4th Grade: Writing Ballads/ Metallophone Blues
NAfME Standards achieved...
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. 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music 8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. 9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture Objectives: Students will... 1. Understand the history of the ballad and how it is used 2. Interpret the story of Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad “The Wreck of the ‘Edmund Fitzgerald’ through analyzing the lyrics 3. Compose their own 4 line verses telling a story in ballad form with a beginning, middle, and end 4. Maintain an ostinato blues rhythm on metallophones 5. Improvise 2 bar solos using the pentatonic scale Materials: 1. Music Connection Books 2. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald c.d. 4-6-15 3. Clipboard, paper, pencils 4. Orff Instruments 5. Metronome Procedure: Greet 1. Greet students outside of class and ask door holder to hold door for class to enter 2. Students file into their spots on the carpet Attendance Passing Helpers- Music Connection Books (p.152) The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald Today we think of a ballad as a romantic popular song. But the history of the ballad goes back to medieval times, when the term was used in connection with certain forms of dancing songs. Later on, the ballad became a form of solo song and eventually came to mean “a simple story told in simple poetry.” The subject of these songs ranged from the fabulous to the ridiculous. In 16th century England, groups of traveling musicians called ballad singers specialized in this type of music. Their appearances in the streets or at country fairs always attracted large audiences. After the performance of a song, the singers would pass among the crowd to sell printed copies of their music. 1. Students follow the words as they listen to the recording 4-6-15 (4min) 2. Discuss the story a. What kind of vessel was the Edmund Fitzgerald? b. What cargo was she carrying? c. Where was she going? d. In what month did she go down? e. What are the gales of November? 3. Listen again and encourage students to sing (4min) 4. Creating With the students, discuss the idea of writing a ballad with three verses, telling a story that has a beginning, a middle, and a conclusion. The story can be about the adventures of a cherished pet, a daring rescue performed by a favorite storybook character, a trip to the moon, and so forth. Let student groups choose a topic and create a ballad with short four-line verses. For the melody, suggest that students use the tune of a familiar song such as “Three Blind Mice” or “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. Invite students to perform for class Metallophones 1. Teach students how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star CCGGAAG__ FFEEDDC__ GGFFEED__ GGFFEED__ CCGGAAG__ FFEEDDC__ Remove bars F and B I-IV (C Major) Chord Progression on Orff Instruments 1. Students will play a slow swung ostinato rhythm on C and E (1 + A 2 + A 3 + A 4 + A) 2. Teacher keeps underlying pulse on preferred instrument (recommendation: claves or something that will cut through metallophones) 3. Play along to a metronome if unable to maintain steady pulse 4. Once students have maintained steady pulse for four consecutive bars introduce improvisation 5. Sing pentatonic scale as play it 6. Each student gets 2 bars to improvise 7. Go around the circle giving each student opportunity to “solo” Recommendation: start out playing just one note and see how it sounds with the ostinato pattern the class is playing. Then add another note. You don’t have to play every note; less is more! Challenge #1 Have students play C + G simultaneously on the 1 + A & 3 + A Play C + A simultaneously on the 2 + A & 4 + A Challenge # 2 Place F Bar back on metallophones Teach I-IV progression a. Play 2 bars of challenge #1 b. Follow with 2 bars on IV chord Have students play C + F simultaneously on the 1 + A & 3 + A Play D + F simultaneously on the 2 + A & 4 + A Place Bars back on instruments Return to storing location IF EXTRA TIME... Sing through Joe Turners Blues from memory Line UP 1. Quiet Students down with soft echo calls on “Shh”, “tic”, or other quiet articulators Evaluations: Were students able to... 1. Respect instruments and classmates 2. Analyze Lightfoot’s ballad 3. Sing along to the ballad 4. Compose a ballad 5. Perform their ballad 6. Maintain ostinato 7. Swing 8. Challenge # 1 9. Challenge # 2 10. Improvise for only 2 bars |