Henry T.

Law

LP 1 | Mechanism

Objectives

1. Students will sight read Mechanism while beginning to understand what they need
practice.
2. Students will begin the process of vertical alignment in the A section of Mechanism.
3. Students will learn how their individual part fits into the whole of a line/phrase.

Plan
 Hello everyone, if you do not know my name is Henry Law. I play in a whole lot of

ensembles here at K-State in all of the genre’s we offer. Last concert block I conducted

a woodwind ensemble and I am really excited to be in front of you guys now.

 The piece we are playing is called Mechanism and was written by Todd Stalter. The piece

is very technical and focuses on the driving eighth note pulse. The key of the piece is

written as Bb but it goes through many different keys due to the accidentals present.

 Percussion, this piece definitely requires your attention the entire time. The goal I have

for you guys is to play your various instruments in time because the band will be listening

to you the for the piece

 Winds, the thing that I see looking through this score is consistent staccato eighth notes.

Can I hear you play a Bb major scale, 4 staccato 8th notes on each note? Percussion get

on the instrument you play the most in the piece and play staccato 8th notes winds

o Play Bb major scale with 4 staccato 8th notes on each note q=120

o *Respond accordingly maybe do it again*

 Okay now with all of the logistics out of the way let’s play the piece at the same tempo

that we took the scale. Percussion are you ready?

 o Looking for thumbs up, head nods, or audible yeses

 Play Mechanism straight down. Stopping and re starting as necessary.

 That was certainly a read through would you agree? What do you think of the piece?

o Once again: thumbs up, head nods, or audible yeses

 Take 1 minute, find a part you can’t play and practice it in this time. I know each of you

have something you couldn’t play.

 1 minute passes

 Does anyone see anything else in their part that they have a question on?

o Looking for trombone gliss

o Flute “non vibrato”

o Snare “Cross stick rim shot”

o Flute trill

 Okay now let’s go back to the beginning. My goal for you is to play every beat 1 in time

and play one other note in that measure correctly. From the beginning.

o Play Mechanism beginning to 41.

 Great job everyone. Percussion for the next little bit I want you to practice your parts

silently back there. We will have you play as a section when I am through this section

with the winds. As you can see or hear this piece has a lot of passing eighth notes. The

first thing I want to hear is the flutes and clarinets m. 25-28. Everyone else, practice your

part quietly and get ready for the next instructions.

o Play m. 25 to 28

 Now can I hear the Altos, trumpets, and horns at the same place

o Play m. 25 to 28
 Let’s put it together now, Fl. Cl., A. Sax, Trump, and Horns. The focus being vertical

alignment.

o Play m. 25 to 28

 Now let’s hear Bassoons, B. Clarinets, T. Sax, Bar. Sax, Trombones, Euph. and Tuba,

From now on you will be known as the “Low voices”

o Play m. 25 to 28.

 Let’s put all of that together for m. 25-28 with the previous voices that have played. The

goal now is to play the first two beats in time and one more note as well as that.

o Play 25-28

 Now I’m sorry percussion, you have been waiting this whole time, but it is your time to

shine. Can I hear the beginning to 15? Your goal is to play your instruments in time.

The tempo is the same. Flutes, Clarinets, Altos, and Trumpets listen to how the

percussion set up your part. Everyone else, practice your part quietly. Percussion, here

we go beginning to 15.

o Play beginning to 15

o Address any problems, be specific with people who are playing the parts

 Now percussion can I hear m. 25 to 33. Your goal is the same as before. Got it? Everyone

else, get ready to answer any question I could ask after.

o Play 25-33

o Address any problem, be specific with people who are playing the parts.

 Now that we have all of practiced all of these things let’s put it all together. Everyone we

are going to play from m. 25 to 33. Winds, you might be thinking “but Henry, we

haven’t done 29-33 yet.” Yes, I know they are the same thing. Let’s hear it!
 o Play 25-33 everyone.

 Last thing we are going to do for this rehearsal is go to m. 15. This section is a watered

down version of m. 25 so all of the same things apply to m. 15. Let’s hear it, everyone!

o Play m. 15-33

 Great! Now as we are running out of time I would like to hear everything we’ve worked

on today, the beginning to m. 41. The goal that we have had all rehearsal has been to

play the down beat of every measure and one more note on top of that. Hopefully, by this

point you can play the first 3 beats in time working on getting one more note along with

that. From the beginning.

o Play beginning to 41

 Great rehearsal everyone. Next time we will work on identifying the form of the entire

piece and rehearsing the next section of the piece. Thank you all! And good sight

reading!

Assessment

1. Teacher will address it in lesson plan, pointing out what they need to do while asking
their feedback on if they understand.
2. Teacher will assess this through the rehearsal asking if students understand the vertical
alignment problems.
3. Through the lesson plan lines will be split up and put back together for the students to
hear how their individual part fits into the whole.
Reflection

Students
1. Were students adequately prepared for the first sight reading?
a. For the most part yes. There was a little confusion on what tempo was but they
played with great articulations and mostly all of the right notes.
 2. What did the ensemble do well?
a. Trying to get to the music and understanding what was being said about the
melody and how it was broken down.
3. What does the ensemble need to work on?
a. Balancing to the melody and having the melody play with good tone.
4. How did the ensemble respond to the instruction?
a. Yes, they didn’t want to get involved but they understood what was being said
and executed without many problems.
5. How did the ensemble respond to the conducting technique?
a. Very well, once again they were heavy because I was heavy. They were clenched
because I was clenched.

Conductor
1. Was the conductor adequately prepared for the lesson?
a. Eh, there was a disconnect between what he was teaching vs. what the ensemble
was receiving.
2. What did the conductor do well?
a. Plan out a lesson that worked for the most part and stuck with it.
3. What does the conductor need to work on?
a. Finding a way to get the ensemble involved more, and loosening up.
4. Did the conductor provide clear instruction?
a. For the most part. There wasn’t any miscommunication but it wasn’t received as
well as I thought it could have.
5. Did the conductor provide clear conducting technique?
a. No. The gestures weren’t in time, the beat wasn’t in time, and everything was
heavy.