Week 3

  

Class Outline

Today's class began with an exploration of loops and their use in the classroom:

Loops -

  • Infinitely repeatable snippets of prerecorded music
  • Public domain
  • The tempo and pitches of a loop can be changed independently
    • With MIDI loops, every aspect of the loop can be edited

Blues Activity -

  • Many general music classrooms have units on the blues
    • Simple blues compositions are often used as a "final project" for the unit
  • The blues can be used to teach:
    • Formal structure
    • Lyrical forms (AAB)
    • Simple chord progressions
    • Melodic pitch content (use of the pentatonic scale for improvisation)
  • Loops can be used to simplify the composition process

We then spent some time writing a simple blues track with loops. A full description of this activity is featured later in the blog post.

"Soundbreaking" Documentary -
  • Originally broadcast on PBS
  • Discusses aspects of musical production
    • Each episode focuses on a different aspect of the process
    • Episode topics include vocals, recording processes, rhythm, and synthesizers
Modern Band Method -
  • This is an approach for teaching music in public schools with a focus on popular music
  • Students learn bass, guitar, drums, keyboard, vocals, and music production techniques
  • Only 20% of students are reached by traditional music programs, so this method aims to appeal to larger quantities of students
  • The method can adjust to different cultural and ethnic regions
  • Organizations:
    • Little Kids Rock
      • Focuses on teaching music in the same way we teach language
      • Simple song sheets are available on their website
        • These feature chords and their fingerings on various instruments
        • Tips for improvising with simple scales are present for each song
      • The company also sells method books for each instrument
    • Teach Rock
      • This resource has downloadable lesson plans for teachers
      • These plans cover multiple subjects, from general music to math classes
The rest of the class period was spent looking at a few new programs and their functionality:

Audacity -
  • Program was introduced in a previous week
  • We took the song "Broken Train" and isolated the opening loop
  • This was then exported as a .wav file
  • We learned how to import this new loop into SoundTrap for use
Sibelius -
  • Adding pitches
    • Pitches can be added with the mouse, keyboard, or a MIDI plugin
    • Existing pitches can be edited with the mouse or keyboard
  • Creating graphics
    • Any notated music can be captured as an image to be inserted into other documents
    • This functionality is useful for worksheet creation
    • Can also be used when writing music analyses or for presentations
  • Worksheet Creator
    • Thousands of options are available for preload
    • A series of menus allow the creator to fine tune the worksheet
    • All worksheets are preformatted for easy use
    • An answer key and printable worksheet are generated
    • Any edits made to the worksheet must also be made to the answer key
Pixlr -
  • Image editing software
  • Tools include cropping, cloning, adding text, drawing shapes, and editing the transparency of objects
  • Useful for editing worksheets and presentations

Class Activities

The first activity in this class was creating a simple blues composition. We started by finding a rhythm loop, learning how to loop it over time to create a full 12 measure section. Next, we found a bass line, looping it for the first four measures. We learned how to transpose the bass line and cut it into smaller sections to fit within the blues chord progression. Once complete, we added a chordal instrument, repeating the same process as the bass line to fill in the piece. We then discusses a couple techniques that could be used to mix and pan each of the parts, notably changing the volumes and expanding the stereo field through the use of panning. My finished product is embedded below:

In the rest of the class period, we spent some time exploring Sibelius' worksheet creator, trying out a few options and learning how to edit the worksheets to our liking. We also edited two photos on Pixlr, using each of the aforementioned tools to change the way these two photos looked:



Class Reflection

A lot of the new information explored in class today will be useful for the general music classroom. I think the blues project that we did together would be a great quick project for students to do in a middle school classroom to explore a lot of concepts about the blues and its structure. This could be combined with other lessons on SoundTrap to make a good larger scale project as well.

The information on the Modern Band method was especially intriguing. I think it should be a goal of music teachers to get as many students as possible involved in the music program, and this would help in that regard. I have taught some students interested in playing popular music privately on piano, so having that experience would help me craft a useful Modern Band program that will teach many important elements of music. Allowing students to improvise, as stressed in the Little Kids Rock organization, will also help develop strong musicians along this track.

The final portion of class, which was spent on Sibelius, was also useful. Making quick worksheets without all the hassle of dealing with formatting is a great tool to have, and one I was completely unaware of. I think it may be difficult to create larger worksheets with that tool, so using Sibelius and Word simultaneously might be something to try. I think the Pixlr demonstration could be useful for Powerpoint presentations and worksheet creation, though I can't see myself using that tool as frequently as the others described.

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