Adam Miller

MUED 373 – Dabback

3 Minute Teaching Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan 1.25.19 (3 Minute Teaching)

Objectives:

• Students will obtain basic comprehension of INTONATION

• Students will practice LISTENING to the people around them for good intonation

Procedure:

• Teacher begins by asking the group about what they know about intonation (1 MIN)

EDIT: 30 SEC

o When you are playing by yourself, what is the best way to conquer your

intonation issues?

§ TONE: Fagan says that “good intonation is a direct byproduct of good

tone” DELETE THIS, NOT NEEDED BECAUSE IT BRINGS

FOCUS AWAY FROM WHAT’S INTENDED

o When playing in a group, what are the two main ways we can adjust our

intonation?

§ Tuning Slides (only about 10% of the equation)

§ Main way is LISTENING to those around you

• Begin LISTENING EXERCISE (1.5 MIN)

EDIT: 2 MINUTES

o Purpose is to practice listening to the people around you and playing in tune,

rather than just adjusting a tuning slide.

o Birthdays in January-June on a Bb, July-December on an F. THIS WOULD

HAVE WORKED IN THEORY, TOO MANY PEOPLE HAVE LATE

BIRTHDAYS. EDIT: COUNT OFF EVERY OTHER PERSON

 Adam Miller
MUED 373 – Dabback
3 Minute Teaching Lesson Plan
o Except for Mitch. Mitch plays a Bb. WHY???

§ Listening down the ensemble to him HIGHLIGHT THIS MORE!

o Play with your best possible tone. DELETE

§ Bb first, add the F after Bb settles in

§ The first time, intonation may not be superb. If not, teacher will mention

the “squirrely” noise.

o Whichever note you didn’t just play, play that one. Bb first, then add F.

§ Mention squirrely-ness if intonation is poor.

o REPEAT THIS AT LEAST TWICE!!

• Discuss (30 SEC)

o How did everybody feel by the end compared to the beginning?

o Was intonation better by the end?

Assessment:

• Students successfully played in tune by listening to each other and adjusting

• Students made progress from the beginning to the end of the exercise

• Students were able to discuss their experiences with the exercise by the end of it

Winding (Winding it Back, Alice Hammel, 2016)

• Winding Back

o If students are having trouble, have Mitchell play the Bb before anybody in order

to establish an “anchor” to listen directly to. Students having trouble should stick

to a Bb with Mitchell and listen directly to him.

• Winding Forward
 Adam Miller
MUED 373 – Dabback
3 Minute Teaching Lesson Plan
o Students who clearly have a good grasp on intonation should think about micro-

tuning individual notes within the context of a chord. We are only playing an

open fifth, which is almost equal temperament (5th is raised slightly). Think about

when the third is added. Should the 5th be high or low? The 3rd? What about a

minor chord? This could be brought up during the “discussion” portion of the

lesson.

3 MINUTE TEACHING REFLECTION

I think a lot of what you mentioned, Dr. Dabback, were things that I was thinking about. I

definitely agree with what Rebecca said, I did unintentionally cut her off from answering a

question but it was solely because of the time crunch. I also did WAY too much talking. I only

had the group play twice, and the intonation wasn’t exactly where it needed to be in the end.

Additionally I have a tendency to repeat instructions, which was a major downfall with the time

crunch. The entire second part of the lesson was not necessary at all. I should have cut it and

done the exercise one more time. Definitely some room to grow!