Refining and polishing an ensemble performance
Copyrighted materials: to view and download resources from this lesson, you’ll need to be in the UK and
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can analyse how an ensemble performance is refined and apply strategies to improve my own ensemble performance.
Key learning points
- Refining and polishing are essential for a successful ensemble performance.
- Even strong performances can be improved by focusing on consistency, fluency and expressive control.
- This requires careful listening, coordination and shared musical understanding within the ensemble.
Keywords
Balance - the relative volume of different parts or instruments; effective balance is where every part can be heard clearly
Expression - how performers use musical elements such as dynamics, tone and phrasing to communicate emotion and character
Fluency - ensuring the performance feels natural and continuous
Common misconception
Once the ensemble performance is accurate, the performance is finished and doesn't need further refinement.
Even with accurate notes and rhythms, a performance can still lack fluency, balance and expression.
Teacher tip
Encourage pupils to prioritise highest impact refinements, focusing on fluency, balance and cooridnation across the ensemble rather than small individual inaccuracies.
Files needed for this lesson
take a tarabooka (group version) 229 KB (PDF)
take a tarabooka - performance exemplar 2 MB (MP3)
Download these files to use in the lesson.
Licence
Sign in to continue
Our content remains 100% free, but to access certain copyrighted materials, you'll need to sign in. This ensures we’re both staying within the rules.
P.S. Signing in also gives you more ways to make the most of Oak like unit downloads!
