[Warning to Teachers: The content of the videotape contains references, consistent with the era portrayed, to sexual, political, and violent lyrics and acts. You are urged to review this program before presenting it to your students.]
 | Behind The Music: 1992
Two Lessons for Music Classes, Grades 11-12
Words and Music
Lesson 2 of 3 |
Objectives
- Students will analyze the emotional and social impact of dramatic events in the community Students will analyze the relationships among cultural values, freedom of artistic expression, ethics, and artistic choices in various cultures and historical periods.
Content Standard 8: Understanding the connections between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Materials
- Behind the Music: 1992 videotape
- Television and VCR equipment
- Recordings of various musical styles (possibly short segments, all without words). These recordings should include, at a minimum:
- One relatively slow Romantic work with complex, chromatic harmonic progressions, such as the slow movement to the Mahler 5th symphony.
- One piece of music from a non-Western culture, such as a Japanese gagaku performance.
- One simple-textured Western folk piece (preferably solo guitar)
- One fast jazz combo piece (preferably a driving work such as John Coltrane's "Giant Steps")
- One heavily distorted hard-rock or grunge piece.
- One Standard show tune ballad - Chalkboard
Procedures
- Play the Behind the Music: 1992 program through the introduction of Rap as a style that arose from keenly felt sense of racial injustice at the disposition of the Rodney King trial. Make certain that the students are all familiar with the issues surrounding that trial, but steer discussion away from the trial itself to the African American community's reaction to the verdict in action and in popular art. Challenge the students to discuss whether the musical elements of Rap (unpitched, highly rhythmic recitation, strong percussive "groove" accompaniment) are especially effective in communicating the social and emotional issues they are used to express.
- Remind the students of the program's explanation of Grunge as a style that was expressive, among other things, of "anger." Ask students to reach a consensus as to whether the musical elements of Grunge (simple harmonic progressions, often distorted timbres, very high volume levels, very strong emphasis on meter with very little rhythmic divergence from the meter) are especially effective in communicating the social and emotional issues they are used to express.
- Play for the students short excerpts of the musical styles you have prepared. Refer to the recordings by letter (A, B, C, etc.)
- Read to the students the following lyrics from the program:
As you play read the lyrics, ask students to note down which accompaniment style they would find most appropriate to the words.
- On the board, tally the "votes" for each style as accompaniment to each lyric. Ask the students to discuss the reasons for their determinations. Accept any reasonable opinions in the discussion, but try to steer the students into an understanding that the art of poetic expression and that of musical expression are generally thought to be closely linked in most styles.
- On the board, tally the "votes" for each style as accompaniment to each lyric. Ask the students to discuss the reasons for their determinations. Accept any reasonable opinions in the discussion, but try to steer the students into an understanding that the art of poetic expression and that of musical expression are generally thought to be closely linked in most styles.
VH1, in partnership with Cable in the Classroom, collaborated with
MENC: The National Association for Music Education to develop this series of lessons.
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.
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