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DME ORFF ASSIGNMENT

Each student will design an accompaniment to a song,

 which will be taught and then performed on Orff instruments

 

Grading Criteria

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lesson procedure - organization and flow

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ensemble outcome

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student accessibility

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appropriateness of accompaniment to song

 

Orff Rubric

Criteria

Performance Indicators

Failing

Needs Improvement

Acceptable

Good

Excellent

Composition

Not accessible to grade level; incomplete, or missing

Somewhat inaccessible to grade level; not very compatible to the song; score incomplete

Partially accessible to grade level; works with the song; some deviation from score

Mostly accessible to grade level; complements the song; minimal deviation from score

Accessible to grade level; excellent complement to song; score complete and correct

 0-27 points28 points32 points36 points40 points

Pre-lesson

 

Incomplete; unacceptable or missing; 0-6 points

Instrument assignment inefficient and/or instruments not named

Partially efficient assignment of instruments; some instruments named

Mostly efficient assignment of instruments; all instruments named

Instruments effectively and efficiently assigned; all instruments correctly named

 0-6 points7 points8 points9 points10 points

Lesson

 

Unacceptable disorganization in teaching process; students not engaged

Disorganized teaching process; too much lag time; lack of student engagement

Acceptable teaching process; some pacing issues; some students not engaged

Good teaching process; minimum pacing issues; most students engaged

Excellent teaching process and pacing; all students continually engaged

 0-27 points28 points32 points36 points40 points

Performance

Students unable to complete the performance

Some students confused or making up their own parts

Result less than optimum, but with potential

Good result with clear ending

Aesthetically pleasing and satisfying outcome for all students

 0-6 points7 points8 points9 points10 points
      

Total points

0-69

70

80

90

100


 

Procedure

 

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Choose a song. In a classroom setting, an Orff accompaniment would be added after the class had learned the song, so it is not necessary for you to teach the song.   Do not use a song that has already been used by another student in your class.  Make sure the song is age-appropriate to the grade level for which you  are preparing.  Begin with a proper range for the song.  Do not write your Orff accompaniment in a key that is out of range for the singers.

 

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Choose a grade level.  Review the Developmental Levels handout in order to choose an appropriate song and level of accompaniment.  Make sure the vocal part is in a comfortable range for your age group.

 

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Choose at least 4 instruments to accompany the song.  Some instruments may be assigned to you.  At least two of the instruments must be pitched instruments.  At least one of them must be a xylophone or metallophone.  You may supplement these with any of the classroom instruments in 112A.  They do not all have to be "Orff instruments."  If you are not familiar with your assigned instrument(s), be sure to research the name, pronunciation, how to play it, etc.  Don't assume you know what a hand drum is, or how to play a talking drum, for example.

 
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Make up a different part for each instrument.  Think "accompaniment", not just "sound effects".  It is most effective to make up something at the instrument first (not sitting at Finale).  This should be an accompaniment that you can remember and do again without looking at a score.  That is the way the students would learn it. 

 

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Notate each part.  Remember that you will be able to use the notation for reference but the parts must be taught to your "students" by rote, so keep it simple.  This accompaniment should take no longer than 30 seconds per student to teach. Please notate on Finale.  Clearly label which instrument should play each line.  The vocal part should be the first line and the lyrics should be included.

 

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Compile your lesson on one sheet.  Include on this sheet your name, the name of the song, the words to the song and the notation to your accompaniment.  If your song is too long for one page after you have tried scaling the size down, you may put it on 2 facing pages.  Do not leave the score in Finale's default size.  See the Finale page for instructions on how to scale down the size of the score.  85% is a good place to start.  Use percussion notation for non-pitched instruments.  Make copies of this sheet (with holes punched) for all class members and for me.

 

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Rehearse the lesson.  You may think a part will take only 30 seconds to teach, but finding a friend(s) to practice teaching it may be very enlightening. 

 

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Set up the instruments you have chosen before class begins on the day your assignment is due.  If you have a class before DME, come earlier or have someone help you set up.  The building opens at 7:30am.

 
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Choose your players when it is time for your lesson to begin.  This should be a random choice based on our discussion of "volunteers."   It is even possible to place 2 students on the larger instruments, or to have more than one student playing identical instruments.  Name the instruments as they are assigned.

 

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Have another student pass out copies of your lesson while you are assigning instruments to your players.  That student should also make sure that the instrumentalists receive a copy of the lesson after they have performed.

 
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Teach the instrument parts  quickly by rote to your instrumentalists.   Feel free to give them visual cues (changing notes on your cue, etc.), numbers of beats to count before changing notes, or associations to words in the song.  A good process is to add instruments as opposed to teaching all parts first.  Be prepared to keep the rest of the class engaged/participating while the instrumentalists are learning their parts.

 
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Lead the entire class through the song. Those students not chosen to accompany will sing the words to the song.  Part of the lesson will be leading the singing students, as well.  It often works well to start the instrumental accompaniment and then bring in the singers.  It may depend on the nature of your accompaniment and upon the song.  See me if you need advice.  This entire process should not take longer than 10 minutes.

 

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Put all instruments away after class.  Make sure they are in the correct slots whether you found them there or not and that no chromatic bars are left on the instruments.

 

 

Hints

 
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Use repetition  Since everything will be taught by rote, make it simple.  Devise a rhythmic motive of 2, 4 or 8 beats and repeat.  Ostinatos work well.  Rhythmic patterns don't have to sound simple.  The most difficult parts are those without enough repetition or pattern, because they are hard to remember.  See p. 208 in your textbook for some examples.

 

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Use the concept of a Coda to break a pattern at the end or to explain how to come to a stop together.

 
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Use words to teach rhythms  "huckleberry" for 4 16th notes, or a phrase like "Old MacDonald had a farm" for ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ta

 

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Attach changes to words in the song  When harmonic changes in the song require a pitch position shift (from C-G ostinato to G-D, for example), the player can be instructed to change when a certain word comes up in the song.  For example, in the song "Skip to My Lou", the player can be instructed to alternate between the above 2 patterns on the following words:

"Flies"

"Flies"

"Flies"

"Skip"

"Darling"

Four changes achieved by knowing the words to the song.

 

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Use conducting cues to achieve harmonic changes as above.   Cue (point) to the student to signal a change.  Make sure you give preparatory time when cueing.

 

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Do NOT leave the rest of the class idle for long periods while you teach the accompaniment parts.  Plan a strategy to keep the singers also engaged.

 

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Be aware that if you plan to use contrabass bars, we only have C, D, F, and G.  Plan the key of your piece accordingly.

 

 

INSTRUMENTS

 
Xylophones

(Soprano, Alto and Bass)

 

 

 

Metallophones

(Soprano, Alto and Bass)

 

 

Glockenspiels

(Soprano and alto)

 

Rhythm Sticks
Claves
Wood Block
Tick Tock
Guiro
Castanet
Jingle Tap
Loop Bells
Tap-a-Tap
Sand Blocks
Maracas
Cow Bell
Triangle
Tone Block
Suspended Cymbal
Crash Cymbals
Finger Cymbals
Tambourine
Whip
Cabasa
Shaker
Handle Bells
Train Whistle
Sleigh Bell Hoop
Vibra Slap
Agogo Bells
Flex-a-Tone
Wood Block
Jingle Sticks
Monk Bell
Kokiriko
Ratchet
African Rattle
Maracas
Guiro
Afuche
Castanets
Castanet
Slide Whistle
Siren
Bell Tree

Rainmaker

(Rain stick)

Tambourine
Tambourine
Tambourine

Frame Drum

(Hand drum)

 

 

Steel Drum

  
 
 

 

Bongos
  

 

 

Temple blocks
  

 

 

 

Djembe
  

 

 

Talking Drum
 

 

Autoharp
 

 

 

Conga Drum
 

 

 

 

 

Slit Log Drum

 

 

Native American Tom Tom Drums
Single Sided Hoop Drums
 

 

 

 

Hand Drum Tunable
Tunable Tambourine
Tom Tom Drum
2 Headed Drum
2 Headed Bongo
2 Headed Tunable Bongo
Conga
Brass Gong
Tom Boy
Indian Drum
Power Fish Tambourine

 

 

 

 

 

Created and maintained by Vicky V. Johnson

 

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