Unit Lesson Plan - Songwriting and Applying a DAW

7th Grade Band - 8 students

The overall objective for this unit is to facilitate a different form of music making that:
1. Encourages aural learning and practices
2. Applying their instrument to music technology

The students will:

1. Learn the components of a song: bass, melody, harmony within a concert scale
2. Record and edit their song on a digital audio workstation (in this case we will be
using Soundation to accommodate use for the student’s Chromebooks)
3. Experiment more with the workstation by adding on to their song using midi
files or other instruments to their liking

DAY 1
Objective
Students will create a short song by applying components such as bass, melody,
harmony utilizing a single diatonic scale.

Procedure
WARM UP - 1 minute
Just like how we play pieces in a certain key, we will be writing our song using a certain scale
● Play concert F, even quarter notes up and down, don’t repeat the top note
○ Saxophone - D scale
○ Clarinet and Trumpet - G scale
○ Tuba, Trombone - F scale
DEMONSTRATION - 15 minutes
I will give a brief explanation on what we’re doing today
● A song has three parts
○ Bass
○ Melody
 ○ Harmony
● If you think back to your concert music, what do we notice about the bass part?
○ It’s simple and repetitive
● How about the melody?
○ It’s typically catchy, and you should be able to sing along
● Harmony?
○ It compliments the melody
I will have a very simple, finished recorded product so the students have an example to
reference to.
● Bass
○ I will begin by just playing the bass part on my instrument
■ CF
○ Ask the students to find those notes on the instrument, and then apply the
rhythm
○ For the sake of time and understanding, all the parts will be very simple,
no more than 3 notes
○ Play it all together
● Melody
○ Play the melody for them
■ FGA
○ Ask them to find those notes first, and then apply the rhythm
○ Play all together
● Harmony
○ Play for them what I have, but specify that their harmony doesn’t have to
be the same rhythm as the melody, in this case, mine is
■ A Bb C
○ Find notes, then rhythm
○ Play altogether
● Play them the “finished” recording: This is what it sounds like with all the parts
together
● Pick a part, and let’s play it all together
 ○ Who’s playing bass, let me hear them by themselves
○ Melody? Hear and play
○ Harmony? Hear and play
○ Then put it all together
APPLICATION - 10 minutes
● Get into 2 groups of 4
○ What part does the listener want to hear the most of? The melody
○ With 4 people, you can either:
■ Have two people play the melody either at the same time or at
different times
■ You can add another layer if you want to challenge yourself
■ Add body percussion
■ Or surprise me, use your creativity but you only have 7 minutes so
be wise
○ Also, students do not have to use the same structure that I did, you can
either
■ Play it all together
■ Build on like how we did earlier
■ Or whatever format they come up with
At this point, I will walk around to ensure that students are remaining on task, understanding
the assignment and working together. I will facilitate their process, add some suggestions or
challenges, or simplify the task depending how the group is progressing.
0:30 - Students should have established who’s playing what
4:00 - Students should have each part created
7:00 Students should have discussed the structure and had at least one practice run
PERFORMANCE - 6 minutes
● Each group will have 3 minutes to perform (including discussion afterwards)
○ For each performance, everyone in the audience will listen for:
■ 1 thing they really liked and why
■ 1 thing they would do differently and why
○ And share after the performance
 ● I will audio record every performance to send the students individually for their
next assignment

Assessment
1) In each song, was there a bass, melody, and harmony part?
2) Did the students subconsciously apply other musical concepts such as playing in
time, blend and balance, and intonation?
3) Did they play the right notes?

DAY 2
Objective
The students will be able to record their song on a digital audio workstation and edit
the song in means of trimming, aligning various parts, copying and pasting, and
rearranging each track to their liking.

Something to note before getting started: does at least one person in each group have a
pair of headphones, preferably with a jack? If not, could I provide some?
Procedure
WARM UP - 5 minutes
Ideally, the students should have a recording of their own song from the previous class.
● Take 3 minutes, get into your groups, and review the parts you created last class.
Reference the recording if need be (the students should be using their ears to
remember the song and figure out the notes)
● Once done, meet back in the middle to go over our task for the day
DEMONSTRATION - 10 minutes
● I will have my laptop mirroring the board so they can see what I’m doing. The
workstation I will be using is Soundation so they can use their chromebooks.
● Students can go ahead and take out their chromebooks and create a Soundation
account using their school email
● Once they are done, close their books and watch me
○ 1. Open a new file and take the tour
■ It’s quick and will save some headache later
○ 2. Click the channel you want to record with, and record with a
metronome and headphones
■ It is vital that you record with the metronome, when you use MIDI
files later, which we will talk about next class, it will be much easier
aligning those parts
■ Recording=WAV file
○ 3. Make sure if you’re going to record something new to click on a
different channel, record the melody (that’s all I’ll do to save on time)
○ 4. If you happen to record over something, no worries, just click undo
○ 5. I will show them how to trim, copy and paste, and move the soundbite
to where they want it.
○ 6. I’m not looking for anything fancy, only that you can do these things.
○ 7. Please be respectful because these are thin walls and everyone will be
recording. You will most likely hear something in the background of your
recording, that is okay.
 ○ 8. If you finish early, you are more than welcome to keep experimenting
with the program and brainstorming some ideas of what you want to do
with your song next
APPLICATION - 20 minutes
● One group stays in the main room, another group can go into the storage room
I will float around to answer any questions, clear up any confusion, help groups get started, and
provide suggestions on the most efficient way to record.
● Every student needs to have a recording of their own in order to complete the
task planned for the next day.
○ It would be beneficial if one person can play their part, while everyone else
records at the same time, and someone can also press record for whoever
is playing.
○ If the person playing is wearing headphones and listening to a
metronome, it shouldn’t be a problem lining it up for the others.
● The students must have a separate recording for each part all in one file.
● Once they have that, they may work on their own to begin editing the sound bites

Assessment
Before leaving, the students must:
1. Show me their computer screen, there should be at least 3 tracks
2. Play for me what they recorded (again, not looking for perfection, but if they were
indeed able to record all the parts they needed)
DAY 3
Objective
The students will be able to experiment with the program by adding a track and editing
a track.

Procedure
WARM UP
● Students are expected to get out their instruments and their chromebooks
● Every student should have a recording of their own to work with from last class
APPLICATION - 15 minutes
Students are expected to complete the following for the day:
1. Add on to their current tracks by:
a. Adding a MIDI file
b. Recording another track
c. Adding an element of percussion (either by MIDI or WAV)
2. Edit a current or new track by:
a. Distorting a current or new track
b. Adding a filter to a current track
● Students are expected to complete at least one of each, but are strongly
encouraged to do more.
● They are more than welcome to take extreme liberties with their songs, be
creative, re-record things, and so forth, as long as they complete the tasks for the
day.
I will be walking around to each student to ensure that they are on task, seeing what different
things each student is doing, answer any questions, provide any suggestions, and give them other
tasks to complete if they feel they are done.
PERFORMANCE - 25 minutes
● Each student will log into their accounts on the teacher’s computer so they are
able to display their work on the board.
● Everyone in the audience will prepare to give one praise and one critique
● The performer has to prepare to answer the following questions:
○ What was the hardest part for them? Why?
○ What was the easiest part for them? Why?
○ What part of the project did they enjoy the most and why?
○ What did they enjoy the least and why?
○ Would they be interested in learning more about songwriting with digital
audio programs in the future?

Assessment
1. What did they add to their songs? What did they edit in their songs?
2. Do the tracks align and is everything in the correct key?

Pre-Test/Post-Test
1. What are the three components of a song?
2. Out of the three parts, which one should the listener hear the most of?
3. What does DAW stand for?
4. Can you name at least one DAW?
5. What is the difference between a MIDI and a WAV file?
6. Is songwriting or music technology something you would like to learn more
about?

Rubric
 0 1 2 3 4

Parts There are no There is one There are The student The three
parts part two parts has a bass, parts coexist
harmony, harmoniousl
and melody y

Tracks There are no There are There are There is an There is an

tracks less than only three additional additional
three tracks tracks track on top track that
of the four musically
they created makes sense
with their
other tracks

Musicality There is no The student The student The student The student
work has has has plays to the
uncomplete completed completed best of their
d work their work, work with inability res
but has not minor errors presenting
played to of good timing
the best of intonation and
their ability and rhythm intonation