Lessons/Projects for Spring 2010 Music 2

Lessons/Projects for Spring 2010
Music 2

DESCRIPTION/ACTIVITY
AIM Essential Question Lessons/Projects: The Objectives and Process Next Steps

5 - How do I complete Homework Assignments?
Assignment:
Description: On the Blogger page there is a link to an online review of music. Students
are asked to read the article. Define 10 selected words from the article. Create original sentences
from those ten words in the article and answer a short quiz about the article.
You can use the computer lab to complete homework assingments in class if you do not have a computer at home.

4 - What else can I do to make my song better?
Deny and then fulfill expectations.
Use this technique to make a satisfying
structure.

3 - How can you develop a lyric?
Assignment: First ask questions
Description: 1. Start by asking the questions the title (the one you have chosen from last week)
wants to have answered. Let's say your title is "I Drove All Night." What questions need to be
answered: "Where did you drive?" and "Why did you do that?"
2. Now apply this idea to '"California Girl": "Who is she?" and "What is she doing?" How I
answer those questions will determine what my song is about. Now, you may answer them in very different ways than I do and that's just fine. There could be several songs written with the title
"California Girl" and they would all be different. My "California Girl" is no longer the teenager of
the Beach Boys songs. I want to know how her life turned out, what she thinks about when she
remembers those long ago golden summers. This has a strong emotional pull for me so that's the
song I should write.
3. You might want to write a party song or a song about young lovers on a beach. Your choice will depend on which of those ideas has the strongest emotional appeal for you - THAT is the song you should write.

Notice that I didn't start this song by wanting to tell a story or relive something that happened
to me. Instead, I am just following my feelings.

This is how songwriting (or writing poetry) teaches you about yourself. If you already know
what you want to write, don't write a song, write an essay. A song is about DISCOVERING!

2 - How do get started writing a song?
Assignment: Song Title Ideas
Description: Have students write down original titles using as many of the following prompts as
possible:
1) A Color Title - "Yellow Submarine" "Lady in Red"
2) A City, State, or Foreign Place - "Moonlight in Vermont" "New York State of Mind"
3) Day, Month or Number - "Sunday Kind of Love" ""50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"
4) A Female Name - "Suzzanne," "Sweet Caroline"
5) Top 10 Words - "HEART", "NIGHT', "IF"
6) A book title - "The Language of Letting Go" (by my buddy Michael Bowers)
7) An antonym title - "I Got it Bad and That Ain't Good"
8) Idiom, Axiom, or Paragram - idiom "Save the Best for Last"- axiom "Easy Come, Easy Go"-
paragram (new twist) "Friends in Low Places"
9) Make up a word - "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"
10) Start with "AND"
Take a minute to think of a title before you start. You can always change it later but if you have a title you will have a direction to take your song.

1 - How do you write a good song?
Songs should be recorded using the Garageband program. The song is worth a total of 10 points toward your final grade. Only one song is required and/or accepted. Extra songs will not get any extra points. The song must be created in the cycle that the points are given. Songs created in a previous cycle will not count. For this cycle the song must have the following structure:

1. The song must have a unique name. My Song (x) will not count.

2. The song must have a structure. Use the Arrange Track to indicate the structure of your sections.

3. Click on the + on the right side of the Arrangement track to make a new section. Double click on the section name to change “untitled” to the name of the section you want.

4. The song must have two sections that repeat 2 or more times and one section that happens only once (for example. verse 1, chorus 1, verse 2, chorus 2, bridge, chorus 3).

5. The song should be at least 90 seconds long but less than 4 minutes.
Use the Arrange Track to organize your song

AIM Essential Question	Lessons/Projects: The Objectives and Process	Next Steps
5 - How do I complete Homework Assignments?	Assignment: Description: On the Blogger page there is a link to an online review of music. Students are asked to read the article. Define 10 selected words from the article. Create original sentences from those ten words in the article and answer a short quiz about the article.	You can use the computer lab to complete homework assingments in class if you do not have a computer at home.
4 - What else can I do to make my song better?	Deny and then fulfill expectations.	Use this technique to make a satisfying structure.
3 - How can you develop a lyric?	Assignment: First ask questions Description: 1. Start by asking the questions the title (the one you have chosen from last week) wants to have answered. Let's say your title is "I Drove All Night." What questions need to be answered: "Where did you drive?" and "Why did you do that?" 2. Now apply this idea to '"California Girl": "Who is she?" and "What is she doing?" How I answer those questions will determine what my song is about. Now, you may answer them in very different ways than I do and that's just fine. There could be several songs written with the title "California Girl" and they would all be different. My "California Girl" is no longer the teenager of the Beach Boys songs. I want to know how her life turned out, what she thinks about when she remembers those long ago golden summers. This has a strong emotional pull for me so that's the song I should write. 3. You might want to write a party song or a song about young lovers on a beach. Your choice will depend on which of those ideas has the strongest emotional appeal for you - THAT is the song you should write.	Notice that I didn't start this song by wanting to tell a story or relive something that happened to me. Instead, I am just following my feelings. This is how songwriting (or writing poetry) teaches you about yourself. If you already know what you want to write, don't write a song, write an essay. A song is about DISCOVERING!
2 - How do get started writing a song?	Assignment: Song Title Ideas Description: Have students write down original titles using as many of the following prompts as possible: 1) A Color Title - "Yellow Submarine" "Lady in Red" 2) A City, State, or Foreign Place - "Moonlight in Vermont" "New York State of Mind" 3) Day, Month or Number - "Sunday Kind of Love" ""50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" 4) A Female Name - "Suzzanne," "Sweet Caroline" 5) Top 10 Words - "HEART", "NIGHT', "IF" 6) A book title - "The Language of Letting Go" (by my buddy Michael Bowers) 7) An antonym title - "I Got it Bad and That Ain't Good" 8) Idiom, Axiom, or Paragram - idiom "Save the Best for Last"- axiom "Easy Come, Easy Go"- paragram (new twist) "Friends in Low Places" 9) Make up a word - "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" 10) Start with "AND"	Take a minute to think of a title before you start. You can always change it later but if you have a title you will have a direction to take your song.
1 - How do you write a good song?	Songs should be recorded using the Garageband program. The song is worth a total of 10 points toward your final grade. Only one song is required and/or accepted. Extra songs will not get any extra points. The song must be created in the cycle that the points are given. Songs created in a previous cycle will not count. For this cycle the song must have the following structure: 1. The song must have a unique name. My Song (x) will not count. 2. The song must have a structure. Use the Arrange Track to indicate the structure of your sections. 3. Click on the + on the right side of the Arrangement track to make a new section. Double click on the section name to change “untitled” to the name of the section you want. 4. The song must have two sections that repeat 2 or more times and one section that happens only once (for example. verse 1, chorus 1, verse 2, chorus 2, bridge, chorus 3). 5. The song should be at least 90 seconds long but less than 4 minutes.	Use the Arrange Track to organize your song