Anna Fuhrman

Observation Lesson Plan

Concert band
April 12 2023

Objective
● Students will be able to improve note and rhythm accuracy by
rehearsing sections of our concert music in order to prepare for our
Spring concert.
● Students will be able to play without stopping through the middle
section of their piece The Great Clipper Race by reviewing mixed
meter and accidentals in order to prepare for our Spring Concert.
● Students will refamiliarize themselves with the Spring Concert music
after break by playing through sections of each piece in order to
motivate students to practice and get back into the habit of playing.

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

Sequential Lesson
Warm up:
● Breathing exercises
In 4 out 4, 8, 12, 16
Sip breaths
Who can hold a note the longest on their instrument

● Long tones exercise from warm up packet, focus on good attacks and
releases
● Play concert B flat like a beginner, then middle school, high school,
college, professional to work on good tone and balance
● B flat scale in a round to work on listening skills, split the group in
half first, then split by parts they are divided in for Great Clipper Race
● E flat major scale- play scale normally first, then play four quarter
notes on each pitch and have students watch my conducting for
musical cues (change in tempo, dynamics, style, etc)
● Have everyone play a concert E flat with quarter notes and have them
watch conducting changes, this time go from 4 4 into 3 4 and talk
about how that will look different in my conducting

Review:
 ● Work through sections of the Great Clipper Race that we focused on
right before break to solidify note and rhythm accuracy, starts at mm.
11 and same section comes back at mm. 94
● Make sure notes in the melody are generally played with separation
and that there is good balance between all of the parts

New material:
Great Clipper Race
● Measures 43-84, rehearse slow section with change to 3 4 and back
● Start at the fast tempo at 43 and go through the transition of getting
slower, show students what this will look like with my conducting if
they are having trouble
● Starting in the slow section, listen to just the top two parts to help
them bring out the melody and listen for note and rhythm accuracy,
then isolate the bottom part and do the same
● Tell them to circle when it switches to ¾ and when it switches back,
practice counting through those sections
● Try to play the entire section without stopping, and then continue on
into the fast section that they already know

Assuming there is time, we will continue on with the other pieces with a
small break in between

Flourishes
● Look at the beginning of the piece mm. 1-55 for note and rhythm
accuracy
● Try to play through this section and stop as necessary, this sounded
solid before break but students may need to play it again to re
familiarize themselves with the music

Flamingo Road
● Rehearse mm. 32-50, hardest part of the piece for parts 1 and 2,
focusing on accurate syncopation and note accuracy.
● We will take out the ties in this section first to help get an
understanding of the rhythm, and then add them back in.

If time: run the Great Clipper Race at the end to reinforce new learning