Section I: Front Matter

Piece Overview: “Street Tango” by Astor Piazzolla, arranged by Robert Longfield, was a piece

originally written by Piazzolla for the bandoneon with piano. The bandoneon is an instrument

very similar to the accordion, and was Piazzolla’s primary instrument. This arrangement was

written by Longfield for the modern wind band. As a composer from Argentina, Piazzolla was

heavily influenced by the tango music that originated in Buenos Aires. This piece in particular

takes elements of the traditional tango and meshes them with elements of jazz music and adds

many dissonances. This is most likely due to the fact that he lived in New York for many years

and was surrounded by the jazz music being performed in that area. The jazz influences in this

piece make it sound seemingly improvisatory at times despite not including any actually

improvisation. The piece also varies tempos and styles throughout which gives the ensemble the

challenge of adjusting to change. The ensemble also has the chance to play as a full group as

well as in smaller chamber groups and as soloists throughout the different sections of the piece.

This varies the texture of the piece to create added interest for the listener.

Pepper, J. (n.d.). Street Tango. Retrieved April 03, 2018, from https://www.jwpepper.com/Street-
Tango/10625702.item#/

Longitudinal Objectives: The students will,

1. Understand the history of tango music.

2. Identify the improvisatory elements in “Street Tango.”

3. Improvise their own melodies based on the rhythms in “Street Tango.”

4. Be able to make seamless transitions between tempo changes.

5. Have a greater understanding of syncopation.

6. All be able to play the solo written originally for trumpet, transposed to their own key.
 7. Have an understanding of the music of Astor Piazzolla.

8. Execute the different articulation markings used in this piece.

Framework/Standards:

These lessons were written in compliance with the National Core Art Standards. The main

objectives of these standards are Creating, Performing/Presenting/Producing, Responding, and

Connecting. The specific Anchor Standards addressed through these lessons are:

Anchor Standard #1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #3: Refine and complete artistic work.

Anchor Standard #5: Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.

Anchor Standard #8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.

Anchor Standard #9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.

Anchor Standard #11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical

context to deepen understanding.

Section II: Lessons and Materials

Lesson 1:

Objectives: The students will,

1. Sight read the trumpet solo, transposed to their own key.

2. Gain a deeper understanding of the history of the tango.

3. Sight read “Street Tango.”

Standards:

Anchor Standard #5: Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.
Anchor Standard #8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.

Anchor Standard #11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical

context to deepen understanding.

Procedures: The students will,

1. Warm up on the concert E-flat scale.

2. Play through their chromatic scale together.

3. Perform attached exercise.

4. Sight read the trumpet solo, transposed to their own key, as a full group.

5. Complete the pre-test which will consist of groups of 4 students at a time playing through

the trumpet solo (graded using the attached rubric).

6. Split into small groups (3-5 students) and research the history of the tango.

7. Come back together as a full group, each group will have the chance to share 1-2 things

they learned about the history of the tango.

8. Discuss how this history might effect how they play this piece.

9. Play through the solo as a full group again, with this knew knowledge in mind.

10. Sight read “Street Tango.”

11. Work on lining up rhythms in measures 1-17, if time allows.

Assessment: Students will be assessed using the pre-test rubric attached. They will also be

assessed on the accuracy of the information they find about the history of tango and how this

information connects to playing the piece. During sight reading, they will be assessed on their

ability to stay together rhythmically and continue to play, even when there are mishaps.

Materials:
Pre-test Rubric:

Poor Fair Good Excellent

Note Accuracy The student The student The student The student
made more than made more than played most of played all of the
15 note 8 note mistakes. the notes notes correctly.
mistakes. correctly.
Tone The student did The student The student The student
Production not have clear played with played with played with a
or consistent good tone clear tone for clear and
tone. sometimes, most of the consistent tone.
while having piece.
weak tone
throughout at
least half of the
excerpt.
Articulation The student had The student had The student The student
over 15 over 8 played most of played all of the
articulation articulation the articulations articulations as
mistakes. mistakes. as written. written.
Style The student The student The student The student
showed no showed some showed clearly
understanding understanding understanding understood and
of the tango of the tango of the tango executed the
style. style but rarely style and tango style of
executed it executed it the piece.
throughout the through most of
excerpt. the excerpt.
Lesson #2:

Objectives: The students will,

1. Identify the improvisatory elements in “Street Tango.”

2. Improvise a short melody of their own using one of the rhythms in “Street Tango” as a

parameter.

3. Improve the style of the first 17 measures of the piece.

4. Continue to work on the trumpet solo as a full class.

Standards:

Anchor Standard #1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #5: Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.

Procedure: The students will,

1. Listen to a recording of “Street Tango” while following along with their own parts.

2. Discuss elements or sections of the piece that sound improvisatory.

3. Play through the attached warm up in the keys of concert B-flat and E-flat.

4. Use the rhythm from the warm up to improvise on any note within the key of E-flat as a

full class.

5. Use the rhythm from the warm up, improvise in groups of 4 within the key of E-flat.

6. Work on the first 17 measures of the piece to create a more improvisatory feel.

7. Discuss what they are doing to make the piece feel more like it is improvised.

8. Work on the rhythmic and note accuracy of the trumpet solo as a full class.

Assessment: Students will be assessed based on their ability to play correct notes and the correct

rhythm in the improvisation section of the class. They will also be assessed on if they are able to
give justifications for their interpretation of how to make “Street Tango” sound more

improvisatory.

Materials:
Lesson #3:

Objectives: The students will,

1. Improvise in the key of E-flat on the rhythm worked on last class individually.

2. Improvise in the key of E-flat on various rhythms as a full group and in small groups.

3. Be able to perform the tempo transition into the slower music in “Street Tango.”

4. Execute the different articulation marking in “Street Tango.”

Standards:

Anchor Standard #1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #5: Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.

Anchor Standard #8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.

Procedures: The students will,

1. Warm up by improvising in a group in the key of E-flat on the rhythm that was worked

on in the previous class,

2. Alternate between improvising as a full class and having individuals improvise for four

bars.

3. Improvise as a full group in the key of E-flat on any rhythm.

4. Improvise in groups of 4 people in the key of E-flat on any rhythm,

5. Review the first 17 bars of “Street Tango.”

6. Play through the trumpet solo as a group.

7. Work on measures 17-30, specifically to create the smoothness of the section with correct

articulations.

8. Rehearse the transition from the first 17 bars to the slow music starting in measure 17.
 9. Work on measures 30-55, continuing to focus on the slow tango style and articulations

that help to create this.

10. Run through the beginning of the piece through measure 55.

Assessment: The students will be assessed based on their ability to play the correct notes (notes

within the E-flat scale) when they improvise alone. They will also be assessed on their ability to

improvise using different rhythms when asked to do so. In the piece, they will be assessed on the

accuracy of their articulations while we perform a final run through of the beginning through

measure 55.

Materials:

Rhythmic Improvisation Rubric:

Poor Fair Good Excellent

Note Accuracy The student The student The student The student
played more than played more than played most of played within the
8 incorrect notes. 4 incorrect notes. the solo in the key of E-flat for
key of E-flat the entire solo.
with some wrong
notes.
Rhythmic The student did The student The student had The student
Variation not have any played at least 2 some rhythmic played various
rhythmic different rhythms variation in their rhythms
variation in their in their solo. solo. throughout the
solo. solo.
Lesson #4:

Objectives: The students will,

1. Improvise in the key of E-flat individually.

2. Have an understanding of other pieces by Astor Piazzolla

3. Improve their balance and blend during the clarinet solo in “Street Tango.”

4. Be able to transition back into the fast music in “Street Tango.”

Standards:

Anchor Standard #1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #3: Refine and complete artistic work.

Anchor Standard #5: Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.

Anchor Standard #9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.

Anchor Standard #11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical

context to deepen understanding.

Procedures: The students will,

1. Improvise in the key of E-flat over the attached chord progression as a group.

2. Individually improvise in the key of E-flat over the attached chord progression.

3. Break into groups of 3-5 people to research another piece by Astor Piazzolla.

4. Share their findings and how the elements of his other pieces may connect to our

performance of “Street Tango.”

5. Play through measures 55-63 to work on balancing the rest of the ensemble to the clarinet

soloist.

6. Rehearse measures 63-79 to work on transition back into fast music.

 7. Rehearse measures 71-87 slowly to create better note accuracy and gradually increase

tempo.

8. Rehearse measures 71-87 at full speed and address any articulation issues.

9. Perform a run through of the beginning through measure 87.

Assessment: The students will be assessed on their ability to improvise over a chord progression

individually. The results of the assessment will be based on their recognition of chord changes

through playing correct notes. They will also be assessed on their ability to make a connection

between another Piazzolla piece and “Street Tango.” The entire group will be assessed as a

whole on their ability to transition in and out of the slow music in “Street Tango.”

Materials:

Chord Progression:

I-IV-II-V-I
Or
Eb-Ab-F-Bb-Eb
Lesson #5:

Objectives: The students will,

1. Play through the trumpet solo individually.

2. Play a twelve bar solo in the key of E-flat individually.

3. Refine the ending of “Street Tango” rhythmically.

4. Be able to perform the entirety of “Street Tango.”

Standards:

Anchor Standard #1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

Anchor Standard #3: Refine and complete artistic work.

Anchor Standard #5: Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.

Procedures: The students will,

1. Warm up with the concert E-flat scale.

2. Play through the scale in a round.

3. Play through the trumpet solo once as a full group.

4. Improvise 12 bars at a time as a full group.

5. Play measure 87 through the end of the piece.

6. Discuss the similarities to the beginning of the piece, primarily focusing on rhythmic

aspects (syncopation and triplet figures).

7. Rehearse measure 87 through the end slowly and in smaller chunks.

8. Play through the entire piece.

9. Perform a post test (playing the trumpet solo individually followed by a 12 bar

improvisational solo).
Assessment: The students will be assessed using the post-test rubrics for the solo and the

improvisation. They will also be assessed throughout class on their ability to make connections

and transfer skills between the beginning and end of the piece.

Materials:

Post-test Solo Rubric:

Poor Fair Good Excellent

Note Accuracy The student The student The student The student
made more than made more than played most of played all of the
15 note 8 note mistakes. the notes notes correctly.
mistakes. correctly.
Tone The student did The student The student The student
Production not have clear played with played with played with a
or consistent good tone clear tone for clear and
tone. sometimes, most of the consistent tone.
while having piece.
weak tone
throughout at
least half of the
excerpt.
Articulation The student had The student had The student The student
over 15 over 8 played most of played all of the
articulation articulation the articulations articulations as
mistakes. mistakes. as written. written.
Style The student The student The student The student
showed no showed some showed clearly
understanding understanding understanding understood and
of the tango of the tango of the tango executed the
style. style but rarely style and tango style of
executed it executed it the piece.
throughout the through most of
excerpt. the excerpt.
Post-test Improvisation Rubric:

Poor Fair Good Excellent

Note Accuracy The student The student The student The student
played more played more played most of played within
than 8 incorrect than 4 incorrect the solo in the the key of E-flat
notes. notes. key of E-flat for the entire
with some solo.
wrong notes.
Tone The student did The student The student The student
Production not have clear played with played with played with a
or consistent good tone clear tone for clear and
tone. sometimes, most of the consistent tone.
while having piece.
weak tone
throughout at
least half of the
excerpt.
Rhythmic The student did The student The student had The student
Variation not have any played at least 2 some rhythmic played various
rhythmic different variation in rhythms
variation in rhythms in their their solo. throughout the
their solo. solo. solo.
Style The student The student The student The student
showed no showed some showed clearly
understanding understanding understanding understood and
of the tango of the tango of the tango executed the
style. style but rarely style and tango style
executed it executed it through their
throughout their through their improvisation.
solo. improvisation.