VH1 Music Studio

Part I

1. Tell students they are going to view a videotape on the musical career of Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul.

2. Have students take out a piece of paper and pencil. As students view the video, have them write down the names of musicians in the videotape as well as people in the music or recording industry.

3. Show video

4. Make two lists on the chalkboard -- the names of musicians on the video in one list and the names those in the music industry in the second list.

(Names include:
Performers-- Mahalia Jackson, Clara Ward, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Dinah Washington, Art Tatum, Ray Charles, Reba McIntyre, Gloria Estefan, Clive Davis, Luther Vandross, Curtis Mayfield, Otis Redding, studio musicians in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and orchestra members at the GRAMMY awards
Industry--John Hammond (artist and repertoire representative), Jerry Wexler (producer), Cecil Franklin (manager), Carole King and Jerry Gothem (composers and songwriters)

5. Lead students in a discussion of some of the people influential to Aretha Franklin’s career. In addition to the gospel singers such as Clara Ward and Mahalia Jackson who she knew as a child and young teenager, lead students to see that her father, the Rev. C. L. Franklin, played a large part in recognizing and encouraging his daughter’s musical gift.

6. Discuss with students her jazz and popular singing while under contract to Columbia in the early 1960s to the rhythm and blues voice that emerged during her work with Atlantic Records and producer Jerry Wexler. Discuss the influences of a producer, as well as a recording session in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with studio musicians that Wexler termed “ bad funky white boys who play the deepest rhythm and blues that you could imagine.”

7. Discuss with students how different producers and record companies might have different visions and goals for the same artist.

8. Have students choose a name from the performer or industry list on the chalkboard. Have them write a two- page research report on the person, describing various roles they have fulfilled as a musician or in the music industry. Using library or Internet resources, they have developed lists of the accomplishments of their subject, classifying those accomplishments by roles such as composer, arranger, performer, conductor, critic, author, teacher, recording technician, artist and repertoire representative, recording producer, etc...

As an alternative, students may choose a career in the music industry to report on, including any of the ones listed above, or additionally, film composer, video director, attorney, music journalist, publicist, performing rights societies, or music publisher. One helpful publication for students is “GRAMMY In the Schools Career Handbook” (Copyright 1999) and is available through the NARAS Foundation, 3402 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405, email narasfoundation@grammy.com

Part II

1. Have a student present his or her report.

2. Have class ask questions of the presenter about the musicians, their roles, and their activities and accomplishments, and about the resources used for the report.

3. Then, ask the rest of the students to give their reports and answer questions as the first student did.

4. Discuss with students the connections among the various roles of musicians and those in the music industry and how those roles may vary depending on the style of music performed or the historical time period.

Extension:

Assign students to identify and interview musicians in the community, reporting to the class their findings regarding the various musical roles each fulfills within the community.

VH1, in partnership with Cable in the Classroom, collaborated with
MENC: The National Association for Music Education to develop this series of lessons.
This lesson is adapted from Strategies for Teaching High School General Music, compiled and edited by Keith P. Thompson and Gloria J. Kiester (MENC: Reston, 1997).

National Standards for Music Education

Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
Reading and notating music.
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
Evaluating music and music performances.
Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Understanding music in relation to history and culture.