Sydney Hawkins

12/1/15
Las Maanitas

HORN LESSON
LESSON OBJECTIVE AND PURPOSE
To rehearse and play
Las Ma
anitas
as a group with little to no technical errors
To review dynamics and perform with dynamic contrast

EDUCATION STANDARDS
1.

MU:Pr6.1.E.8a
Demonstrate attention to technical accuracy and expressive qualities in

prepared and improvised performances of a varied repertoire of music representing diverse

cultures and styles.
2.

MU:Cr3.1.1a
With limited guidance, discuss and apply personal, peer, and teacher feedback
to refine personal musical ideas.

3.

MU:Pr4.2.E.5a
Demonstrate, using music reading skills where appropriate, how knowledge
of formal aspects in musical works inform prepared or improvised performances.

MATERIALS NEEDED
1.
2.
3.

Copies of
Las Ma
anitas
(4)

Pencils as needed for students

Access to a piano or pitched instrument for tuning/partials

SONG OVERVIEW
Las Ma
anitas
is a mexican folk song; it is commonly sung for birthday parties.

LESSON PLAN
Since the object of this lesson is to reinforce and review dynamics while playing, we should start out
defining key terms relating to this musical aspect.

Forte
Loud, like on a 1-5 scale its a 5
Piano
quiet, soft, on a 1-5 scale its a 1
Crescendo
gradually increase in volume, going from 1
to
5

Decrescendo

gradually decrease in volume, going from 5

to
1
Have students experiment playing forte and piano on F or Bb

you could even have a student randomly play one and then have another student
guess what dynamic level it is
Other keys to a good performance is to quickly go over the Roadmap of the piece, that is,
time/key signatures, tempo, articulations, rhythms, etc

Time signature is time

this means that there are 3 beats per measure and the quarter note gets the beat
Key Signature is Bb Major
this means that there are Bbs and Ebs, so watch out for those fingerings
Tempo
Moderato or Moderately
for the purposes of this lesson, it is fine to go under tempo as to reinforce
dynamics and fingers and minimize technicals errors

Articulation
This piece has a couple of slurs in measures 6, 10, and 14
A slur is playing two notes consecutively without tonguing between them.
Rhythms
The hardest rhythm in this piece a dotted eighth note
subdividing, this note contains 3 eighth notes.
You can ask students for these answers, clap rhythms, etc, as needed to reinforce good technique.
Of special consideration in this piece is the pick-up measure.
Students might not know what a
pick-up is. A pick-up is a beat before the piece, in this case, the two F eighth notes.

PLAYING THE PIECE

Listed above are also common mistakes for beginners to foul up. Repeat the song as needed
or narrow in on students or measures to correct problems related to the Roadmap of the piece.
Generally, start with a run-through of the piece after going over the road-map. You should be able to
diagnose and correct technique issues with these repetitions.
Other common problems for beginning horn players include:

incorrect right hand position

fingering unsureness
lack of air support
incorrect embouchure
These students have been playing for about a year, and with a gentle prompt should be able to
correct these mistakes.

If there is extra time at the end of the lesson, you can have the students pick their own dynamic
markings for the class at each of the marked spots and perform it. Students will be focusing on
dynamic contrast and ensemble playing.