Tuesday, January 28, 2014

ASO Composer Project Listening tips




How do I find music to listen to?
Aside from the sites I've listed already there's a lot of free music available online. Last week in class I suggested to the kids to just to a search (google, bing, etc) for their composers’ names and pieces and put in the word “listen”. Youtube is a great resource for free listening examples, interestingly enough, and there is an Education section you can search also. Or you can set youtube up to do a "safe search" in the settings tab if you have an account. You may search other video sites (Vimeo, teachertube, etc) also.   

How do I listen and fill in Step 1 items?

The best thing to do is to listen to a section of the music several times, preferably with your Music cards laid out around you (definition side up). Then, while listening, you can see which words are the ones that match what you're hearing. 

When I grade that part I’m shooting more for “I tried” rather than “I answered perfectly”.  If you get stuck, you could try to do a Google/Bing search for your composer and piece title +program notes.  Often orchestras will have a step-by-step description on what’s going on in the music for their patrons listed in the concert program. Another avenue is to search for the "piece + listening" or “listening maps” or "analysis".

 
 

What is FORM?


The form question is more about the big picture of the piece--did the composer repeat some melodic material in between other sections of music? And for that question I'm checking to see if the students can tell sections of a piece (when/how many times does the music change?) and that type of thing. It's really an advanced listening skill, but my hope is that kids will start listening for sections in a piece instead of thinking a 7-20 minute piece as a big long chunk of music. 

Here are examples of simple form, (listening for the tune/melody, not the text):

AABA Song Form - "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

A: Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
A: Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue
B : Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me
A: Someday over the rainbow bluebirds fly...

ABA:

A: Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are.
B: Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.
A: Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are.


In the event a child needs a boost for some of the listening cues, here's a site that analyzes a lot of big works.  http://www.angelfire.com/in/ideahum/music.html .  It’s really more about listening for familiar tunes and melodies that the composer may re-use or alter.




Friday, January 10, 2014

ASO/Composer Project Info

This project is in preparation for our field trip to hear the Atlanta Symphony. 



TCHAIKOVSKY DISCOVERS AMERICA
 Spotify Tchaikovsky Playlist (must have an account)

Second and Third Grade ASO Field Trip Permission Slip (Second Graders' project completed in class)

Fourth and Fifth Grade ASO Field Trip Permission Slip

Permission slips and payment via SPARK Website, Cash, or check due by Friday, January 24th 

The steps to complete the project are on the Information sheet below:

CLICK HERE for the ASO Project Information (students will receive this hardcopy during the week of January 13th). 



Due Dates:
Tuesday Classes: February 18th       
Thursday Classes: February 20th      
Friday Classes: February 21st


Choose a composer from the lists found on one of these sites:

CLASSICS for KIDS--visit the MORE ABOUT MUSIC=>HEAR THE MUSIC and COMPOSER tabs. There is a lot of information about each composer, and there are also some podcasts about the composers and their music.

SFSkids.com--visit the radio link and listen to different composers' works
DSOkids.com-- visit the  Listen & By Composer tab. Also, the Time Machine game is interesting!

You may NOT choose Beethoven, Mozart, or Tchaikovsky (we will be learning about them in class).   

Additionally, please focus on a classical composer from an era in history (not jazz composers like Duke Ellington or movie composers like John Williams, Klaus Badelt, Hans Zimmer...).

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Use an encyclopedia, Nettrekker, Google, Bing, yahooligans, previous ASO Study Guides, Media Center sources, and other (books, biographies, magazine articles…) to find sources for your research. Don’t use “internet”, Wikipedia, Ask.com, “my mom”, etc. At least one non-internet resource is preferred. Ask Mr. Jackson if you need help!

Search tip: in your search engine use the composer's name + "kids", which will bring up kid-friendly resources. 



 As we did in December, I will accept videos, podcasts, narratives, skits, performances, puppet shows, sculptures, paintings, scrapbooks, poems, posters, news articles….whichever way you choose! You may send me a link to your work (via youtube, dropbox, vimeo, etc), it can be sent in on a jump drive, CD, hard copy, or live performance. 
ASO Field Trip!  The listening skills you'll learn will connect to our upcoming field trip to hear the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in February (the concert will focus on the music of Tchaikovsky).  The ASO Field Trip permission form is HERE (link coming soon), and our ASO payment deadline is Friday, January 25th, so please send in the permission and payment (or pay online at “Pay School Fees Online” from the SPARK website) asap!
 
Wow! Wow! WOW!
See projects from 2013: 
http://springdaleparkmusic.blogspot.com/2013/02/aso-projects-are-rolling-in.html

2012:
http://springdaleparkmusic.blogspot.com/2012/02/awesome-projects-2012.html  

Other years:
http://springdaleparkmusic.blogspot.com/2012/02/great-projects-from-previous-years.html