Music: Listening for Appreciation

In today’s music class we listened to the following 4 musical excerpts to see how many questions we could answer:

1)     Carnival of the Animals-The Swan

                                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvh4zEKG2zs

The first video we watched and listened to was the exquisite musical piece “The Swan” and we tried to answer the following questions

 

• Tone colour:
What do you think the two instruments represent?
(The piano represented the gentle rippling waves of water and cello represented the  gliding and fluttering movements of the swan)
Can you describe how they were played?(delicately, exquisitely)

 

• Dynamics:
How would you describe the dynamics of this piece?
(very, very soft but displaying gradations of softness)

 

• Duration:
How can you describe the tempo, rhythms?
(soft tempo, smoothly connected rhythm)

 

2)     In the Hall of the Mountain King - Edvard Grieg

                                          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpzxKsSEZg

How would you describe the change of each of the 5 musical concepts through this piece?

• Structure- repeated
• Tone Colour-sound source seemed to be from  mainly wind and then string instruments
• Dynamics-getting louder(crescendo)
• Pitch-in and out changing pattern
• Duration- getting faster( accelerando)
 

3)     The Ice Dance – Edward Scissor hands- Danny Elfman

 

                                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ9-kTrCAuE

• Tone Colour
What is the first instrument heard in this piece? (Harp)
What family of instruments enters next? (Strings)
Why do you think the composer used a “music box” as part of the instrumentation?( to invoke a sense of innocence, childhood, magical fantasy)
What voice range can be heard in the choir? (Soprano)
• Dynamics/ Expressive Qualities
What words would you use to describe this piece?(Haunting, mysterious, fantasy)
What images do you think of when hearing this piece?(trying to capture snowflakes while Ice skating)
Describe the dynamic changes in this piece (both diminuendo and crescendo)


4) Hedwig’s Theme- Harry Potter-John Williams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTZSg2r5XhM&feature=related
 

What is the name of the instrument that plays the main theme the first time?  (Celesta)
What family of instruments take the theme the second time? (Woodwind)
How do the strings make the “sound” of the wind? (by making the sound continuous and fast)


We also read the following work by Roald Dahl in groups

Revolting Rhymes
Excerpt – "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"

---

"This famous wicked little tale
Should never have been put on sale
It is a mystery to me
Why loving parents cannot see
That this is actually a book
About a brazen little crook..."
"...Now just imagine how you'd feel
If you had cooked a lovely meal,
Delicious porridge, steaming hot,
Fresh coffee in the coffee pot,
With maybe toast and marmalade,
The table beautifully laid,
One place for you and one for dad,
Another for your little lad.
Then dad cries, 'Golly–gosh! Gee whizz!
'Oh cripes! How hot this porridge is!
'Let's take a walk along the street
'Until it's cool enough to eat.'
He adds, 'An early morning stroll
'Is good for people on the whole.
'It makes your appetite improve
'It also helps your bowels move.'
No proper wife would dare to question
Such a sensible suggestion,
Above all not at breakfast–time
When men are seldom at their prime.
No sooner are you down the road
Than Goldilocks, that little toad
That nosey thieving little louse,
Comes sneaking in your empty house...."
"...(Here comes the next catastrophe.)
Most educated people choose
To rid themselves of socks and shoes
Before they clamber into bed.
But Goldie didn't give a shred.
Her filthy shoes were thick with grime,
And mud and mush and slush and slime.
Worse still, upon the heel of one
Was something that a dog had done.
I say once more, what would you think
If all this horrid dirt and stink
Was smeared upon your eiderdown
By this revolting little clown?
(The famous story has no clues
To show the girl removed her shoes.)
Oh, what a tale of crime on crime!
Let's check it for a second time.
Crime One, the prosecution's case:
She breaks and enters someone's place.
Crime Two, the prosecutor notes:
She steals a bowl of porridge oats.
Crime Three: She breaks a precious chair
Belonging to the Baby Bear.
Crime Four: She smears each spotless sheet
With filthy messes from her feet.
A judge would say without a blink,
'Ten years hard labour in the clink!'
But in the book, as you will see,
The little beast gets off scot–free,
While tiny children near and far
Shout 'Goody–good! Hooray! Hurrah!'
'Poor darling Goldilocks!' they say,
'Thank goodness that she got away!'
Myself, I think I'd rather send
Young Goldie to a sticky end.
'Oh daddy!' cried the Baby Bear,
'My porridge gone! It isn't fair!'
'Then go upstairs,' the Big Bear said,
'Your porridge is upon the bed.
'But as it's inside mademoiselle,
'You'll have to eat her up as well."

Resources

The following resources can be a starting point to gather musical lesson ideas and play with music
http://www.themusicinteractive.com/TMI/The_Music_Interactive_-_Welcome.html
http://wrightstuffmusic.com/
Audacity- Technical resource for recording, cutting tracks and sticking them together.
Ipad musical applications( Finger stomp, Singing fingers, Piano, Garage band (guitar))


References

Revolting Rhymes (1996) Retrieved from http://www.roalddahlfans.com/books/revogoldi.php