Music History... cut short but not dead

Well...since testing took so long I simply ran out of time to finish the last planned unit of Music History.  We are now in a phase of the school year where I will have odd combinations of students in my classes (grade level field trips, award ceremonies, celebrations by specific populations on campus and a school wide celebration) which means that I will only have a complete set of students on two more days...which is simply not enough time to complete the final music history unit.  I seriously contemplated a final test that verify all that we have learned but... that feels like what a math or science teacher would do so I needed an alternative was to assess what my student have learned.  Introducing the...Music Preferences Assessment.

Students were asked to go into the Computer lab (as a class we had one day to do this but students can also go on their own over three days).  Students were asked to look up on You Tube their favorite piece of music.  The song could have lyrics but...the lyrics or performer could not be why they like the piece.  These pieces also have to be school appropriate.

Student s were then challenged to find a cover of that piece that featured their instrument (often young kids recording themselves playing their favorite piece).  The instruments available to my students are:
     Band                               Orchestra
     Percussion                               Violin
     Flute                                        Viola
     Clarinet (B-flat & Bass)          Cello
     Sax (alto & tenor)                   Double Bass
     Trombone
     Baritone/Euphonium
     Trumpet
     Mallets
If a cover could not be found that features their instrument students then found (with my approval) a cover of their song that appealed to them.  

As an instrument section (all flutes, all trumpets, etc...) students were randomly assigned two genres of music: i.e.  Jazz, Ska/Reggae, Classical, Pop, R&B, Hip Hop, Dance/Electronic, Country/Blue Grass, Irish/Folk.  Then the students had to find a piece featuring their instrument and the assigned genre. 

Each piece (all four) had to have a musical term as the reason that the student liked the piece (rhythm, harmony, melody, dynamics, etc...) and they had to be able to say that at a specific time the musical term or a historical reference could be heard.  Students then presented one minute of their favorite song and one of the genre songs and stated, out loud, their term and/or the historical reference. 

Today was the first day of presentations.  Since this Blog is due tomorrow (a Saturday) I can only reference the presentations from today...all 13.  The musical terms have been easy and the Baroque Era has been popular.  Students really like a fugue (so far not strictly fugues but you can hear what they thought was a fugue) and could easily find them in pop music.  Several student also found Program Music in Animé music (we found English translations for the Japanese) and could make out songs of love, anger, revenge...all rather epic). 

I am looking forward to doing this assignment next year with a few revisions... more time in the computer lab.   Directions more thoroughly written.  My grading rubric more defined.  I will also need to find an alternative to presentations (perhaps a simple paper) for my SEVERELY shy students (I have three) this year they are presenting to me at lunch with a slight dip in their grade. 

After one day I can say that students have learned something from our time looking at Music History.  I still have about 100 more presentations but...from what I saw today they learned and enjoy sharing what they like, even if it is limited to my idea of "acceptable"  music.

Romantic Era Music

Romantic Era 1830-1900

               Composers

Robert Schumann

•     German pianist (suffered a hand injury) sever mental health issues
•     critic and composer
•     wife Clara carried on his legacy after his death

Franz Liszt 

•     Hungarian,  composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, philanthropist, author, nationalist  
• In the 1840 he was considered the greatest pianist in history
• program music was a speciality

Johannes Brahms 

• Born in Germany professional life in Austria
• One of the Three Bs:  Beethoven, Bach & Brahms
• composed for piano, organ, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus

               Forms / Styles

Song  
     

• a short poem or other set of words set to music or meant to be sung (not opera or religious)
• Sample Notes:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUkY3Z3IIa0  I started playing at 1 minute and compared this to the famous Brahms lullaby

Program Music 

•  composition on the classical music tradition in which the piece is designed according to some preconceived narrative, or is designed to evoke a specific idea and atmosphere.

• Sample Notes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MywDbD5nETk
• 
  

 Notes:

• Schumann's mental health elicited numerous questions from several students (including one who is also facing mental health issues).  Several days later in an anti-bullying presentation the student with mental health issues announced that she was hearing voices...and quoted aural voices which is a term I used while discussing Schumann.  She is still being evaluated and observed but...I've been asked to notify the office and counselor if I'm going to mention mental health issues...middle schoolers can be susceptible to suggestion!
• I ended up explaining program music as similar to a movie sound track WITHOUT the visuals.  You can tell that the music is telling you something but precisely what is a bit of a mystery unless there are notes in the program.
• This unit took place duirng state testing (the SBAC) and took 3 weeks to complete.  I have only graded 2 classes worth bit the results seem to be OK.
• 
  

Classical Era Music...

The following are the notes for the Classical Era notes.

Classical Era

1750-1830

Composers
                 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

•  prodigy
• composed over 600 pieces
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is an early piece (with many variations, too)

                  Joseph Haydn

•   "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet"
• Austrian with significant work in London

                  Ludwig van Beethoven

• German but worked in Austria
• Deaf in th elater years of his life
•  5th and 9th symphonies are his most famous and part of most symphony repertoires

Styles / Forms
                   Symphony
       
an elaborate musical composition for full orchestra, typically in four movements, at least one of which is traditionally in sonata form.  Sonata = a composition for an instrumental soloist, often with a piano accompaniment
     Sample notes:  students wrote their own notes on this sample (cues up at 48 minutes):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3217H8JppI 

                    Chamber Music
a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room:  This is the 30 second sample for Chamber Music:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzaQixVGoQg&index=13&list=PLYmIAhded4pHYRW3Gz8cI0_r9d1D2DSg8


The 8 question quiz I gave on Classical Ea Music was rather successful!  Students really like Mozart and Beethoven!  Advanced classes earned an average of 91% with Beginning classes earning 90%!  I did take a bit more time than usual...eight school days but I suspect that the music was a better connection for these students.

The Baroque era is the era in our music history journey for my students.  The following is the outline/notes my student took for this musical period.

Baroque Era   1600-1750     

     Baroque origially meant deformed or strange pearl but over the years has switched to mean highly complex art, architecture and music.

Composers     

Antonio Vivaldi:   composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and priest.  Best known for violin concertos, sacred choral works and operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons.

Johann Sebastian Bach (J.S.):  German composer and organist.  Known for hundreds of cantatas. 

George Frederic Handel:  Born in Germany but spent most of his career in London.  Well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos.

 Music Forms/ Styles

Sonata:  Large piece with 3-6 movements for 2 or more instruments

               Sample:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j69IL3QAVdg

 

Opera: Dramas with singers in costume with an instrumental accompaniament

               Sample:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qx2lMaMsl8 

I know this sample is from the wrong era...but I was simply looking fora piece that would grab their attention

Fugue:  Short melody for phrase (the subject) is introduced by one instrument and taken up by others and developed by interweaving the parts.

              Sample:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddbxFi3-UO4

Each entry was a 10 minute mini-lesson with two days of review and a quiz.  The quiz went well!  Advanced students earning an average of 81.3% and Beginners earning an average of 82.1%!  The fugue has become a hit and students have asked for it to be played as they enter the class.  Sadly the Lakme duet did not engage students as much as I had hoped!

Mandatory state testing is going to delay my efforts to teach the Classical era...but we will somehow get through it!

Renaissance

My Renaissance History quiz was 10 questions:



ID motets and madrigals (music samples)
ID the 5 parts of a mass
ID motets, madrigals by definition

My Advanced Band and Orchestra students earned an average of 79.4% while my Beginning Band and Orchestra students earned and average of 84.3%. This is not a big surprise since many of my beginning classes are GATE/EXCEL students. In hindsight...I should have included the Renaissance composers listed in the video.  In the future I will be more faithfully aligned to the video.




Here is the basic template (the answers/blanks are underlined) of the basic outline based on the introductory video.

                                          Music History 1400-1900

Renaissance 1400-1900

Styles/form motet

                   madrigal

                   mass




Baroque 1600-1750

composers              Antonio Vivaldi

                               Johann Sebastian Bach

                              Joseph Handel

styles/form            sonata

                              opera

                             fugue



Classical 1750-1830

composers           Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

                            Franz Joseph Hayden

                            Ludwig von Beethoven

styles/form          Symphony

                            chamber music

 

Romantic 1830-1900

composers             Robert Schumann

                            Franz Liszt

                              Johannes Brahms

styles/form            song

                              program music




Modern 1900's

composers           Bela Bartok

                            Igor Stravinsky

                            John Cage

styles/form         serialism

                           tone clusters

                           electronic music

And so it begins...

     I have been a substitute teacher for a few years now...and through a series me announcing that I CAN read music and that I am willing to take on Middle School Instrumental Music classes (Advanced and Beginning Band and Orchestra) I am and have been teaching this music assignment since September 21, 2015.  The teacher for whom I have been subbing, sadly, died in January and I have been asked to finish the year.
     I have instituted several systems of which I am proud...Methods Mondays and "Collaborative Conversations" that are sectionals with a bit of reflective writing thrown in.  Because I am taking this music history class to be able to keep teaching this assignment...I have also begun a Music History unit...this blog will track my efforts.
     The basis of my music history unit is this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m33fst0q74E  I showed the video and had students take notes in a template form.  This template has notes that indicate what will be emphasized in each era (composers and types of music from the period).  I selected this video for its VERY basic format and information (this is middle school).  My goal is to make students aware of their western civilization musical past and some of the themes that still appear in the music of today.
     I did play a very brief example of Medieval music (Gregorian chant).  I reminded most students (7th and 8th graders have already studied this era in history but 6th graders have not) that the church was the center of life for most people so religious music was the norm.
     Our first era in this unit is the Renaissance which 7th and 8th graders have already studied and they were able to recall what made the era so special.
     The next entry will review the details of the lesson and how well I succeeded in sharing the basics of Renaissance music.