Zachary Himes
Ashley Welcher
Mused353
Lesson Plan Three
National Standards Addressed
1. Singing alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
6. Listening to analyzing and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and musical performances.
Class Goals and Objectives:
1. Students will be able to recognize and define the terms Instrumentation,
Melodic line, and Leitmotif, and describe how the three concepts interact with
each other to make effective musical statements.
2. Students will be able to describe a melody in terms of whether it is conjunct
or disjunct.
3. Students will sing the “concerning hobbits” melody from The Lord of the
Rings” with reasonable pitch accuracy.
4. Students will pair different musical themes with different situations, and
characters, making their decisions based on the musical content of each
theme, specifically instrumentation and melodic line.
Class Materials:
Speaker System
Internet Access
Copies of leitmotif analysis chart
Procedure:
1. The class will begin with the students reviewing what terms were
discussed in the previous class. Students will discuss how each of these
terms can affect what feelings the music gives.
2. Students will listen to the “Concerning Hobbits” theme, from “The Lord of
the Rings” trilogy, listening for instrumentation, and melodic line.
3. Students will review what instruments were being used in the music, and
discussed why the composer would associate these instruments with the
people of the shire. (If clarification is needed, the instructors will explain
who the hobbits are, and what sort of lifestyle they have.)
4. The students will then sing the melody from “Concerning Hobbits,” after
learning it by rote from the instructor.
5. As the students sing the melody in whole, while keeping a steady beat,
they will evaluate the melody as to whether it is disjunct, or conjunct.
6. The students will also evaluate the melody in terms of whether the
pitches follow one another in a logical, ear pleasing order, or if they sound
unpleasing to the ear.
7. Once the students identify the melody, the instructor will define the
terms consonant and dissonant.
8. The students will again discuss why this particular melody is a good fit
for the Hobbits of the Shire.
9. The students will listen as the instructor defines the word leitmotif as a
recurring musical statement in a larger piece of music that is directly
representative of some person, place, or concept.
10. As the instructors hand out a listening sheet, the students will list and
describe what different terms they can use to evaluate different leitmotifs,
specifically mentioning, instrumentation, conjunct versus disjunct, and
consonant versus dissonant.
11. The students will listen to a series of melodies played off of Spotify, first
identifying the instrumentation, and specifics of the melodic line.
a. The opening “river” melody from “The Mauldau” :55
b. “Flight Of the Valkyries” theme from “Siegmund” :8
c. Prelude to the afternoon of a Faun
d. Opening Bassoon Solo from “The Rite of Spring”
12. They will then listen to each of the melodies again, this time matching
each of the melodies with a list of possible associations if they were to
serve as leitmotifs.
13. The students will discuss their answers, providing a rationale for each of
the decisions they made during the leitmotif portion.
14. After completing the leitmotif evaluation sheet, the students will be
presented with a series of characters.
15. For each idea, they will decide on potential instrumentation, and what
sort of melodic line could be written for a leitmotif that could go along
with each idea.
The characters are: A Super-Hero
A Couple in Love
A Lunatic in an insane Asylum
A Boy Scout going door to door selling popcorn.
16. The students will review all of the terms discussed in class up to this
point, defining Instrumentation, Melodic Line, conjunct versus disjunct,
and consonant versus dissonant.
Assessement and Future Lessons:
Assessment will consist of in class review, where students volunteer
definitions for terms discussed in class. Future lessons will focus on leitmotif in
further detail, discussing the history of the term and its association with Wagner.