Lesson Plan

Teacher(s): _Abby Giles Grade Level: University Band Date Taught: 1-25-17

Lesson Title: _Tarantella__ Subject: _Percussion Ensemble__Approximate Time Length: _25 minutes_

Lesson Objective Students will successfully clap the rhythm (psychomotor), understand the
history behind the piece Tarantella (cognitive), and play through the piece
(psychomotor).
Essential Question(s) “What sticks out to you when you look at this piece of music? Do you see
any repeats, dynamic changes, or stylistic considerations?”

“Does anyone know what a tarantella is?”

Vocabulary Tarantella
Tarantism

Assessment/Criteria Students will be assessed by their ability to clap throughout the whole piece
at quarter note =100, and if time allows, students will play through the
whole piece at the end of the class.
Materials Percussion Instruments
Technology Music
Resources Pencil
Setting Ipad to record the class period.
Media device capable of playing videos

Est. Lesson Activities

Time
of Task

2 min “Hello Class! If you don’t know me, my name is Abby Giles, and I’m a senior in music
Beginning

education. You will normally see me playing the trumpet, but I’m extremely excited to be
Engage

playing percussion with you all and to also get the opportunity to conduct the Silver Band
Percussion Ensemble!
 11 min
(2 min)
1. “We’re going to start today by looking through our music. What sticks out to you
when you look at this piece of music? Do you see any repeats, dynamic changes, or
stylistic considerations?”
2. Give students the opportunity to answer the question, and guide the discussion if
needed.
(4 min)
3. “Make sure that you keep these considerations in mind, and we’re going to start with
clapping through the piece. We’re going to clap the piece at dotted quarter note =
100, which is our goal tempo for the piece.”
4. Students will clap through the piece from start to finish. If needed, the conductor can
stop the students and restart them, but students should try their best to make it
Explain/Explore

throughout the whole piece. You don’t need to take the first repeat.
Middle

(5 minutes)
5. Play another video of Abby, who will explain the history of the piece: “Do any of you
know what a tarantella is?” (pause the video if students have any input) “In regards
to Tarantella the dance, it is a folk dance of Italy that is characterized by quick, light
steps, and teasing, flirtatious behavior between partner. The women dancers often
carry tambourines, and the music is in 6/8 time (just like our percussion ensemble
piece.) It’s origin is actually connected to tarantism, which is a disease or form of
hysteria that appeared in Italy in the 15th to the 17th century and that was obscurely
associated with the bite of the tarantula spider. Victims apparently were cured by
frenzied dancing. This is most likely a myth, however all three words (Tarantella,
Tarantism, and Tarantula) are derived from the name of the town of Taranto, Italy.
I would like you to keep all of this in mind when thinking about the style of this piece, and
think about how this newfound knowledge applies to your music.

10 1. Students will play through the piece up to the first ending.

minutes 2. Rehearse this section with the first two parts (xylophone/marimba,
glockenspiel/bells) playing together and then the bottom 4 parts playing together
(tambourine/triangle/snare drum, timpani). Remind students to keep the dynamic
changes in mind and also the stylistic differences (accents) in mind. Slow down the
tempos if needed.
Evaluate
End

3. Rehearse this section with all parts together, and continue going to the end of the
piece if time allows.
4. If time allows, rehearse square 2 to 3 by itself, and 3 to 4, and 4 to the end separately
as needed. Slow down the tempo if needed.
5. At the end of the lesson, rehearse the entire piece from top to bottom if time allows.
If there is not enough time for step 4, I would rather have students do this than step
4.

Modalities: What Visual: Videos, Music

modalities did you utilize Auditory: Asking questions, discussion about the piece and history, telling students
in this lesson? How? about the history of the piece
 Kinesthetic: Clapping the rhythm, playing through the piece
Tactile:
Strategies: What Technology integration
instructional strategies
did you utilize in this
lesson? (Ex: graphic
organizer, cooperative
learning, discussion,
technology integration,
etc.)

Evaluate:
 Were my questions clear and concise throughout my lesson?
 How did the students respond?
 What did the students do well/ improve on today?
 What did you improve on?
 What do you need to keep working on?
 What do the students need to keep working on?