I. Curricular Framework

Concept:

Expression

Essential Question:

Why is the pipe organ called “an orchestra of its own”?

Bridge:

Transcriptions and Color

Content:

Music: Study of the Pipe Organ

Outcomes:

II. Standards Aligned

III. Instruction and Assessment

1. Connect: Connecting to the Concept Experientially

Objective: Students will learn about different colors in relation to expression.

Activity: Teacher will divide the class into various groups (of about 4 students or so). Each group will receive a stack of colored papers (white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black). The teacher will play four or five different recording s and each group must try to come to consensus on which color is most fitting for the excerpt that was played. The chosen color can then be held up so that the other groups are able to see which color was selected.

Assessment: Students will discuss with one another the purpose in or reasoning behind selecting one color over the others. Are the discussions high-level? Are all members of the group engaged?

2. Attend: Attending to the Connection

Objective: Students will assess their experience in Step 1 and will experience color in a more personal way.

Activity: As a class, the students (with help from the teacher if necessary) will discuss their observations, findings, frustrations and learned lessons from experiencing the activity in Step 1. Teacher will make sure that issues such as color in relations to tone, dynamic, tempo, texture and so on are addressed during the discussion.

Assessment: Are students able to identify the differences in ‘color’? Students should be giving answers about their opinion of color representation based on high-level reasoning.

Assessment, Phase One, Level of Engagement, Fascination:

3. Image: Creating a Mental Picture

Objective: Students will be introduced to the basics of “transcription” and will ‘translate’ one instrumental color into another.

Activity: The teacher will hand each students a copy of the opening bars to Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5”. The teacher will then play (at least twice) the portion of recording that corresponds to those bars. Then, using Finale or Finale Notepad, the students will make an SATB transcription of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. (The text can be a simple, reiterated “doo”) Students can also decide to work individually or in groups. Students should be reminded that their compositions should reflect some semblance of understanding color in relation to music and instrumentation. Students can then perform their transcriptions or play them on Finale or Finale Notepad.

Assessment: Are students selecting specific lines for SATB based on Beethoven’s instrumentation? Students should also be thinking independently or discussing in a high-level manner the effect of having one vocal part sing a line as opposed to another vocal part singing the same line.

Assessment, Phase Two, Seeing the Big Picture:

4. Inform: Receiving Facts & Knowledge

Objective: Students will acquaint themselves with the myriad of colors produced by a pipe organ.

Activity: First, students will go to www.agohq.org and find the link that leads to “A Young Persons Guide to the Pipe Organ”. (If this is a challenge, the teacher can obtain hard copies of the guide from the American Guild of Organists.) The teacher should then lead the students through the various types of pipes that can be found in pipe organs in general. The teacher should also have several different types of pipes with him or her. The volunteers from the local or school band/orchestra should then play a short tune or a few notes on their instruments and the teacher should sound the organ pipe that corresponds with the instrument(s).

Assessment:Students will be able to identify the appearance of various organ pipes (as related to band and orchestra instruments) and will have a concrete understanding of the differences in color between various instrumental ‘stops’ on the pipe organ.

Assessment, Phase Three, Success with Acquiring Knowledge:

5. Practice: Developing Skills

Objective: Students will enhance their understanding of the pipe organ’s ability to reflect various instruments and instrumental colors.

Activity: The teacher will first play an excerpt from an orchestral recording of Vivaldi’s “Concerto in a minor” for two violins. Students should write down any orchestral instruments or recurring themes/melodies they hear. Then, the teacher should play a corresponding excerpt from a pipe organ recording of Bach’s transcription of Vivaldi’s “Concerto in a minor” (BWV 593). Students should listen to see if they can identify various pipe organ stops/sounds and they should also try to see how Bach transcribes the orchestral setting to suit the various colors of the pipe organ.

Assessment: Can students recognize various stops from the recording? Are the students able to identify the organ stop that was used in place of the violins?

Assessment, Phase Four, Success with Acquiring Skills:

6. Extend: Extending Learning to the Outside World

Objective: Students will be able to create their own transcriptions and will experience the process that a person who transcribes must go through while he or she develops a newly transcribed piece.

Activity: Either alone or in groups, students must select an orchestral or choral piece that is relatively well-known. They must then transcribe that piece (or a portion of it) using Finale or Finale Notepad for organ, keeping in mind the various stops that can be used on a pipe organ.

Assessment: Are students paying attention to the purpose of various organ stops in their attempt to create an organ transcription of a choral or orchestral work? Students (if working in groups) should also be discussing in a high-level manner the effects of using one organ stop over another to reflect a particular musical line or part.

7. Refine: Refining the Extension

Objective: Students will evaluate their own compositions and will determine whether or not the compositions accurately reflect the student’s (or students’) interpretations of a selected piece.

Activity: Students will play their pieces either themselves or on a Finale (or Finale Notepad) and they will check their new transcriptions to make sure that the orchestrations of their selected piece is transcribed to their liking. Any necessary changes may be made. For those students who are working on their own, they may find it more useful and/or objective to play their pieces for another student or other students.

Assessment: Students’ compositions should reflect an understanding of tone in relation to how it can be transferred from the orchestra or chorus to the pipe organ.

8. Perform: Creative Manifestation of Material Learned

Objective: Students will share their new transcriptions and will demonstrate their understanding of color/tone/timbre as it relates to the pipe organ.

Activity: With guest organists invited to perform or students who are capable of playing their new transcriptions on the organ, the class will take a field trip to a pipe organ (that has all the necessary stops) where each transcription can be played. If a piece seems to be relatively unfamiliar to some students, it is possible that the orchestral or choral arrangement of it can be played prior to the students hearing of the corresponding transcription.

Assessment: Do the transcriptions of the students make sense to their peers? Did students achieve success in portraying an orchestral or a choral piece on the pipe organ?

Assessment, Phase Five,Performance, Creative Use of Material Learned: