Helping each student develop a sense of relative pitch can dramatically improve your ensemble’s intonation. One common technique to help instrumentalists internalize relative pitch is to have them sing. Incorporating singing into your rehearsal is a great technique, but students shouldn’t lose sight of the final learning goal: to improve their intonation.
Framing this learning goal in the course of your lesson – and including that frame in your lesson plan – can help students understand how singing relates to their skills on their instrument.
We’ve built a free lesson plan you can use with SmartMusic TEACH that gets kids singing in rehearsal AND highlights some best practices for framing the lesson.
The Singing Plan Includes:
- Nationally-approved standards that tie directly to the lesson activities.
- Activities that have students sing with partners and as an ensemble.
- Sequencing that helps students translate their singing to instrumental performance.
- Space for you to customize the plan, including room for you to add your concert repertoire.
- Best practices for framing the lesson, including an introductory activity, exit slip prompt, and use of a “learning board.”
We’ve also suggested creating a homework assignment in SmartMusic. You may wish to create a custom rubric to accompany the assignment. Here’s how to build a custom rubric.