VH1 Lesson for Music Classes, Grades 7-12 Behind the Movie Chicago VH1 Music Studio Cable in the Classroom Lesson 3

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Objectives

• Students will compare common musical elements between two arrangements of the same piece.
• Students will create their own version of a song from Chicago: The Movie.

Materials

• VHS VCR Player
• Television
• Audio playback equipment (CD Player)
• VH1’s Behind the Movie Chicago, Act Four
• Web-based lesson materials
• Copies of “Style Comparison” worksheet (included with lesson) for students
• Copies of “All I Care About Is Love” lyric sheet (included with lesson) for students
• Chalkboard (or overhead projector and transparency, etc.)
• Pencils (students)
• Chicago: The Movie soundtrack, Epic Records, 2003
• Teacher’s favorite recipes for spaghetti with meat sauce and lasagna (if needed, see step 1)
  
  
  Prior Knowledge:
  • Students are able to correctly apply and discuss the musical terms harmony, rhythm, melody, form, lyrics, texture, and instrumentation.
  

Procedures

1. Tell the class that you will be having spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner this evening. Ask them to help create a list of items that will be needed from the grocery store that afternoon in order to make the meal. Generate a list of these items on the board. (Depending on students’ familiarity with cooking, a comparison of the recipes may be substituted for this grocery list activity.)

2. As the list is finished, tell the students that you have changed your mind and will be making lasagna instead of spaghetti with meat sauce. Now what items will need to be bought? Generate a new list on the board, next to the grocery list for spaghetti with meat sauce. Do the two lists share items in common? Which ones? Would it be possible to take ingredients from each list to create an entirely new dish? Lead students to discover that many of the ingredients are shared, but the outcome of the dish depends on how they are put together. Suggest to them that music can be looked at in the same way.

3. Show VH1’s Behind the Movie Chicago, beginning of Act Four, through the section focusing on the R&B version of “He Had It Comin’.”

4. Lead students in a brief discussion of the R&B version of “He Had It Comin’.” Why did the movie’s producers update this song for the soundtrack?

5. Distribute copies of “Style Comparison” worksheets. Play “Cell Block Tango” and “He Had It Comin’” from the Chicago: The Movie soundtrack. Ask students to fill in the chart, describing musical elements as they listen. Allow students to discuss their ideas with a partner.

6. While students work in pairs or groups, recreate the “Style Comparison” chart on the board. Encourage students to share their observations as a class, and fill in the chart with their ideas. Were there musical elements that remained the same in each version? If not, how were they manipulated to create a different sound? In your opinion, which version is more effective within the storyline of the movie? Why?

7. Distribute copies of “All I Care About Is Love” lyric sheets. Play the song from the Chicago: The Movie soundtrack, and encourage students to follow along with the lyrics. Direct their attention back to the “Style Comparison” chart on the board. How could this piece be described in relation to the elements in the chart? Help students to conclude that although the materials of music are universal, how they are put together makes all the difference in creating a style.

8. Ask students to keep a steady beat by patting their knees. Chant the first stanza of “All I Care About is Love” in rhythm. Have students repeat, continuing to pat their knees in rhythm. Demonstrate a rhythmic variation of the same stanza chanted to a steady beat, and have students repeat the variation. What changed from the first performance to the second?

9. Explain to students that this is a foundation for the beginning of rap music - poetry spoken rhythmically over a steady beat pattern. Ask them to improvise a rap version of the entire song (or as much of the song as time permits). If desired, have them work in pairs or small groups, and ask for volunteers to perform for the class. Discuss how he/she adjusted the rhythm and phrasing to create a new interpretation of the same lyrics.

Curriculum Connection:
Social Studies - Research to find photographs of the 1920s items mentioned in the song “All I Care About Is Love.”

“Style Comparison” Worksheet

“All I Care About Is Love” Lyric Sheet

Supplemental resources:
• MIDI file accompaniments of songs from Chicago: www.geocities.com/Broadway/4902/midi.html

National Standards for Music Education
1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.