Popular Music and the National Standards

Presented by

Dr. Carla Jo Maltas

University of Central Missouri

Summer 2009

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

ACTIVITY: Creating Harmony with an “oldie but goody”

Materials needed: Large staff paper pads

Sticky dots

Melody bells

Words to the song

• In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight

• Near the village, the peaceful village, the lion sleeps tonight

• Hush my darling, don’t fear my darling, the lion sleeps tonight

Sequence:

1. Review solfege on staff

2. Read each separate part, beginning with middle, then low, then high parts (Key of G):

mi, fa, mi, fa

do, do, do, ti

sol, la, sol, sol

3. Students sing part just learned, while teacher adds new part

4. Students sing the parts, while soloist (or small group) sings melody.

2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

ACTIVITY: Playing to the beat of a different drum

Materials needed: Hand drums (one for every two people)

Rock CD

Sequence:

1. Listen to the music, clapping on beats 1, then 1-2, then 1-2-3, etc.

2. With a partner, decide how to represent the music beat by hitting body parts together (RULES are that they cannot hit the same body part together, and they cannot touch “bathing suit” parts)

3. Using hand drums, create a rhythmic pattern with a partner.

3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.

ACTIVITY: Extension of Activity #2

(Same materials needed)

Sequence:

Repeat #3 from the activity above, then you can continue with one of two things:

a. Using sticky dots and paper, create your own 8 beat pattern

OR: Use the school or their home phone number to create a beat pattern.

4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.

Activity: Movement cards

(I’ve attached the movement words to the end of this document)

1. Develop a vocabulary of movement by allowing students to experiment with locomotive and non-locomotive movements.

2. Do these movements within a framework (like the form of a song, switching movements every two phrases)

3. Create a “ballet.” Have students select a topic, then create five movements to go with the topic (five makes it more interesting, and gives them more to think about). Example: We created a “janitor’s dance” for our retiring janitor. We used the songs “Rag Mop” and “Swinging on a Star,” and each of the fifth grade classes did a part of the dance. It was a hit!

5. Reading and notating music.

Rock around the Clock—using DMS letters and Bells

Materials Needed:

Orff instruments

Ellison cut out letters

Sequence:

1. Have students sing the introduction only to “”Rock Around the Clock”

2. Each pair of students is given a set of bells and three Ellison cut-out letters (DMS). Ask them, “Can you figure out which note goes first, second and third?”

3. Extension: Put sticky dots on the piano for many different DMS, and have students figure out how to play the patterns. OR (for really advanced students) have students figure out the DMS given only the Do.

4. Starting on G for Do, have students write the DMS pattern on the staff.

6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.

Activity: Melody and Harmony cards

SONG: 634-5789 from “Blues Brothers 2000”

Sequence:

1. Explain what melody and harmony means.

2. Give them cards and have them respond to the sections of the music.

(Other good songs include many by Peter, Paul and Mary and some by John Denver)

7. Evaluating music and music performances.

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

Judy Chicago (American, b. 1939). The Dinner Party, 1974–79. Mixed media: ceramic, porcelain, textile. Brooklyn Museum,The Dinner Party comprises a massive ceremonial banquet, arranged on a triangular table with a total of thirty-nine place settings, each commemorating an important woman from history. The settings consist of embroidered runners, gold chalices and utensils, and china-painted porcelain plates with raised central motifs. The names of another 999 women are inscribed in gold on the white tile floor below the triangular table.

Activity: Inviting popular music artists to a dinner party.

Materials needed: Paper plates, paper cups, napkins, placemats

Sequence:

1. Explain that Judy Chicago wanted to honor women throughout history, so she created an installation called “The Dinner Party.” (You can get images of this online, but be warned: many of the “women’s images” are images of the things that make women womanly!) http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party/

Sometimes, I allow children to speculate about which women are included (some of the ones I remember include Amelia Earhardt, Mary, Mother of Jesus, Georgia O’Keefe).

2. I tell them that they are going to each create a table setting for a popular music artist (or group—but they have to share a plate). These table settings have to have images only—no words or music—that would let the artist know which table place belongs to each person.

3. Then I have the class arrange their dinner party by where each artist would be most comfortable. It’s interesting to watch them rationalize which musicians would get along…

9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.

Create a “ballet.” Have students select a topic, then create five movements to go with the topic (five makes it more interesting, and gives them more to think about). Example: We created a “janitor’s dance” for our retiring janitor. We used the songs “Rag Mop” and “Swinging on a Star,” and each of the fifth grade classes did a part of the dance. It was a hit!

Movement Vocabulary Words

slither

bear walk

balance

crab walk

fly

flap

bump

drag

bob

boogie

arch

push

pull

swing

dodge

limp

skitter

grapevine

swoop

twist

jump

hop

blink

creep

giant step

roll

wind

scoot

nuzzle

baby step

glitter

grimace

wink

wince

glisten

climb

ascend

descend

run

walk

sidestep

tiptoe

rock

glide

stumble

jog

sneak

slide

spin

stagger