; to add a level of explicit vocabulary to previous modes of discussion (i.e. ‘a little bit higher’

becomes ‘x cents higher’)

To introduce the Brook score; to give practice of reading cent deviations and ratio notation

Rehearsal: teacher-led, group

participation

Week 5: Playing with Low-Order Intervals

Aims: To present and give practice of low-order intervals.

Learning Objectives: To introduce the mechanics and sonorities of Just 5ths (3:2), 3rds (5:4) and 7ths (7:4); to discuss how these intervals can be expressed in notation.

Technical Objectives: To give practice of hearing and playing these intervals; to give practice of the potential challenges of using these intervals.

Materials: Video Tutorials 4, 5 (supplemental, post-session); Score: Taylor Brook – Ptolemy’s Observation

ESA Lesson Plan (Week 5):

Stage

To give practice of hearing and playing these intervals

To allow each section to discuss patterns of intonation in their own parts

To present and give practice of hearing and playing the intervals involved in performing Brook’s

Week 6: Making Decisions

Aims: To explore decision-making with intonation as a focus in an ensemble context.

Learning Objectives: To introduce the interpretive implications of decision-making in intonation practice.

Technical Objectives: To give practice of making choices about tuning in various contexts.

Materials: Video Tutorial 6; Score: Linda Catlin Smith – Orient Point; Score: Isaiah Ceccarelli – Bow

ESA Lesson Plan (Week 6):

Stage

To elicit embodied discovery of the need for decision making; to elicit critical engagement with

To introduce Linda C. Smith’s score; to present and give practice of various decisions involved in actualising the score;

to provide the opportunity for the group to discuss these decisions and begin forming a collective interpretation

Week 7: Listening Outward/Listening Inward

Aims: To present and give practice of directed listening in various tuning environments.

Learning Objectives: To explore directed listening to others while playing, and listening to oneself while others are playing.

Technical Objectives: To give practice of tuning to oneself (or one’s own instrument); to give practice of tuning to others; to give practice of tuning to an un-stated or unsounding reference pitch.

Materials: all scores

ESA Lesson Plan (Week 7):

Stage

To facilitate discussion of inner and outer listening to others (building of complete harmonies among group)