MUE 6080 Module 3: Teaching Aesthetic Qualities in 6th Grade Band

To teach the aesthetic value of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 Second Movement to a 6th grade band class I would first have the students listen to the piece and write down any thoughts or observations they noticed without any guidance from me. I think it is hard to develop the ability to “listen” instead of simply “hearing” and giving the students an opportunity to notice aesthetic qualities before a teacher directs them in their listening experience may prove to be valuable. 

Next, I will provide the notation of opening oboe solo and note the following qualities:

• The duplicated notes with differing articulations (staccato and slurred) in measures two and four. 
• The ritardando at the end of the first phrase, concluding on beat one in measure nine. (And all other phrase endings in the introduction section). 
• *My intention is to provide several recognizable characteristics of the opening oboe solo so that the students would be able to recognize its exact duplication played by the cellos beginning in measure ten. 
• The entrance of the soft and subtle counter melody in the flutes in measure 32. 
• The change from flowing eight notes to solid and strong quarter notes played by most of the ensemble beginning at the A section. 
• The upward movement of the quarter notes and use of crescendo beginning in measures 54, 56, 58, and 60. Also, the upward movement in the strings with faster notes (8th and 16th) in the opposite measures (55, 57, 59, and 61). 
• Finally, the descending melodic movement to close the A section beginning in measure 70 with fast moving (16th note) lines in the strings and longer (quarter note) lines in the rest of the ensemble.