I have to say that I greatly enjoyed most of the listening from this module. It was nearly all music that I had heard people speak about, but I had never actually taken the time to listen to it. This is the kind of music that would have been popular when my parents were growing up, but my mom really only listened to classical and Christian hymns, and my dad has only ever mentioned liking the Steve Miller Band.
I really enjoyed Carole King's song "It's Too Late." I only have an association with Carole King because she sang the theme song for my favorite TV show of all time, Gilmore Girls. I also remember that a friend of mine who was on American Idol was actually kicked off the show because her rendition of a Carole King song was rather bland. It may have actually be "It's Too Late" that she sang. My husband, as I was listening to this song, asked if we could get the whole record because its the kind of music he apparently grew up listening to (even though he grew up in the 90s like me, it must be the type of music his parents enjoyed). I found it to be very easy to listen to, and I liked the aural surprises such as key change from verse to chorus.
Of course, I was very familiar with several of the songs from this week, including Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," "Hotel California," "Stairway to Heaven," and "Love to Love You Baby." Although I had never actually heard "Crocodile Rock," I did find that it was an excellent reference to much of the early rock 'n' roll music we heard a few modules ago, and I am familiar with a lot of Elton John's working, having gone through a "phase" during college.
I found myself rolling my eyes at "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." I'm not sure why, but it seemed so typically country that it was almost novelty. I had trouble taking it seriously, but I am not a huge country fan either.
I also found that, while I have greatly enjoyed every single song as part of the listening assignments up to this point, that this module is where I started to feel more opinionated about the quality of the music. I did not enjoy Psycho Killer or The Message at all, and had a lot of trouble even making it through the entire song. It just didn't "speak" to me like so much other music does.
Overall, it is clear that the mainstream and underground during the 1970s were a place where music could truly branch into individually expressive qualities. Of course, this was always a component of music, but it seems that people listening to popular music were beginning to be more accepting of the "weird" by this point in American history.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Module 5 - Motown, the British Invasion, and Rock
The most important factor that I gleaned from reading and listening this week is that by the 1950s, American popular music was extremely diverse, yet all genres seemed to influence each other somewhat. Rock 'n' Roll as a new genre combined the stylings of R&B, 12-bar blues, and honky tonk country music. It seemed like rock bands followed a pattern in making their music.
Rock 'n' Roll musician often got their starts by imitating one another by making covers of each other's music. This was discussed at length in the reading from last module. We listened to such covers, many of which were originally R&B by African-American artists and were (generally) covered with more success by white artists. Specifically, we listened to Shake, Rattle, and Roll, which was originally by Big Joe Turner and was covered by Bill Haley and the Comets, Sh-Boom, which was originally by the Chords and was covered by the Crew Cuts, and Mystery Train, which was originally by Junior Parker and was covered by Elvis Presley. As a child, I remember learning that Roll Over Beethoven was a Chuck Berry song that was covered by the Beatles in their early years.
The next thing that rock artists would do is to copy the stylings of others while writing their own music. Using typical 12-bar blues phrasing and/or similar chord and song form structures, artists often made their music sound like the music they liked the most. This made bands recognizable as individual groups within a specific genre or musical style.
Finally, the most advanced artists would being to experiment with music, making new and developed sounds as their knowledge of music and interests in music expanded. In our listening assignments, I note Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys as a song in this category. Good Vibrations is very experimental. It does not follow typical song form and is continually surprising to the listener. Especially in the late 1960s, rock artists got very creative with their experimentation. I remember my first listen of "Revolution 9" by the Beatles and thinking that it wasn't even music.
Current songwriters often follow patterns like these as well. Most artists and/or bands begin their careers with making a combination of covers and original songs. Most recently, I've been listening to Pentatonix, the a capella group that won The Sing-Off a few years ago. They often post youtube videos of covers they have done. They are creative in their covering, because they both cover an exact song, imitate the original stylings, and add creative elements that make the song their own.
Rock 'n' Roll musician often got their starts by imitating one another by making covers of each other's music. This was discussed at length in the reading from last module. We listened to such covers, many of which were originally R&B by African-American artists and were (generally) covered with more success by white artists. Specifically, we listened to Shake, Rattle, and Roll, which was originally by Big Joe Turner and was covered by Bill Haley and the Comets, Sh-Boom, which was originally by the Chords and was covered by the Crew Cuts, and Mystery Train, which was originally by Junior Parker and was covered by Elvis Presley. As a child, I remember learning that Roll Over Beethoven was a Chuck Berry song that was covered by the Beatles in their early years.
The next thing that rock artists would do is to copy the stylings of others while writing their own music. Using typical 12-bar blues phrasing and/or similar chord and song form structures, artists often made their music sound like the music they liked the most. This made bands recognizable as individual groups within a specific genre or musical style.
Finally, the most advanced artists would being to experiment with music, making new and developed sounds as their knowledge of music and interests in music expanded. In our listening assignments, I note Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys as a song in this category. Good Vibrations is very experimental. It does not follow typical song form and is continually surprising to the listener. Especially in the late 1960s, rock artists got very creative with their experimentation. I remember my first listen of "Revolution 9" by the Beatles and thinking that it wasn't even music.
Current songwriters often follow patterns like these as well. Most artists and/or bands begin their careers with making a combination of covers and original songs. Most recently, I've been listening to Pentatonix, the a capella group that won The Sing-Off a few years ago. They often post youtube videos of covers they have done. They are creative in their covering, because they both cover an exact song, imitate the original stylings, and add creative elements that make the song their own.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Module 4: Give It a Chance
While there was quite a bit of great listening in our textbook this week, I'd like to take the time in my listening journal to discuss the music that I listened to as I participated in the discussion board. There was definitely a theme in these listening assignments: Give it a chance!
As musicians, I believe I can accurately state that we tend to place judgment on popular music. We are very likely to assume that current popular music is not as high quality as the music that was popular when we were children, or older music that we've spent time studying and analyzing. It is interesting to think, though, that our parents did the same thing about their parents' music, and their parents did the same thing about their parents' music, and so forth. Over years of developing American music, taste has very drastically changed, and it always seems that current music isn't as good as its predecessor.
I fall victim to this type of thinking regularly. I tend to roll my eyes at Ke$ha (which my father calls key-dollar sign-ha) for being gross and dirty, and at Lady Gaga for seeming to be more interested in drawing attention to herself than making quality art, and at Nicki Minaj for just appearing to be rather dumb on the outside, but this is ridiculous thinking. Even disregarding talent, all three of these artists have made influential music and are clearly very intelligent business women at the very least. I tend to think of One Direction as the cheesy kids' pop group (like a wannabe *NSync), or the Jonas Brothers (now solo) as cheesy kids' pop as well. I automatically dislike any artist who seems to be more interested in drawing attention to him or herself than making music that is meaningful (Miley Cyrus, for example). I automatically hate-watched Carrie Underwood performing the role of Maria in "The Sound of Music Live" because country singers shouldn't try to leave their genres. I worry when watching Ellen because she always puts on talented kids who are bound to end up as attention-grabbing sociopaths. I don't repost videos of children adorably singing "Let It Go" from Frozen for this purpose, either. I look on, entirely unsurprised, when Justin Bieber has issues with the law. And yet, it is easy for me to find value in "old" music, like the Boogies, old country music, and early "bubblegum" rock 'n' roll like was included in the textbook.
All of this being said, my biggest lesson this week was "Give it a chance!" Our assignment for the discussion board was to choose 5 of our favorite songs and explain why they were our favorites. For many of us, nostalgia was a big part of our choices. Several people chose current pop songs. One classmate chose "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha and actually stated on the discussion board that we were not to judge her. It is so normal for musicians to be judgmental of current pop that she knew we would judge in her inclusion of it. Another student added the disclaimer that he didn't actually like the band, but that particular song was pretty good when he posted a One Direction song.
I took time to watch the videos for every single song that my classmates posted. I decided that if I was going to dive in, I would dive in fully. I found myself dancing along and truly enjoying the catchiness of most of the songs, especially "Tik Tok." I found myself with tears in my eyes as I watched the One Direction video "Story of My Life." I found myself emotionally moved by the message of Lorde's "Royals" - we may never actually get to be any kind of royalty, but that's what our dreams are for. It was then that I realized the significance of the pop music that I so readily hate-listened to: vernacular music tells the story of American culture at the time of the music production. Pop songs are going to hold a particular nostalgic place in time. The songs are going to take us back in our lives to that place where we were. They tell us about history and culture better than lots of other parts of our past can. They can hold a place in time like no other history textbook or direct memory can. They can spur thoughts of a very specific moment or person.
In this conclusion that I drew of the significance of the story that pop music tells, I commit now to listen openly to all music, whether popular or lesser-known, whether new or old, before I judge what I think it should be like. I commit to analyzing the music as a musician for both its artistic value and its cultural significance. I commit to leaving my tendency to hate-listen and to be a bit more open-minded as I learn to better understand American through our music.
As musicians, I believe I can accurately state that we tend to place judgment on popular music. We are very likely to assume that current popular music is not as high quality as the music that was popular when we were children, or older music that we've spent time studying and analyzing. It is interesting to think, though, that our parents did the same thing about their parents' music, and their parents did the same thing about their parents' music, and so forth. Over years of developing American music, taste has very drastically changed, and it always seems that current music isn't as good as its predecessor.
I fall victim to this type of thinking regularly. I tend to roll my eyes at Ke$ha (which my father calls key-dollar sign-ha) for being gross and dirty, and at Lady Gaga for seeming to be more interested in drawing attention to herself than making quality art, and at Nicki Minaj for just appearing to be rather dumb on the outside, but this is ridiculous thinking. Even disregarding talent, all three of these artists have made influential music and are clearly very intelligent business women at the very least. I tend to think of One Direction as the cheesy kids' pop group (like a wannabe *NSync), or the Jonas Brothers (now solo) as cheesy kids' pop as well. I automatically dislike any artist who seems to be more interested in drawing attention to him or herself than making music that is meaningful (Miley Cyrus, for example). I automatically hate-watched Carrie Underwood performing the role of Maria in "The Sound of Music Live" because country singers shouldn't try to leave their genres. I worry when watching Ellen because she always puts on talented kids who are bound to end up as attention-grabbing sociopaths. I don't repost videos of children adorably singing "Let It Go" from Frozen for this purpose, either. I look on, entirely unsurprised, when Justin Bieber has issues with the law. And yet, it is easy for me to find value in "old" music, like the Boogies, old country music, and early "bubblegum" rock 'n' roll like was included in the textbook.
All of this being said, my biggest lesson this week was "Give it a chance!" Our assignment for the discussion board was to choose 5 of our favorite songs and explain why they were our favorites. For many of us, nostalgia was a big part of our choices. Several people chose current pop songs. One classmate chose "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha and actually stated on the discussion board that we were not to judge her. It is so normal for musicians to be judgmental of current pop that she knew we would judge in her inclusion of it. Another student added the disclaimer that he didn't actually like the band, but that particular song was pretty good when he posted a One Direction song.
I took time to watch the videos for every single song that my classmates posted. I decided that if I was going to dive in, I would dive in fully. I found myself dancing along and truly enjoying the catchiness of most of the songs, especially "Tik Tok." I found myself with tears in my eyes as I watched the One Direction video "Story of My Life." I found myself emotionally moved by the message of Lorde's "Royals" - we may never actually get to be any kind of royalty, but that's what our dreams are for. It was then that I realized the significance of the pop music that I so readily hate-listened to: vernacular music tells the story of American culture at the time of the music production. Pop songs are going to hold a particular nostalgic place in time. The songs are going to take us back in our lives to that place where we were. They tell us about history and culture better than lots of other parts of our past can. They can hold a place in time like no other history textbook or direct memory can. They can spur thoughts of a very specific moment or person.
In this conclusion that I drew of the significance of the story that pop music tells, I commit now to listen openly to all music, whether popular or lesser-known, whether new or old, before I judge what I think it should be like. I commit to analyzing the music as a musician for both its artistic value and its cultural significance. I commit to leaving my tendency to hate-listen and to be a bit more open-minded as I learn to better understand American through our music.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Module 3 - Blues and Swing
This week's readings and listening assignments were great fun for me, as the music started to dive into more recognizable music styles. It is easy to make the connections between modern popular music and the music of the blues and swing.
The textbook and listening assignments first explored blues music from the 1920s and 1930s. Blues music was categorized into two groups: classic blues (which was interestingly the type of blues that was adjusted to sound more like the hit music of the upper class) and country blues (which was truly the more original type of blues). We listened to several pieces in each category.
The primary difference between classic blues and country blues is the refined stylizing of classic blues. The African American performers who popularized blues, like W.C. Handy and Bessie Smith, were able to do so because they took stylized the more refined version to imitate some of the vocal qualities, but not all, from the country blues style. It seems that America just wasn't "ready" for country blues yet, so the artists refined the music to imitate the music of dance bands, sentimental crooning songs, and Tin Pan Alley songs, adding just touch of blues, such as 12-bar blues form, to make it more refined. Country blues artists kept things more authentic, often playing, as did Blind Lemon Jefferson in "The Black Snake Moan" and Robert Johnson in "Cross Road Blues" with their own ideas of tempos and meter and following less pronounced form.
Hillbilly records also came into play during that time period, which set the stage for what is now modern country music. The primary difference between race music like the blues and hillbilly music was that hillbilly music was made by Caucasians for the enjoyment of Caucasians. Maintaining deep roots in southern culture, hillbilly records involved more conservative values, standard hillbilly instruments like the fiddle, banjo, guitar, and mandolin, nasal, clear vocals, and southern twang in their accent that greatly appealed to the people of the south. The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, while have distinctly different sounds, were the first artists to truly pioneer hillbilly music.
When the Great Depression hit in 1929, the music industry was greatly affected. During the Great Depression, the Swing Era began, from 1935-1945, helping people to overcome and escape their difficult day-to-day life. Swing music helped to recover the music industry during the Depression because of sales records with bigger dance bands. I enjoyed listening to Swing music most of all this week. My husband and I enjoy swing dancing together, so many of the pieces of music, like "Taking a Chance on Love" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra" and "One O'Clock Jump" by Count Basie were familiar to us. We tried out some of our swing moves as we listened, and it was lots of fun! Fun is a great descriptive word for swing music. It is no surprise to me that so many people used the music to escape their difficult lives during the Great Depression, since the great fun and upbeat music could help anyone escape!
The textbook and listening assignments first explored blues music from the 1920s and 1930s. Blues music was categorized into two groups: classic blues (which was interestingly the type of blues that was adjusted to sound more like the hit music of the upper class) and country blues (which was truly the more original type of blues). We listened to several pieces in each category.
The primary difference between classic blues and country blues is the refined stylizing of classic blues. The African American performers who popularized blues, like W.C. Handy and Bessie Smith, were able to do so because they took stylized the more refined version to imitate some of the vocal qualities, but not all, from the country blues style. It seems that America just wasn't "ready" for country blues yet, so the artists refined the music to imitate the music of dance bands, sentimental crooning songs, and Tin Pan Alley songs, adding just touch of blues, such as 12-bar blues form, to make it more refined. Country blues artists kept things more authentic, often playing, as did Blind Lemon Jefferson in "The Black Snake Moan" and Robert Johnson in "Cross Road Blues" with their own ideas of tempos and meter and following less pronounced form.
Hillbilly records also came into play during that time period, which set the stage for what is now modern country music. The primary difference between race music like the blues and hillbilly music was that hillbilly music was made by Caucasians for the enjoyment of Caucasians. Maintaining deep roots in southern culture, hillbilly records involved more conservative values, standard hillbilly instruments like the fiddle, banjo, guitar, and mandolin, nasal, clear vocals, and southern twang in their accent that greatly appealed to the people of the south. The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, while have distinctly different sounds, were the first artists to truly pioneer hillbilly music.
When the Great Depression hit in 1929, the music industry was greatly affected. During the Great Depression, the Swing Era began, from 1935-1945, helping people to overcome and escape their difficult day-to-day life. Swing music helped to recover the music industry during the Depression because of sales records with bigger dance bands. I enjoyed listening to Swing music most of all this week. My husband and I enjoy swing dancing together, so many of the pieces of music, like "Taking a Chance on Love" by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra" and "One O'Clock Jump" by Count Basie were familiar to us. We tried out some of our swing moves as we listened, and it was lots of fun! Fun is a great descriptive word for swing music. It is no surprise to me that so many people used the music to escape their difficult lives during the Great Depression, since the great fun and upbeat music could help anyone escape!
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Module 2 - Social Dance, Jazz, and Tin Pan Alley
This week's videos, readings, and listening assignments focused on a rather short period in American music history - the 1920s and 1930s - but one in which recorded music exploded into mainstream life. Some of the music I listened to was recorded before the invention of the microphone in 1925, and the other half was recorded after. This provides the listener with significant differences in quality of recorded performances.
Before the Microphone
Many of the recordings that I listened to that were recorded before the microphone were of similar styles and related to dance music. For my own enjoyment, I listened to "Mary" by the Joseph C. Smith Orchestra (found on youtube here), which was the first piece of music to become popular because of the recorded performance as opposed to the sheet music, and "Dardenella" by the Selvin Novelty Orchestra (found on youtube here), which was the first piece of recorded music to sell one million copies. Following those, I listened to the assigned rag pieces. The two rag pieces "Castle House Rag" and "Tiger Rag" were very similar in style. Like typical rags, both pieces contained several differing themes and no really obvious melody. With each theme, a new instrument seemed to be featured. This added contrast to a piece of music that retained the interest of the listener. I particularly found myself toe-tapping to "Tiger Rag," which contained very prominent syncopation and several stoptime sequences that involved three beats of other instruments and one or two beats of only sliding trombone.
Also in the style of early jazz was the recording of "Dipper Mouth Blues," performed by the Creole Jazz Band. I chose this as my discussion assignment, and I found another recording of the performance from the Lawrence Welk show in 1960 (found on youtube here). The two performances are very different from one another. In the original performance by the Creole Jazz Band, the music is much looser and free. The Lawrence Welk show version is very refined and high class, and sounds much more like typical Tin Pan Alley style, marked by grace, gentleness, and sophistication, but still upbeat and fun. Both are excellent performances. I particularly enjoy the impeccable clarinet solo in the 1960 performance. "Dipper Mouth Blues" set the stage for future jazz by switching back and forth between the refrain that remains the same each time and the improvised sections in between.
After the Microphone
The rest of the music had quite a better recording quality, as it was recorded after the invention of the microphone. The microphone essentially allowed for a new era of singers called "crooners" who used the microphone as an instrument to amplify their voices and to create a particular smooth sound that allowed for ultimate intimacy between the performer and audience. The first of these crooners was Bing Crosby. I found a youtube video of his performance in the short film "Blue of the Night" which you can see here. In the same style was Gene Austin's beautiful performances of "My Blue Heaven" from 1927. As I listened to Austin perform the piece, I couldn't help but be reminded of one of my favorite childhood videos from Disney Sing-Along Songs that sort of mocked crooners in a lighthearted way. The sound recording of the one I was reminded of can be found here on youtube. Austin's performance imitates recitative and aria, as there is a verse that sets up the main melody very nicely, and the main melody is repeated as the refrain. The primary part of the performance that reminded me of the video from my childhood was the use of the sound "boo" to scat a section during the second return of the refrain. I think my students would be entertained, since I still have the original VHS video of the Disney Sing-Along Songs "Fun with Music" to show them the real crooners, and then show them the mockery. I feel like there is the possibility of a lesson plan with comparing and contrasting and/or the discussion of satire. I should add that I was in college before I realized that the Disney version was satire because of my limited experience with listening to actual crooners.
Another performance after the invention of the microphone, but not used for crooning, was the performance of "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" by Duke Ellington and His Washingtonians. The primary characteristics that made this performance different from the earlier mentioned dance music, besides the better recording quality, was the complexity of harmonic ideas that Duke's band uses. The textbook mentions that Duke was an excellent and progressive arranger, and the obvious representation of an older man who is bent like a toad can easily be heard in the performance, including both the harmonic structure and the use of muted brass with a growling sound. I look forward to exploring more of Duke's music in the future weeks to see more of the development of his arranging style, since the textbook mentions that this is one of his earliest recordings.
As the textbook discussed the development of jazz music, I was reminded of this excellent musical I performed with my students last year in fourth grade. The students really enjoyed learning about famous jazz musicians (and playing them as characters). I usually do one musical per year, so I used this musical last year as the curriculum for jazz exposure (and I learned a lot, as I had never heard of an alarming number of the featured musicians, including Jelly Roll Morton and King Joe Oliver and many more, and I had no idea that Louis Armstrong was nicknamed Satchmo, since I had essentially no jazz history experience). I think I'd like to develop the curriculum further and include the information somehow. Many of the listening examples in this book are real examples of the music performed by those who are mentioned in the musical as well.
Additionally, this week's listening assignments have prompted me that I would like to further study Irvin Berlin and George Gershwin's works and find ways to incorporate them into lessons about American music history. I am sure I could find youtube sections of movies like "An American in Paris" and "Annie Get Your Gun" that are considered age-appropriate by my administration and the parents in my district. This has been an issue in the past.
Before the Microphone
Many of the recordings that I listened to that were recorded before the microphone were of similar styles and related to dance music. For my own enjoyment, I listened to "Mary" by the Joseph C. Smith Orchestra (found on youtube here), which was the first piece of music to become popular because of the recorded performance as opposed to the sheet music, and "Dardenella" by the Selvin Novelty Orchestra (found on youtube here), which was the first piece of recorded music to sell one million copies. Following those, I listened to the assigned rag pieces. The two rag pieces "Castle House Rag" and "Tiger Rag" were very similar in style. Like typical rags, both pieces contained several differing themes and no really obvious melody. With each theme, a new instrument seemed to be featured. This added contrast to a piece of music that retained the interest of the listener. I particularly found myself toe-tapping to "Tiger Rag," which contained very prominent syncopation and several stoptime sequences that involved three beats of other instruments and one or two beats of only sliding trombone.
Also in the style of early jazz was the recording of "Dipper Mouth Blues," performed by the Creole Jazz Band. I chose this as my discussion assignment, and I found another recording of the performance from the Lawrence Welk show in 1960 (found on youtube here). The two performances are very different from one another. In the original performance by the Creole Jazz Band, the music is much looser and free. The Lawrence Welk show version is very refined and high class, and sounds much more like typical Tin Pan Alley style, marked by grace, gentleness, and sophistication, but still upbeat and fun. Both are excellent performances. I particularly enjoy the impeccable clarinet solo in the 1960 performance. "Dipper Mouth Blues" set the stage for future jazz by switching back and forth between the refrain that remains the same each time and the improvised sections in between.
After the Microphone
The rest of the music had quite a better recording quality, as it was recorded after the invention of the microphone. The microphone essentially allowed for a new era of singers called "crooners" who used the microphone as an instrument to amplify their voices and to create a particular smooth sound that allowed for ultimate intimacy between the performer and audience. The first of these crooners was Bing Crosby. I found a youtube video of his performance in the short film "Blue of the Night" which you can see here. In the same style was Gene Austin's beautiful performances of "My Blue Heaven" from 1927. As I listened to Austin perform the piece, I couldn't help but be reminded of one of my favorite childhood videos from Disney Sing-Along Songs that sort of mocked crooners in a lighthearted way. The sound recording of the one I was reminded of can be found here on youtube. Austin's performance imitates recitative and aria, as there is a verse that sets up the main melody very nicely, and the main melody is repeated as the refrain. The primary part of the performance that reminded me of the video from my childhood was the use of the sound "boo" to scat a section during the second return of the refrain. I think my students would be entertained, since I still have the original VHS video of the Disney Sing-Along Songs "Fun with Music" to show them the real crooners, and then show them the mockery. I feel like there is the possibility of a lesson plan with comparing and contrasting and/or the discussion of satire. I should add that I was in college before I realized that the Disney version was satire because of my limited experience with listening to actual crooners.
Another performance after the invention of the microphone, but not used for crooning, was the performance of "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" by Duke Ellington and His Washingtonians. The primary characteristics that made this performance different from the earlier mentioned dance music, besides the better recording quality, was the complexity of harmonic ideas that Duke's band uses. The textbook mentions that Duke was an excellent and progressive arranger, and the obvious representation of an older man who is bent like a toad can easily be heard in the performance, including both the harmonic structure and the use of muted brass with a growling sound. I look forward to exploring more of Duke's music in the future weeks to see more of the development of his arranging style, since the textbook mentions that this is one of his earliest recordings.
As the textbook discussed the development of jazz music, I was reminded of this excellent musical I performed with my students last year in fourth grade. The students really enjoyed learning about famous jazz musicians (and playing them as characters). I usually do one musical per year, so I used this musical last year as the curriculum for jazz exposure (and I learned a lot, as I had never heard of an alarming number of the featured musicians, including Jelly Roll Morton and King Joe Oliver and many more, and I had no idea that Louis Armstrong was nicknamed Satchmo, since I had essentially no jazz history experience). I think I'd like to develop the curriculum further and include the information somehow. Many of the listening examples in this book are real examples of the music performed by those who are mentioned in the musical as well.
Additionally, this week's listening assignments have prompted me that I would like to further study Irvin Berlin and George Gershwin's works and find ways to incorporate them into lessons about American music history. I am sure I could find youtube sections of movies like "An American in Paris" and "Annie Get Your Gun" that are considered age-appropriate by my administration and the parents in my district. This has been an issue in the past.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Module 1 - Listening
This week, I listened to youtube versions of the pieces of music in our textbooks because I have not yet received my textbook. I found versions of most of the music on youtube, and I delighted in nearly all of it. I was not able to read the backgrounds or further information of the music that I listened to since I have not yet received the textbook, and I am looking forward to doing that this week, when, Amazon assures me, I receive it on the 14th.
I teach elementary general music and beginning band, and I have been very excited to do popular music units with my students, particularly American popular music, for several years. I have no formal education in popular music, however, so I have been at a stopping point while trying to figure out how I could go about teaching it accurately, appropriately, and meaningfully for children. I have such a deep understanding of music, and I have studied lyrics for years, and I have studied instruments and harmonies and the music business, so there is great depth to my understanding of popular music that I simply cannot figure out how to meaningfully communicate to my students. I was relieved when reading the Woody PDF that the author said this is a common reason why music educators do not teach popular music.
It is unrealistic for me to allow my students to create their own rock bands, as was sort of suggested in the Woody text, although I would enjoy overseeing that if it was a possibility, but I can certainly expose them to and let them explore music of America from different centuries. With youtube easily accessible on my school computer and with my projector, I can realistically show videos and discuss the backgrounds of the music, particularly with my third and fourth graders.
The first few pieces I listened to were very Appalachian sounding. Again, with no formal text, I cannot be sure that I am speaking accurately, so I am generalizing from my previous knowledge of American vernacular music. First, I listened to a haunting rendition of "Barbry Allen" by Jean Ritchie. She had a clear, bright voice, and sang the piece completely a capella, maintaining the same musical key throughout. She added small yodels and ornamentations, particularly cascading on downward movement. The piece was strophic and very repetitive tonally. I wanted to listen to the lyrics, but I had a hard time focusing on them, as I was distracted by my aching wish to be able to sing like that. Following Jean Ritchie, I listened to two arrangements of "Soldier's Joy," one by Gid Tanner, and one by Tommy Jarrell. The first was sung in a group with lyrics and solo trade-offs. The second was completely solo with fiddle playing harmonies with itself, with no lyrics. Following those, I listened to several that seemed to be similar categorized, including Dink Roberts singing "Roustabout," which was an interesting experience. It seemed that Dink Roberts made music primarily for the joy of making music. This performance seemed to be on his front porch or the like, on a somewhat out-of-tune banjo. The watcher could easily see the hard times he had experienced as his face lit up while singing, highlighted by missing front teeth and watery eyes. It was a strange kind of beautiful to watch him enjoy making music, and I was surprised to read that the recording was made in 1983, because the music and the person seemed much more 1930s to me. Next, I listened to my favorite, "Stack O Lee Blues" by Mississippi John Hurt. The recording was labeled as being from 1928, but it sounded so very modern. This makes me think that perhaps there is a fad to reflect that type of music again. Mississippi John Hurt performed so sweetly and gently, and the harmonic transitions were simple but divine. I thoroughly was moved as I listened to the performance.
Here are links to those videos, in order of discussed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l3VePGR-QA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p952jSLddg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWMZ2dP0Eas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvo1OP1OJ0c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlniDmj10u8
Next, I listened to several very different sounding pieces. First, what seemed like a work song, I listened to Lightning Washington Long John (I am not sure which of this was the song title and which was the performer). The piece was extremely repetitive, and the steady beat was kept with a noise throughout. The piece was call and response, with the leader singing a line, and the group repeating it exactly. The form of the song was verse, refrain, verse, refrain, and so forth. I would like to delve more into work songs, as I think it could be an excellent unit for children that directly relates to American history.
Here is the link to that video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G5KtQynWvc
There was also one mariachi piece that I could access: "Son de la Negra." It was different from most mariachi pieces I've heard. There were lots of tempo and meter changes throughout, which would have made it a very fun but complex piece of music for dancing. There was singing a few times throughout, but it was mostly instrumental. The singing seemed to be at least a four part men's chorus.
Here is the link to the mariachi video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKEm19lMjuQ
Shifting gears completely, the next piece was a Stephen Foster folk song performed by an obviously classically trained singer, Thomas Hampson, with the Jay Ungar Trio. He performed the piece beautifully, with accurate pitch and light changes between register. The piece was "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair." My second graders did a world music Folk Concert last year, and this was one of the pieces they performed for American folk music. I know this type of music is very realistic for the study of children, but I do not think my students would react well to this classic performer. I am wondering how I could go about finding a more folk-sounding performance, since this one sounds so classical. I can just hear them giggling as they listen to the "opera singer." My other attempts at legitimizing opera music for them have been in vain. (An interesting tidbit: one of the youtube commenters says that Stephen Foster wrote this piece about a real girl named Jeanie who ended her relationship with him because he was an alcoholic. This is not a fact I'd share with my students, but I am interested to delve further into it, just the same.)
Here is the link to Thomas Hampson performing "Jeanie":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMfgZJ5de_k
I finished my listening this week with two pieces mentioned in our discussion board. One is the piece my classmate Kaylin Kava mentioned. She remembered driving around while a teenager goofing off in the car to the song "Temperature" by Sean Paul. I did not recognize the song title, and I wanted to see if I knew the song. I had never heard it before, although I had heard many songs like it. Apparently it was released in 2006 and was one of the biggest hits. 2006 was my sophomore year of college, and I was very busy into the world of classic, choral, and vocal jazz music at the time, so I did not listen to any pop music. I suppose I missed the release of the song. I found myself getting frustrated that the very fast paced lyrics left me in the dust. I do not generally like music when I can't understand the lyrics. I did, however, find myself dancing several times, because the music moves me physically. This is something I noticed recently in my 2.5 year old nephew. He "rocks out" to modern rap music that has a good dance beat. I wonder if it is natural or learned, especially after watching him instinctively enjoy fast-paced rap at his age.
Here is the link to Kaylin's piece:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMfgZJ5de_k
Last, I listened to my own piece from the discussion board, as it makes me nostalgic. I listened to several versions. The first was the classic "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys from Pet Sounds. The second was a version where someone edited the accompaniment to be very soft so it appears that the vocals are a capella. I delighted in that, as the instrumental sometimes covers the complexity of the vocal harmonic line. The third was a live performance in rehearsal sung by Carl, which was also very enjoyable as it was more raw and less polished than the other versions. I mostly listened to the other versions because I haven't done that before, and I was very interested. It was mostly for my enjoyment's sake.
Here are the links to those videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkPy18xW1j8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvNXPkK7JY8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EgAhLs1Epg
I enjoyed listening to the different music. I look forward to reading its context this week when I receive the textbook and expounding upon it.
I teach elementary general music and beginning band, and I have been very excited to do popular music units with my students, particularly American popular music, for several years. I have no formal education in popular music, however, so I have been at a stopping point while trying to figure out how I could go about teaching it accurately, appropriately, and meaningfully for children. I have such a deep understanding of music, and I have studied lyrics for years, and I have studied instruments and harmonies and the music business, so there is great depth to my understanding of popular music that I simply cannot figure out how to meaningfully communicate to my students. I was relieved when reading the Woody PDF that the author said this is a common reason why music educators do not teach popular music.
It is unrealistic for me to allow my students to create their own rock bands, as was sort of suggested in the Woody text, although I would enjoy overseeing that if it was a possibility, but I can certainly expose them to and let them explore music of America from different centuries. With youtube easily accessible on my school computer and with my projector, I can realistically show videos and discuss the backgrounds of the music, particularly with my third and fourth graders.
The first few pieces I listened to were very Appalachian sounding. Again, with no formal text, I cannot be sure that I am speaking accurately, so I am generalizing from my previous knowledge of American vernacular music. First, I listened to a haunting rendition of "Barbry Allen" by Jean Ritchie. She had a clear, bright voice, and sang the piece completely a capella, maintaining the same musical key throughout. She added small yodels and ornamentations, particularly cascading on downward movement. The piece was strophic and very repetitive tonally. I wanted to listen to the lyrics, but I had a hard time focusing on them, as I was distracted by my aching wish to be able to sing like that. Following Jean Ritchie, I listened to two arrangements of "Soldier's Joy," one by Gid Tanner, and one by Tommy Jarrell. The first was sung in a group with lyrics and solo trade-offs. The second was completely solo with fiddle playing harmonies with itself, with no lyrics. Following those, I listened to several that seemed to be similar categorized, including Dink Roberts singing "Roustabout," which was an interesting experience. It seemed that Dink Roberts made music primarily for the joy of making music. This performance seemed to be on his front porch or the like, on a somewhat out-of-tune banjo. The watcher could easily see the hard times he had experienced as his face lit up while singing, highlighted by missing front teeth and watery eyes. It was a strange kind of beautiful to watch him enjoy making music, and I was surprised to read that the recording was made in 1983, because the music and the person seemed much more 1930s to me. Next, I listened to my favorite, "Stack O Lee Blues" by Mississippi John Hurt. The recording was labeled as being from 1928, but it sounded so very modern. This makes me think that perhaps there is a fad to reflect that type of music again. Mississippi John Hurt performed so sweetly and gently, and the harmonic transitions were simple but divine. I thoroughly was moved as I listened to the performance.
Here are links to those videos, in order of discussed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l3VePGR-QA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p952jSLddg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWMZ2dP0Eas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvo1OP1OJ0c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlniDmj10u8
Next, I listened to several very different sounding pieces. First, what seemed like a work song, I listened to Lightning Washington Long John (I am not sure which of this was the song title and which was the performer). The piece was extremely repetitive, and the steady beat was kept with a noise throughout. The piece was call and response, with the leader singing a line, and the group repeating it exactly. The form of the song was verse, refrain, verse, refrain, and so forth. I would like to delve more into work songs, as I think it could be an excellent unit for children that directly relates to American history.
Here is the link to that video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G5KtQynWvc
There was also one mariachi piece that I could access: "Son de la Negra." It was different from most mariachi pieces I've heard. There were lots of tempo and meter changes throughout, which would have made it a very fun but complex piece of music for dancing. There was singing a few times throughout, but it was mostly instrumental. The singing seemed to be at least a four part men's chorus.
Here is the link to the mariachi video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKEm19lMjuQ
Shifting gears completely, the next piece was a Stephen Foster folk song performed by an obviously classically trained singer, Thomas Hampson, with the Jay Ungar Trio. He performed the piece beautifully, with accurate pitch and light changes between register. The piece was "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair." My second graders did a world music Folk Concert last year, and this was one of the pieces they performed for American folk music. I know this type of music is very realistic for the study of children, but I do not think my students would react well to this classic performer. I am wondering how I could go about finding a more folk-sounding performance, since this one sounds so classical. I can just hear them giggling as they listen to the "opera singer." My other attempts at legitimizing opera music for them have been in vain. (An interesting tidbit: one of the youtube commenters says that Stephen Foster wrote this piece about a real girl named Jeanie who ended her relationship with him because he was an alcoholic. This is not a fact I'd share with my students, but I am interested to delve further into it, just the same.)
Here is the link to Thomas Hampson performing "Jeanie":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMfgZJ5de_k
I finished my listening this week with two pieces mentioned in our discussion board. One is the piece my classmate Kaylin Kava mentioned. She remembered driving around while a teenager goofing off in the car to the song "Temperature" by Sean Paul. I did not recognize the song title, and I wanted to see if I knew the song. I had never heard it before, although I had heard many songs like it. Apparently it was released in 2006 and was one of the biggest hits. 2006 was my sophomore year of college, and I was very busy into the world of classic, choral, and vocal jazz music at the time, so I did not listen to any pop music. I suppose I missed the release of the song. I found myself getting frustrated that the very fast paced lyrics left me in the dust. I do not generally like music when I can't understand the lyrics. I did, however, find myself dancing several times, because the music moves me physically. This is something I noticed recently in my 2.5 year old nephew. He "rocks out" to modern rap music that has a good dance beat. I wonder if it is natural or learned, especially after watching him instinctively enjoy fast-paced rap at his age.
Here is the link to Kaylin's piece:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMfgZJ5de_k
Last, I listened to my own piece from the discussion board, as it makes me nostalgic. I listened to several versions. The first was the classic "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys from Pet Sounds. The second was a version where someone edited the accompaniment to be very soft so it appears that the vocals are a capella. I delighted in that, as the instrumental sometimes covers the complexity of the vocal harmonic line. The third was a live performance in rehearsal sung by Carl, which was also very enjoyable as it was more raw and less polished than the other versions. I mostly listened to the other versions because I haven't done that before, and I was very interested. It was mostly for my enjoyment's sake.
Here are the links to those videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkPy18xW1j8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvNXPkK7JY8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EgAhLs1Epg
I enjoyed listening to the different music. I look forward to reading its context this week when I receive the textbook and expounding upon it.
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