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3.1: Selected Reading

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    88758
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    SELECTED READING

    Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping; there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces (such as songs without instrumental accompaniment) and pieces that combine singing and instruments.

    There are many types of music, including popular music, traditional music, art music, music written for religious ceremonies and work songs such as chanteys. Music ranges from strictly organized : as Classical music symphonies from the 1700s and 1800s, through to spontaneously played improvisational music such as jazz, and avant-garde styles of chance-based contemporary music from the 20th and 21st centuries.

    Although the exact definition of music varies widely even in the West, music contains melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre, pitch, silence, and form or structure. What we know about music so far…

    • Music is comprised of sound.
    • Music is made up of both sounds and silences.
    • Music is intentionally made art.
    • Music is humanly organized sound (Bakan, 2011).

    In short, music is an intentionally organized art form whose medium is sound and silence, with core elements of pitch (melody and harmony), rhythm (meter, tempo, and articulation), dynamics, and the qualities of timbre and texture.

    Sound:

    Overtone: A fundamental pitch with resultant pitches sounding above it according to the overtone series. Overtones are what give each note its unique sound.

    Timbre: The tone color of a sound resulting from the overtones. Each voice has a unique tone color that is described using adjectives or metaphors such as “nasally,” “resonant,” “vibrant,” “strident,” “high,” “low,” “breathy,” “piercing,” “ringing,” “rounded,” “warm,” “mellow,” “dark,” “bright,” “heavy,” “light,” “vibrato.”

    Pitch: The frequency of the note’s vibration (note names C, D, E, etc.).

    Amplitude: How loud or soft a sound is.

    Duration: How long or short the sound is.

    Melody: A succession of musical notes; a series of pitches often organized into phrases.

    Harmony: The simultaneous, vertical combination of notes, usually forming chords.

    Rhythm: The organization of music in time; closely related to meter.

    Texture: The density (thickness or thinness) of layers of sounds, melodies, and rhythms in a piece: e.g., a complex orchestral composition will have more possibilities for dense textures than a song accompanied only by guitar or piano. Most common types of texture:

    • Monophony: A single layer of sound; e.g. a solo voice
    • Homophony: A melody with an accompaniment; e.g., a lead singer and a band; a singer and a guitar or piano accompaniment; etc.
    • Polyphony: Two or more independent voices; e.g., a round or fugue.

    Structure or Form: The sections or movements of a piece; i.e. verse and refrain, sonata form, ABA, Rondo (ABACADA), theme, and variations.

    Expression:

    Dynamics: Volume (amplitude)-how loud, soft, medium, gradually getting louder or softer (crescendo, decrescendo).

    Tempo: Beats per minute; how fast, medium, or slow a piece of music is played or sung.

    Articulation: The manner in which notes are played or words pronounced: e.g., long or short, stressed or unstressed such as short (staccato), smooth (legato), stressed (marcato), sudden emphasis (sforzando), slurred, etc.

    Music as an Art Form: Composition, Notation, and Improvisation

    Composition

    Composition" is the act or practice of creating a song, an instrumental music piece, a work with both singing and instruments, or another type of music. In many cultures, including Western classical music, the act of composing also includes the creation of music notation, such as a sheet music "score", which is then performed by the composer or by other singers or musicians. In popular music and traditional music, the act of composing, which is typically called songwriting, may involve the creation of a basic outline of the song, called the lead sheet, which sets out the melody, lyrics and chord progression. In classical music, the composer typically orchestrates his or her own compositions, but in musical theatre and in pop music, songwriters may hire an arranger to do the orchestration. In some cases, a songwriter may not use notation at all, and instead compose the song in her mind and then play or record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written scores play in classical music.

    Even when music is notated relatively precisely, as in classical music, there are many decisions that a performer has to make, because notation does not specify all of the elements of music precisely. The process of deciding how to perform music that has been previously composed and notated is termed "interpretation." Different performers' interpretations of the same work of music can vary widely, in terms of the tempos that are chosen and the playing or singing style or phrasing of the melodies. Composers and songwriters who present their own music are interpreting their songs, just as much as those who perform the music of others. The standard body of choices and techniques present at a given time and a given place is referred to as performance practice, whereas interpretation is generally used to mean the individual choices of a performer.

    Although a musical composition often uses musical notation and has a single author, this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple composers, which often occurs in popular music when a band collaborates to write a song, or in musical theatre, when one person writes the melodies, a second person writes the lyrics, and a third person orchestrates the songs. In some styles of music, such as the blues, a composer/songwriter may create, perform and record new songs or pieces without ever writing them down in music notation. A piece of music can also be composed with words, images, or computer programs that explain or notate how the singer or musician should create musical sounds. Examples range from avantgarde music that uses graphic notation, to text compositions, to computer programs that select sounds for musical pieces. Music that makes heavy use of randomness and chance is called aleatoric music and is associated with contemporary composers active in the 20th century. A more commonly known example of chance-based music is the sound of wind chimes jingling in a breeze.

    The study of composition has traditionally been dominated by examination of methods and practice of Western classical music, but the definition of composition is broad enough to include the creation of popular music and traditional music songs and instrumental pieces as well as spontaneously improvised works like those of free jazz performers and African percussionists such as Ewe drummers.

    Notation

    In the 2000s, music notation typically means the written expression of music notes and rhythms on paper using symbols. When music is written down, the pitches and rhythm of the music, such as the notes of a melody, are notated. Music notation also often provides instructions on how to perform the music. For example, the sheet music for a song may state that the song is a "slow blues" or a "fast swing", which indicates the tempo and the genre.

    Written notation varies with style and period of music. In the 2000s, notated music is produced as sheet music or, for individuals with computer scorewriter programs, as an image on a computer screen. In ancient times, music notation was put onto stone or clay tablets. To perform music from notation, a singer or instrumentalist requires an understanding of the rhythmic and pitch elements embodied in the symbols and the performance practice that is associated with a piece of music or a genre. In genres requiring musical improvisation, the performer often plays from music where only the chord changes and form of the song are written, requiring the performer to have a great understanding of the music's structure, harmony and the styles of a particular genre (e.g., jazz or country music).

    In Western art music, the most common types of written notation are scores, which include all the music parts of an ensemble piece, and parts, which are the music notation for the individual performers or singers. In popular music, jazz, and blues, the standard musical notation is the lead sheet, which notates the melody, chords, lyrics (if it is a vocal piece), and structure of the music. Fake books are also used in jazz; they may consist of lead sheets or simply chord charts, which permit rhythm section members to improvise an accompaniment part to jazz songs. Scores and parts are also used in popular music and jazz, particularly in large ensembles such as jazz "big bands." In popular music, guitarists and electric bass players often read music notated in tablature (often abbreviated as "tab"), which indicates the location of the notes to be played on the instrument using a diagram of the guitar or bass fingerboard. Tabulature was also used in the Baroque era to notate music for the lute, a stringed, fretted instrument.

    Improvisation

    Musical improvisation is the creation of spontaneous music, often within (or based on) a pre-existing harmonic framework or chord progression. Improvisation is the act of instantaneous composition by performers, where compositional techniques are employed with or without preparation. Improvisation is a major part of some types of music, such as blues, jazz, and jazz fusion, in which instrumental performers improvise solos, melody lines and accompaniment parts. In the Western art music tradition, improvisation was an important skill during the Baroque era and during the Classical era. In the Baroque era, performers improvised ornaments and basso continuo keyboard players improvised chord voicings based on figured bass notation. In the Classical era, solo performers and singers improvised virtuoso cadenzas during concerts. However, in the 20th and early 21st century, as "common practice" Western art music performance became institutionalized in symphony orchestras, opera houses and ballets, improvisation has played a smaller role. At the same time, some modern composers have increasingly included improvisation in their creative work. In Indian classical music, improvisation is a core component and an essential criterion of performances.

    What Do Children Hear? How Do They Respond to Music?

    Children’s musical encounters can be self- or peer-initiated, or teacher- or staff-initiated in a classroom or daycare setting. Regardless of the type of encounter, the basic music elements play a significant role in how children respond to music. One of the most important elements for all humans is the timbre of a sound. Recognizing a sound’s timbre is significant to humans in that it helps us to distinguish the source of the sound, i.e. who is calling us-our parents, friends, etc. It also alerts us to possible danger. Children are ableto discern the timbre of a sound from a very young age, including the vocal timbres of peers, relatives, and teachers, as well as the timbres of different instruments.

    Young children are quite sophisticated listeners. As early as two years of age, children respond to musical style, tempo, and dynamics, and even show preference for certain musical styles (e.g., pop music over classical) beginning at age five. On the aggregate level, children physically respond to music’s beat, and are able to move more accurately when the tempo of the music more clearly corresponds to the natural tempo of the child. As we might expect, children respond to the dynamic levels of loud and soft quite dramatically, changing their movements to match changing volume levels. The fact that children seem to respond to the expressive elements of music (dynamics, tempo, etc.) should not come as a surprise. Most people respond to the same attributes of music that children do. We hear changes in tempo (fast or slow), changes in dynamics (loud or soft), we physically respond to the rhythm of the bass guitar or drums, and we listen intently to the melody, particularly if there are words. These are among the most ear-catching elements, along with rhythm and melody.

    Teaching Music Vocabulary

    For most children, the basics are easily conveyed through concept dichotomies, such as:

    • Fast or Slow (tempo)
    • Loud or Soft (dynamics)
    • Short or Long (articulation)
    • High or Low (pitch)
    • Steady or Uneven (beat)
    • Happy or Sad (emotional response)

    For slightly older children, more advanced concepts can be used, such as:

    • Duple (2) or Triple (3) meter
    • Melodic Contour (melody going up or down)
    • Rough or Smooth (timbre)
    • Verse and Refrain (form)
    • Major or Minor (scale)

    Using Music in Arts-As-Curriculum

    Most schools still contain music and art teachers, who are valuable assets in providing input regarding art strategies, teaching materials, etc. This is definition of an arts-as-curriculum strategy, where the arts teacher teaches their separate material. Fully integrating the arts requires a time commitment and instructional expertise, but often there isn’t the time, resources, or incentive to fully learn or implement the entire process for a lesson. How might you utilize the music teacher in your school to enhance your lesson? What are some ways to work with the specialists to benefit the student’s learning experience?

    Using Music in Arts-Enhancement Curriculum

    There are many things to be learned from arts-enhancement as well. Using the arts yourself to enhance your lesson provides opportunities for students to experience music during the school day in a non-content related way.

    There are ample opportunities for children to experience music in their day, including singing, moving, clapping, or stomping that are not directly related to teaching content area but provide students an alternate form of expression, a chance to re-group and focus, for motivation, learn about proper group and individual expectations and behavior, and to make transitions between subjects and activities. How might you use music to “enhance” a science or language arts lesson? Vocabulary or poetry lesson?

    A Sample List of Arts-Enhancement Opportunities:

    1. Organization

    • Activity: lining up, cleaning up
    • Aesthetic Purpose: motivation

    2. Transitions

    • Activity: changing from one activity to another
    • Aesthetic Purpose: change of mood, re-focus energy

    3. Rituals

    • Activity: Greetings/Hello, goodbye, holiday music
    • Aesthetic Purpose: Prepare students mentally, provides stability and repetition

    4. Interstitial

    • Activity: Short break between two subjects or activities
    • Aesthetic Purpose: Provide relaxation, moment of expression, and alternate uses for cognitive functioning

    A Sample Day That Includes Music:

    9:10 Use music before the school day begins

    • Ritual: Set the mood/change the atmosphere in the room with sound

    9:20 Students enter and settle in to the room

    9:25 Morning Work, Attendance, Calendar

    • Organization: i.e. “If you’re ready for _____ clap your hands” (or stomp your feet, etc.) Ritual: “Good Morning,” and/or movement activity “Head Shoulders”

    10:00-10:40 Special (Music, Art, Physical Ed)

    • Transition: Focus for Math

    10:45 Math Stations

    • Organization: Line up for Lunch

    11:30 Lunch

    • Transition: Focus ready for reading

    12:10-12:50 Reading/Literacy Stations

    • Interstitial: Break song/movement

    12:50-1:30 Writing

    • Interstitial: Movement/song break

    1:30-2:10 Social Studies/Science/Health

    • Transition: Movement activity/song

    2:10-2:25 Snack/Play time

    • Organization: Focus: Line up for Library or Lab

    2:25-3:05 Computer Lab or Library

    • Transition 3:10 Pickup and pack-up
    • Organization: “Clean up song”

    3:15 Dismissal

    • Ritual: “Goodbye” song

    Song Examples

    (Substitute any subject such as math, reading, physical education, art, instead of music, and any action instead of “stand on up” or “clap your hands.”)

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    Figure 3.1.1

    Janet Elder (n.d.), in her article on “Brain Friendly Music in the Classroom” suggests the following four groups of reasons to incorporate music into the classroom:

    1. Music’s effect on the physical body and brain;

    2. Music’s effect on the emotional body;

    3. Music’s effect on the physical and learning environment;

    4. Music’s effect on group coherence and intimacy. (Elder, n.d., p. 1)

    For example, music’s beats per minute (b.p.m.) or tempo, has a direct impact on the human body. Elder (n.d.) also goes on to suggest specific songs to use for different classroom situations, such as playing classical music during individual or group work or “Get Up Offa That Thing” by James Brown for stretch breaks. There are many, many different types of songs and places to use them when working with children, and the inclusion of music in the daily routine can improve transitions and the overall mood of a classroom (Figure 3.1.2).

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    Figure 3.1.2: Class Times When Music Is Appropriate

    Figure 3.1.2 Source: adapted from Elder (n.d.) “Using Brain-Friendly Music in the Classroom.”

    Using Music in Arts-Integrated Curriculum

    An arts integrated lesson plan will be similar to a regular lesson plan, with the exception that it will have a place for both the arts learning objectives as well as the objectives for the content area and will allow students the opportunity to construct understanding through both disciplines.

    Consider that you have to create a lesson plan to celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. It is, of course, nice to add a song somewhere in the lesson, perhaps a song from the Civil Rights Movement. This does not make the lesson integrated, but rather an Arts-Enhanced-Curriculum as discussed above. Integration requires that there be music objectives as well as subject area objectives, and that both subjects are treated equally. Keep in mind that any lesson can be made into an arts-integrated one, by simply delving in deeper to the art form itself to find structural details and meaning from which to draw. To make a lesson integrated, it is necessary to include social science or history goals and objectives as well as musical information, goals and objectives. For example, including information about the song that incorporates the music itself (form, timbre, melody, rhythm, etc.), while discussing the genre of civil rights songs itself.

    To demonstrate a deeper understanding of the tenets and issues of Civil Rights, social science connections can be made not only to slavery in the previous century, but to the pro-union struggle in the earlier part of the 20th century. Students could demonstrate their understanding of Martin Luther King’s leadership and the famous marches of the 60s through song by recreating the march on Washington, DC while singing a civil rights song (“We Shall Not Be Moved,” “This Little Light Of Mine,” “We Shall Overcome,” etc.). The types of songs used for demonstrations could be analyzed, including their roots in the pro-union movement, gospel and religious music, and/or the use of call and response in the songs, which dates back to slavery and early African-American culture, and particularly how music was used during the protests. A follow-up might focus on blues, jazz and other genres inspired by the music of the Civil Rights movement.

    Activity A

    Try this: Which one of these examples represents Arts as Curriculum, Arts-Enhanced Curriculum, and an Arts-Integrated Curriculum?

    • Students sing a song they learned in music class for a school assembly
    • Students have to explain how sequential groupings work in math and music
    • Students learn the song “50 Nifty United States”

    Now try this: Students complete a unit on the lifecycle of a caterpillar.

    • How might this lesson be changed to reflect an Arts-Enhanced lesson? Arts-integration? Arts as Curriculum?
    • Create your own examples of the three types of curriculum.

    Music Integration with Core Subjects: Vocabulary, Concepts, and Learning Standards

    In order to successfully create arts integrated lessons, begin with the state learning standards in the content area in which you are working, then consider the art form you will be using. Explore vocabulary that may help you to work between the two disciplines. Below are two examples of vocabulary lists from Education Closet, a website dedicated to integration and innovation in teaching.

    Activity B

    Try This: Review the vocabulary lists below (Table 3.2; Table 3.3). Identify which terms work best for music instruction. Select three of the terms from either list and give an example of how you might use that term to illustrate music concepts in addition to either a math or literacy concept.

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    Figure 3.1.3: Arts Literacy: Common Vocabulary

    Figure 3.1.3 Source: by Susan Riley (2012) from Education Closet website.

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    Figure 3.1.4: Math and the Arts: Common Vocabulary

    Figure 3.1.4 Source: by Susan Riley (2012) from Education Closet website.

    Generating Ideas for Integrated Lessons

    The following grid (Table 3.4; Table 3.5 (blank)) offers a process for generating integration ideas using music, particularly in making connections across the disciplines. The first row of the grid contains an example of how to generate ideas from a musical concept.

    Concept(s)/Grade

    Begin by selecting one music concept to work with. In the first column of the grid below, the word “staff” is written. The lesson is to teach the musical staff to 2nd grade students.

    Objectives

    What are your main objectives for the lesson? What should children be able to do by the end of the lesson that they couldn’t do at the beginning? Note: “SWBAT” stands for “Students Will Be Able To.”

    Activities

    What activities could you use to teach the staff? Where would you begin? You might begin by teaching the line and space notes for the treble staff (EGBDF and FACE) and teaching the mnemonics that accompany those note names (i.e. E-Every; G-Good; B-Boy; D-Deserves; F-Fudge). Even at this point, writing the lines on the board, on a smart board, PPT, or even making lines on the floor with tape can be a visual accompaniment to the lesson, and help students learn through body movement as well as visual learning.

    Integration Ideas

    How might you integrate this concept using different core subject areas? What higher order thinking skills, or vocabulary? Look at the second grade Vocabulary grid above from Education Closet concerning math and the arts and Music and Literacy and select the most appropriate terms to apply to the lesson:

    • (Math and the Arts) Form, Sequence, Pattern, Group
    • (Arts Literacy) Analyze, Compare, Contrast

    Common Core Learning Standards or State Performance Standards

    Now refer to the state website to look for the appropriate common core standards or state performance standards.

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    Figure 3.1.5: Idea Generator: Concept, Objectives, Activities, Integration, and Standards
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    Figure 3.1.6: Idea Generator (Blank): Concepts, Activities, Materials, and Integration

    An Example: Integrating Music in Language Arts and Social Studies “Goober Peas”

    Many older songs offer excellent material for integration. For example, the song “Goober Peas” provides students a very inside look at the life of a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. In this case, both the music and lyrics are highly informative, as is the situation in which the song was sung, lending itself to integration through three areas: music, language arts, and social sciences.

    Materials:

    Timeline: Civil War history timeline including various battles, Sherman’s March, etc.

    Song: “Goober Peas”

    Text: The Personal Story of Life as a Confederate Soldier, “The Letters of Eli Landers” http://www.gacivilwar.org/story/the-...derate-soldier

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    2. When a horse-man passes, the soldiers have a rule

    To cry out their loudest, “Mister here’s your mule!”

    But another custom, enchanting-er than these,

    Is wearing out your grinders, eating goober peas. (refrain)

    3. Just before the battle, the General hears a row

    He says, “The Yanks are coming, I hear their rifles now”

    He turns around in wonder and what d’ya think he sees?

    The Georgia militia, eating goober peas. (refrain)

    4. I think my song has lasted almost long enough

    The subject’s interesting but the rhymes are mighty tough

    I wish the war was over so free from rags and fleas

    We’d kiss our wives and sweethearts and gooble goober peas. (refrain)

    Integration Process Questions

    How might you integrate this song beyond that of “Arts as Enhancement”? What learning principles will you use? How will students be engaged? Demonstrate their understanding? What will be the processes of creation? What connections to other parts of the curriculum can be made? Are the standards present for both the art and the subject area? Go through Silverstein & Layne’s (2012) Arts Integration Checklist below to see how to incorporate an integrated level of understanding to the lesson:

    Approach to Teaching

    • Does the lesson contain learning principles of Constructivism (actively built, experiential, evolving, collaborative, problem-solving, and reflective)?

    Understanding

    • Are students engaged in constructing and demonstrating understanding knowledge rather than memorizing and reciting?

    Art Form

    • Are the students constructing and demonstrating their understandings through an art form?

    Creative Process

    • Are students engaged in a process of creating something original as opposed to copying or parroting?
    • Will the students revise their products?

    Connects

    • Does the art form connect to another part of the curriculum or a concern/need?
    • Is the connection mutually reinforcing?

    Evolving Objectives

    • Are there objectives in both the art form and another part of the curriculum or a concern/need?
    • Have the objectives evolved since the last time the students engaged with this subject matter? Have the objectives evolved since the last time the students engaged with this subject matter? Have the objectives evolved since the last time the students engaged with this subject matter? (Silverstein & Layne, 2014).

    Analysis: Vocabulary and Concepts

    You’ll find an abundance of material to integrate and connect after analyzing both the music, lyrical/poetic aspects, and social contexts. The musical forms, phrases, harmonies and the poetic structure reveal a great deal of material apart from the content of the lyrics (Table 3.6).

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    Figure 3.1.7: Music Vocabulary and Concepts

    Social Studies

    Setting: Civil War, soldiers resting on the roadside while waiting for orders for the next confrontation.

    Date Written: 1866.

    Singers: Popular in the South among Confederate Soldiers (losing the war).

    Sentiment: Expresses the living conditions of Confederate soldiers and the public, as the war was lost. Sherman’s troops laid waste to much of Georgia, cutting off food supplies.

    Song Vocabulary: Students may not be familiar with these terms:

    Goober Peas-another name for boiled peanuts. Eaten by Confederate soldiers during the war when rail lines were cut off, making food and rations scarce.

    Messmate-a person/friend in a military camp with which one regularly takes meals.

    Grinders-teeth.

    Row-an argument or fight (rhymes with “cow”).

    Georgia Militia-a militia organized under the British that fought the Union during the Civil War. They fought in Sherman’s devastating “March to the Sea” and in the last battle of the Civil War at the Battle of Columbus on the Georgia-Alabama border.

    Yanks-Refers to “Yankees” or Union soldiers of the North. Rags and fleas-Tattered clothing and poor health conditions

    Activities:

    Sing the song “Goober Peas;” Read some of the letters of Eli Landers.

    Questions to think about (Historical perspectives of soldiers)

    • What conditions did the soldiers have to endure?
    • What was happening towards the end of the Civil War?
    • How do you think they felt during this time? (i.e., anxiousness, anticipation, weariness while waiting by the road).
    • Overall, what do the lyrics express on behalf of the Confederate soldiers?
    • What does the reference to the Georgia Militia mean in terms of the fighting?

    Ideas for Integration:

    • Constructivism: Analyze the music, text, and history (timeline). Reflect what it would be like to be a soldier in the Confederacy during the beginning, middle, and end of the Civil War. Problem Solve as to how to obtain food after the railroad lines were cut off, strategize as to earlier successes during the war.
    • Student Engagement: (historical perspectives). Experience: learn and sing the song. Divide into groups and read Eli Landers letters from different years comparing changes in attitude for a confederate soldier over time from the beginning of the war to the end of the war.
    • Art Form: Analyze by comparing Eli Landers’ letters to the lyrics of the song. What are the differences in historical facts? Sentiment? In terms of the song itself, explore the meaning of the music itself apart from the lyrics-sing the melody of the song on a neutral syllable. What does the melody remind you of? What kind of emotion do you hear in the melody, rhythm and phrasing? Does it seem to complement the lyrics or oppose them? Why might this be the case?
    • Creative Process: Work collaboratively to create further verses of the song or write “letters home” that will express the feelings of soldiers facing defeat. Read the letters from home along with singing the new verses of the song.
    • Objectives (see below):

    What Learning Standards or Objectives can you incorporate for this lesson for each of the following?

    1. Language Arts/Social Studies

    a. Language Arts 3: Use knowledge of language and its conventions when speaking, reading, or listening.

    b. Writing 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

    c. Reading 2: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

    2. Music National Standards

    a. 1: Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

    b. 6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.

    c. 8: Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.

    Additional Songs for Integrating History/Social Studies

    Other examples include songs that are informative and contain a long narrative or historical information for students. For example, the song “Christofo Columbo” chronicles much of the famed voyage including detailed geographic references in a fun and light song.

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    To the Kings and Queens of Europe, Columbus told his theory,
    They simply thought him crazy, and asked him this here query,
    How could the earth stand up if round, it surely would suspend,
    For answer, C’lumbus took an egg and stood it on its end.
    Refrain
    In Fourteen Hundred and Ninety-two, ’twas then Columbus started,
    From Pales on the coast of Spain to the westward he departed,
    His object was to find a route, a short one to East India,
    Columbus wore no whiskers, and the wind it blew quite windy.
    Refrain
    When Sixty days away from land, upon the broad Atlantic,
    The sailors they went on a strike which nearly caused a panic,
    They all demanded eggs to eat for each man in the crew,
    Columbus had no eggs aboard, but he made the ship lay too.
    Refrain
    The hungry crew impatient grew, and beef-steak they demanded,
    Equal to the emergency, Columbus then commanded
    That ev’ry sailor who proves true, and his duty never shirks,
    Can have a juicy porterhouse, “I’ll get it from the bulwarks.”
    Refrain
    Not satisfied with steak and eggs, the crew they yelled for chicken,
    Columbus seemed at a loss for once, and the plot it seemed to thicken,
    The men threatened to jump overboard, Columbus blocked their pathway,
    And cried: “If chicken you must have, I’ll get it from the hatchway.”
    Refrain
    The sailors now so long from home with fear became imbued,
    On the twelfth day of October their fears were all subdued,
    For after Ninety days at sea, they discovered America’s shores,
    And quickly made a landing on the Isle of Salvador.
    Refrain

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    Music and Language Arts

    Of all of the content area relationships with music, language arts and music have one of the closest bonds. This bond is rooted within the inseparable relationship between lyrics and music that has existed for thousands of years. People in across countless cultures have chanted or sung poetry for all types of human rituals, ceremonies and for entertainment. When we listen to a song, a musical phrase usually accompanies a phrase of lyrics; a verse or refrain emerges from a short poem. For centuries, ballads, and epics were all sung, as were Biblical chants and Vedic hymns. Long stories and epic tales used music to draw in the audience and to help the reciter’s memorization.

    In addition, there is an intrinsic relationship in the discrimination of phonemic sounds and musical sounds for children learning to read. Language and music are intertwined to the point where there is evidence of a connection in the brain between phonemic sound discrimination and musical sound discrimination. In a 1993 study, for example, Lamb and Gregory examined the correlation between phonemic and musical sound discrimination for children reading in their first year of school and discovered that a child’s ability to discriminate musical sounds is directly related to reading performance, primarily due to their awareness of changes in pitch.

    This close relationship allows for multiple avenues for integration. The use of music to build characters through sound expression; create tension in the narrative; highlight important moments in the plot, and so forth, are examples of the high compatibility between words and music.

    Creating a “Sound Carpet”

    Since music and language have such a close relationship, one of the easiest ways to begin is to combine the two. Creating a sound carpet (it refers to extensive and liberal use of music, sound effects, and character leitmotifs in the performance of a narrative or story) entails taking a story and adding sound effects, leitmotifs, instruments, vocal sounds, body percussion, and actors and/or a narrator, in order to bring literature to life. The goal of a leitmotif (it is a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation) is to help the listener identify the main characters and give each a very short musical pattern, so that every time their name is mentioned, someone plays that pattern. Also, sound effects can be added to enhance the action or bring a fuller meaning or experience. For example, if the story introduces a chiming bell, hit a bell or, for more advanced or older students, play a bell peal on the glockenspiel. Folk tales and fairy tales from around the world are excellent sources for this type of activity.

    Characters and Leitmotifs

    To create a sound carpet, begin by making a list of the main characters in the story. For example, the story The Princess and the Frog has three main characters-the King, Princess and Frog. Sample leitmotifs might look like this:

    King: (temple blocks and bass xylophone) q ioq q
    Princess: (glissando on glockenspiels)
    Frog: scrape guiro; hit hand drums q q q (say “ribbit!”)

    Help students create a short phrase or leitmotif for each of the main characters-think of Star Wars’ Darth Vader theme as an example. Every time the name is introduced in the story, their leitmotif should be played. To help the creative process, you might give students a short, simple rhythm to work with to create the motif. Then play the leitmotif on an instrument that helps describe that character. The King’s leitmotif, for example, might be 4 quarter notes played on a trumpet sound on a keyboard, or using an interval of a 5th on any instrument to sound regal and stately.

    Sound Effects

    Next identify locations in the story where sound effects can be used. A running stream could be a glissando on a xylophone; thunder can be played with drums; footsteps with a woodblock, etc.

    Body Percussion and Vocals

    Then add body percussion (clapping, stomping) or vocal sounds (moans for wind, yells and whoops) to increase the creativity and excitement level in the story.

    Introduction and Finale

    Add a short song with lyrics that are based on the story, to be sung and played by everyone at the opening and closing of the story.

    Finally, assign a narrator, speaking or acting parts, and along with your instruments and sound effects, you have a complete performance that incorporates music composition and creativity along with language arts and theater.

    REFERENCES

    Bakan, M. (2011). World music: Traditions and transformations. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

    Elder, J. (n.d.). Using brain-friendly music in the classroom. Retrieved from https://letsgetengaged.wikispaces.co...view/Music.pdf

    Riley, S. (2012). Shake the sketch: An arts integration workbook. Westminster, MD: Author. Silverstein, L., & Layne, S. (2014). What is arts integration? Retrieved from http://artsedge.kennedycenter.org/ed...ts-integration


    This page titled 3.1: Selected Reading is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Molly Zhou & David Brown (GALILEO Open Learning Materials) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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