3rd Term Orchestra Projects

Projects turned in on Friday, March 6 by 4:00pm will receive full credit. Projects turned in between Friday, March 6 at 4:01pm and Friday, March 13 at 4:00pm will receive partial credit. Projects turned in after Friday, March 13 will receive no credit.

Performing with Another Ensemble and Keeping a Blog
Nebo Youth Symphony
Attend rehearsals of the Nebo Youth Symphony every Monday, 3:30-5:30 at Salem Hills High School.
Keep a rehearsal/practice blog. Write down your experiences rehearsing with the Nebo Youth Symphony; your frustrations, triumphs, and what you learned about music. It is expected that you provide one journal entry per week.
Perform at each scheduled concert. Provide a separate journal entry for each scheduled concert.
You may repeat this project.

SHS Folk Ensemble Class
Attend rehearsals of the Springville High School Folk Ensemble, Thursdays, 3:30-5:30pm
You may perform on your major orchestral stringed instrument.
You may perform on a traditional bluegrass/folk ensemble instrument including, but not limited to, the guitar, mandolin, doboro, flute, drums.
Keep a practice/rehearsal blog. Write down your experiences; your frustrations, triumphs, and what you learned about music while learning a new instrument or style. It is expected that you provide one journal entry per week.
Perform at each scheduled concert. Provide a separate journal entry for each scheduled concert.
You may repeat this project

The Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra
Be member of the Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Attend rehearsals of the UVYSO every Tuesday, 4:30-6:30pm
Keep a practice/rehearsal blog. Write down your experiences in the orchestra; your frustrations, triumphs, and what you learned about music while a member of the orchestra. It is expected that you provide one journal entry per week.
Perform at each scheduled concert. Provide a separate journal entry for each scheduled concert.
You may repeat this project .

Blogging Instructions
1. Keep your blog current. Submit your entry within a few days of each rehearsal.
2. So that I may assure honest and consistent maintenance of your journals, please enter each journal entry as an electronic blog. You may use any blog site of your choice. If you don’t know how to begin a blog site you may set up a blog site on blogger.com. Please follow these procedures to set up your blog site:
a. Type www.blogger.com on your browser.
b. Click on the CREATE YOUR OWN BLOG NOW written in the orange arrow.
c. Follow instructions to set up your Google account.
d. Follow instructions to set up your blog page.
3. The final copy of the journal is due on Friday, October 10 at 11:59pm. Please send an e-mail to me with a link of your blog page to samuel.tsugawa@nebo.edu . Make sure that in the subject line of your e-mail you type your class period, first initial and last name. For example, if I am a member of the 3A class I would type 3Atsam. It is very important that you follow this instruction precisely. If you make a mistake, I may not receive your blog link and you will not receive any credit for your journal.
4. You will be graded on the following criteria:
a. Number of entries—You must have a blog entry for each rehearsal you attended. I will keep track of your attendance with your blog entries. Do your entries show consistency in writing, or, have you been consistently writing in your journal? Not writing stuff down a few days prior to the due date?
b. Quality of entries—Do your entries reflect that you have read the articles and used the strategies? Are your entries descriptive? Do you use musical terms and language to describe your practice experience? Do your entries show evidence of consistent attendance? Do your entries show evidence of reflection on how you are rehearsing? Do your entries show evidence of improvement in your playing as you rehearse with this ensemble?
c. Neatness—Are all entries carefully and skillfully written? Does this journal reflect your joy of playing an instrument and writing?
d. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice—Although I am not expecting this journal to be perfect, is this journal easy to read? In other words, if you were to hand this journal to someone, will that person be able to understand your experiences on the first reading? Will I have to start and stop several times because of spelling errors, poor grammar, poor punctuation, and confusing word choices (ie. slang)?
e. Punctuality—Is the electronic copy turned in on time?
f. You may submit this journal to fulfill other assignments in other classes.


Attending Two Concerts and Writing Critiques

Links to Newspaper Music Critiques
Click on the following links to read what music critics have to say about concerts.

Writing a Concert Critique
Attend two concerts and write a one page critique of each concert. Requirements for this project are:

RESEARCH: Find, read and list three music critiques of reviews from a newspaper, periodical, or the Internet. Be sure to list what was critiqued, who wrote it, and where it was published.

PERFORMANCE: Select a public concert to critique. One of the two concerts must be classical in nature. You must attend a recital or concert where the musician(s) have at least one more year of experience than you. You may NOT critique an event in which you are a participant.

NOTES: To help you write a musical critique of the performance, answer "a" through "f" in complete sentences.
a. You must include the Title of the concert, the date and location of the concert, the name of the performing ensemble, and the instrumentation.
b. Using the musical terms; dynamics, style, articulation, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, intonation meter, and texture, to describe the performance.
c. Be specific - name the pieces and instruments you are mentioning.
d. Describe the ensemble performers. Did they work well as a unit? Did they sound balanced? Were their attacks and releases together? Did they Blend?
e. Describe the piece on the program that you most enjoyed and why was it your favorite.
f. Describe the piece on the program you least enjoyed and why. Don't say anything too vague or general. Some examples might be - "they sounded good" (you can do better than that!), "the dynamics were good" (how did they achieve that?), "they need to practice more" (Why?), "the rhythms were interesting" (how were they interesting?), "I liked that song" (Why?), "the band had nice harmonies" (Huh?).

WRITE THE CRITIQUE: Using the information gathered above, type a one page "Critique" of the performance as though you were writing for the "New York Times". Your objective is to try to convince the reader to attend the next performance or dissuade them from attending the concert. You need to give your opinions on the performance but you must back up your opinions with musical terminology and facts. After reading your critique, I should understand clearly what type of music was played and the quality of the performance. Remember, you must always temper criticism with tact, positive reinforcement, and selective criticism (choosing one or two main concern rather than a deluge of negative comments.)

TURNING IN THE CRITIQUE:
• Make sure your critique is neatly typed with a word processing program (Word or Word Perfect).
• Attach a copy of the concert program or ticket stub with your typed critique. If you attended performances at the Region 7 Solo and Ensemble festival, please total the time on your red form and staple the form to your concert report. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE FULL CREDIT FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT IF THERE IS NO PROGRAM, TICKET STUB, OR TIME SHEET ATTACHED TO YOUR CONCERT REPORT.
Source: http://www.winslowk12.org/main/music/assessment/Self%20Evaluation,Critique/critique.htm

Performing a Solo or Small Ensemble at the Region 7 Solo and Ensemble Festival

Your project grade will be based upon your rating earn at the festival.

Complete an Extra Smart Music Assignment

Complete a series of rhythm and scale assignments on Smart Music. I will also ask you to perform a short solo work for your instrument. You may download this assignment from you Smart Music account.