VH1 Music Studio

VH1

Lesson for Music Classes, Grades 9-12

VH1 Goes Inside (Out)
Trey and Dave Go to Africa
VH1 Music Studio
Cable in the Classroom

Lesson 2


VH1 CIC Programming	Lesson Plan Text Format	Lesson Plan PDF Format	Download Acrobat PDF Reader

Note to Teachers: The programs viewed in conjunction with these lesson plans may include references, consistent with the eras portrayed, to substance abuse, violent acts, and topics of a sexual and/or political nature. Because this may be considered inappropriate for classroom use in some communities, you are encouraged to review the programs before presenting them to your students, and if necessary, choose those sections that enhance your lesson and are acceptable for use in your classroom.

Objectives

Students will gain an understanding of the similarity of musical meanings and uses of music globally.
Students will gain an understanding of the different ways in which music is valued within societies.
Students will discuss different musical styles and consider whether styles are valued differently within society in the United States.

National Standards:
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.

Materials

VHS VCR Player
Television
VH1's VH1 Goes Inside (Out): Trey and Dave Go to Africa
Web-based lesson materials
Overhead projector
Pencils and pens (students)
Overhead transparencies of Resources 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 OR copies of them for individual student use (included with lesson)
Resource 2.7 for teacher use (included with lesson)
Copies of Resource 2.6 - "Trey and Dave Go to Africa"Student Worksheet for students (included with lesson)

Prior Knowledge:
Students have experience discussing different styles of music and are familiar with basic musical terms.

Procedures

1. Lead students in a discussion of the meanings and uses/functions of music globally. The following discussion tips and resources will help guide the conversation.

Using Resource 2.1 – Musical Meaning, guide students in discussing the various “meanings,” or themes, which can be conveyed through music. Have them select a song that they are familiar with that reflects each of the meanings of music. Encourage students from different ethnic backgrounds to suggest songs from their own cultures, and remind the class that these meanings that can be found in music are universal around the world.
Display Resource 2.2 – Functions of Music on the overhead projector, being sure to keep the lower half of the text covered during the discussion. (NOTE: If Resource 2.2 is to be distributed to students rather than shown on an overhead projector, consider eliminating the lower text on the student copies and provide the answers during the discussion.) Have the students identify the various roles music fulfills, or functions it performs, in society. Remind them again that these "functions"are universal.

2. Guide students in discussing the history of slavery in Western Africa and the role of Goree Island using Resource 2.3 - Slavery in Western Africa. To allow students to understand the significant aspects of slavery, it is recommended that the information in Resource 2.3 be supplemented with a discussion of slavery in the United States. If possible, consider working with the history or social studies teacher on an interdisciplinary lesson. The following resources may also be helpful:

If Internet access is available, Resource 2.3 can be supplemented with a short video or audio recording of President Bush's visit to Goree Island in Senegal. The clip is approximately 5 minutes long, and can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/07/20030708-1.html#
A second video clip on Goree Island is also available on the Unesco website. The clip is 10 minutes long, and can be found at: http://webworld.unesco.org/goree/

3. Distribute Resource 2.6 -"Trey and Dave Go to Africa"Student Worksheet to students.

4. Show VH1's VH1 Goes Inside (Out): Trey and Dave Go to Africa, Segments 2 and 3. Have students complete the worksheet while watching the program.

5. After watching the program, lead students in discussing musical styles and the effects of merging musics from different cultures.

Using Resource 2.4 - Musical Styles, ask students to suggest the musical elements that exist in all musical styles, but vary from culture to culture, depending on cultural norms. As in Step 1, consider covering the answers until students have had an opportunity to present their own ideas.
Have students discuss the various musical styles that are typical in the United States and how the musical elements vary from one to the other, and lead into the discussion topic based on Dave and Trey's comments about segregation among American musics.

6. Lead students through the flow chart of musical styles in Resource 2.5 - Colliding Musical Styles. Stress to them that when musical styles collide, a "new music" is formed. Ask them to suggest musical styles that can be found in current popular music trends that could be considered "collisions" between different genres, or even cultures (pop/country crossover, Sting's use of ethnic music, etc.).

7. Guide students through a review of the concepts covered in the lesson by discussing their answers to Resource 2.6 - "Trey and Dave Go to Africa" Student Worksheet (see Resource 2.7 - Answer Key). Ask students to reflect back on Resources 2.1 - Musical Meaning and 2.2 - Functions of Music, and further elaborate on the role that music plays in their everyday activities.

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.

These standards-based materials are provided through a partnership with MENC: The National Association for Music Education. This lesson plan was created by MENC member Ann C. Clements, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Music Education Department, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Resource 2.1 - VH1: Trey and Dave Go to Africa

Musical Meaning

"What makes music meaningful?"

Humans around the world create music for many of the same reasons. Although most meaning in music comes from the text, recognizable or not, meaning also resides in instrumental music.

Universal meanings in music:

Actions Social or political events

Feelings Work

Historical events Storytelling

To reflect common moods Dance/movement/martial arts

Social protest Ritual or Religious

Tribute Vocal or instrumental art

National identity Celebration

Discussion:
Thinking about the kinds of music surrounding us personally every day, identify a specific song for each of the meanings listed above.

Resource 2.2 ‚ VH1: Trey and Dave Go to Africa

Functions of Music

"How does music impact society?"

Music is a powerful art form that can affect people around the world in very concrete ways. It functions within societies in many ways that can be considered universal around the world.

Discussion:

What are the functions of music?

The functions of music:

Defines Mobilizes

Represents Incites

Symbolizes Controls

Expresses Transforms

Constructs Unites

Resource 2.3 ‚ VH1: Trey and Dave Go to Africa

Slavery in Western Africa
Goree Island - Senegal

Goree Island is a small 45-acre island located off the coast of Senegal that was developed as a center of the expanding European slave trade. An estimated 20 million Africans passed through the Island between the mid-1500s and the mid-1800s. The Island is now considered a memorial to the black Diaspora, and a former slave house there is now a museum.

During the African slave trade, Goree Island was a slave-holding warehouse, a veritable center for the trade in African men, women and children. Millions of West Africans were taken away against their will and brought to Goree Island where they were sold into slavery and held in the holding warehouse on the island until they were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. They were sent to South America, the Caribbean, and North America to create a new world.

The living conditions for slaves on Goree Island were horrid. Slaves were chained and shackled, with as many as thirty men held in an 8-square-foot cell. They were fed and allowed to attend to their needs only once a day. They were naked, save a piece of cloth around their waists. The children were separated from their mothers and put in a long narrow cell where they laid on the floor, one against the other. Their mothers were across the courtyard, and it was likely they could not hear their children cry.

One of the most discouraging elements of Goree Island is the "door of no return", through which every man, woman, and child walked to the slave boat, catching a last glimpse of the homeland.

Resource 2.4 ‚ VH1: Trey and Dave Go to Africa

Musical Styles

Musical style is not universal. Everyone is impacted by the musical styles that surround them and every style of music is impacted by specific cultural values.

Musical elements that differ from culture to culture:

Timber

Form

Structure

Instrumentation

Rhythm

Ornamentation

Pitch

Musical Notation

Melody

The Ways in Which

Harmony
Music is Taught and

Phrasing
Learned

Discussion:

Dave and Trey mention that musical styles are segregated in the United States and that as a result of this segregation people tend to listen to limited styles of music. Do you agree or disagree?

Resource 2.5‚ VH1: Trey and Dave Go to Africa

Colliding Musical Styles

Everyone has a unique musical style, and when these styles collide, a "new music"is created. The program shows the collision of two styles of music - American popular music and Senegalese music. Beyond the macro collision, there is a collision at the micro level, that being the specific musical styles of Dave and Trey and the musicians of "Orchestra Baobab."

Resource 2.6 - VH1: Trey and Dave Go to Africa

"Trey and Dave Go to Africa" Student Worksheet
To be completed while watching Sections 2 and 3 of the program

Section 2 - Visit to Goree Island:

Dave and Trey are welcomed to the island with a traditional Senegalese song sung by a man in the street.

Dave and Trey Play for Orchestra Baobab

Section 3 ‚ Visit to Dakar

Dave and Trey are hosted by the Senegal Rap group "Positive Black Soul."

Dave and Trey go to a soccer game.

Resource 2.7 - VH1: Trey and Dave Go to Africa
(For Teacher Use)

Answer Key to Student Worksheet

Section 2 - Visit to Goree Island:

Dave and Trey are welcomed to the island with a traditional Senegalese song sung by a man in the street.

c. Historical events

The history of Goree Island and the slave trade that was once stationed there

d. To express (To express the feeling of the people towards the history of the island

Dave and Trey Play for Orchestra Baobab

Possible answers include:
The musical meaning of the song transcends the differences in langue and culture. Both groups are musicians and they communicate using characteristics such as rhythm and melody to construct the song

Section 3 ‚ Visit to Dakar

Dave and Trey are hosted by the Senegal Rap group "Positive Black Soul."

There is no wrong or right answer to this question. This question will set the stage for discussion of Resource 2.4

Dave and Trey go to a soccer game

b. Celebration

The drums ebb and flow with the pace of the game. As the drummers are watching, they read the excitement in the game and play faster and louder to express their excitement.

e. All of the above

Home | VH1 Programming | Teachers | About Music Studio