Revised Lesson Plan

Student: This student is a seven year old beginner who is in the second grade in
school and has been in piano lessons for a few months. They come once a week for
half an hour lessons. They have learned all the basic note values such as quarter
notes, half notes, dotted half notes, and whole notes. They are working out of the
Hal Leonard Student Piano Library series and these are their first books.
Cognitive Goal: For the student to grasp the concept of tied notes as two separate
notes that are conjoined and that, if joined over a bar line, the student must begin
at one again while counting even if they are holding the same note.
Affective Goal: For the student to not feel overwhelmed by what may seem at first
like a counterintuitive idea, and to feel comfortable to ask questions for clarification.
Psychomotor Goal: For the student to, throughout the course of the lesson, own
the concept and be able to play a tied note through a bar line while being able to
count it properly.
Materials: Hal Leonard Student Piano Library: Piano Lesson Book 1 and Teachers
Guide.
Piece: Pirates of the Sea, Pg. 60 (Lesson Book and Teachers Guide)
New Concept: The student is now ready to learn and play tied notes. They are fully
grounded in basic rhythmic values and the concept of duration
Focus and Review:
-Slurs were discussed the week before and the student completed an assignment in
their Theory book regarding slurs and phrasing. We will review this concept and
what it means, having the students draw
-I would point to an example in the score of, say, two dotted halves in a time
signature and ask the student What if we wanted to play these two notes without
lifting in the middle and playing the note again? I would then tell the student that
there is a symbol in music that allows us to do exactly that.
-I think asking them this question would illustrate to the student why the new
concept is important. I could also reiterate with saying that if we didnt have this
symbol, we wouldnt have any other way of holding notes through the bar line.
Statement of Objectives:
-I will let the student know that we will not only be learning what ties are, but
learning how to play them because there will be tied notes in the next piece
assigned for the upcoming practise week.

Teacher Input:
Experience-At this point the student and I will look at what tied notes look like and
sound like put into practice. I will play the new piece while both the student and I
count the pulses out loud. If the student is comfortable enough, they can clap or tap
the rhythm on the page. At this point the student may point to places in the music
where I played tied notes, if not I will point to them on the page and tell them how I
played them.
Definition-At this point I have used the word tie a few times, but would point out
that the word refers to the line that actually connects the two notes that are being
tied together. It is important that the tie is differentiated from a slur at this point.
Ask the student to redefine slur for you, so that you can point out that slurs connect
notes that are differing, meaning you still play all the notes but in a legato manner.
A tie will always connect two of the same note and the second one will be held, not
played.
Internalization: The main indicator that a student has internalized this concept is
that they understand that it differs from a single note. A whole note, for example,
could be the same duration as two tied half notes but wouldnt be written in the
same context. A whole note in 4/4 time cannot be written starting on the third beat,
for the same note written on the page cannot be carried over to the next two beats
of the bar. The actual notes between bar lines must be separated but they can be
tied together in sound.
Guided Practise:
Reinforcement- Next would be an exercise where I could either point to two given
notes in a piece of music, or use a white board and draw any two notes. I would ask
the student whether or not these two notes could be tied together, again reinforcing
the difference between the slur. Based on the students answer, I would have them
draw either a tie or a slur and play it accordingly. If it is a slur, they will play the two
notes legato and if it is a tie, they will play the two notes tied and counting the
notes properly. This will give me an opportunity to guide their practise of the new
concept before turning to the assigned piece.
Ownership: When we turn to the new piece to be assigned for the week, the
student can identify the tied notes, hopefully without prompting. The student should
be able to explain what they are and how to play them. If not, it may be useful to go
back again to the definition, internalization, and reinforcement stages of the lesson
plan.
Independent Practise:
New Piece: If the other steps have now been completed comfortably I will refer
them to the new piece they will practise which involves our new concept. We will go

over the parts with the tied notes together to ensure they know exactly what to do
at home. I will have them work on this independently while I write instructions for
the following practise week.
Closure:
Expectations- We will discuss the theory assignment for the next week, which will
involve identifying tied notes. All instructions will be explained to the student and
written in their notebook.
-I will ask them to, when practising this new piece at home, first take the sections
that involve tied notes and practise them first before playing them through in the
piece. I will ask that before they play through the new piece, they should be able to
play through the tied sections five times in a row correctly at each practise session.