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Listen Up, Canada

Classroom Resource Information

Title:

Listen Up, Canada

URL:

http://naccna-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/schafer-teacher-guide-eng.pdf

Content Source:

Other
National Arts Centre

Type:

Lesson/Unit Plan

Overview:

Students will explore the life and music of Canadian composer, Raymond Murray Shafer. Students learn about R. Murray Schafer's soundscapes. "A soundscape is any collection of sounds, almost like a painting is a collection of visual attractions," says composer R. Murray Schafer. "When you listen carefully to the soundscape it becomes quite miraculous." David New's portrait of the renowned composer becomes a lesson unto itself, gracing viewers (and listeners) with a singular moment of interactive subjectivity. In this activity, students will listen to his music and compose with found sounds.

Content Standard(s):

Arts Education
ARTS (2017)
Grade: 4
Music: General

1) Improvise rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ideas, and explain connection to specific social and cultural purposes and contexts.

Example: Use a variety of found, pitched, and rhythmic instruments to orchestrate primary components of a story.

Unpacked Content

Artistic Process: Creating

Anchor Standards:

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Process Components: Imagine

Essential Questions:

EU: The creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musicians' work emerge from a variety of sources.
EQ: How do musicians generate creative ideas?

Concepts & Vocabulary:

Rhythm

Conducting patterns in
Syncopation

Melody

Pitch set: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, Ti
Treble clef reading (La, So, Mi, Re, Do)
Middle C through High B
Create melodic sequences
Half-step
Whole step

Harmony

Canons
Chord components
Chord progression (I, V)
Crossover bordun

Form

Phrasing: antecedent and consequent
D.C. al coda
Fine

Expression

pp through ff

Other

Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
Orchestra instruments within the 4 families
Age-appropriate pitch matching (A3-E5)

Skill Examples:

Performing

With limited guidance, perform simple chord progressions on pitched instruments.
Play a variety of classroom instruments with proper technique.
Use the head voice to produce a light, clear sound employing breath support and maintaining appropriate posture.

Creating

With limited guidance, improvise or compose a 2-4 measure musical idea, a pentatonic melody, or a rhythm pattern using age-appropriate note values.
Create vocal harmony using rounds, ostinati, canons and partner songs.

Reading/ Writing

Use notation and/or recording technology to document personal musical ideas.

Responding/ Evaluating

Describe the way sound is produced by various instruments and the human voice.
Listen, identify and respond to music of different composers and world cultures.

Arts Education
ARTS (2017)
Grade: 5
Music: General

1) Improvise rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ideas, and explain connection to specific social, cultural, and historical purposes and contexts.

Example: Improvise using culture-appropriate instruments to create a sound carpet for a Native American folk tale.

Unpacked Content

Artistic Process: Creating

Anchor Standards:

Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.

Process Components: Imagine

Essential Questions:

EU: The creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence musicians' work emerge from a variety of sources.
EQ: How do musicians generate creative ideas?

Concepts & Vocabulary:

Rhythm

Melody

Pitch set: Do-centered diatonic
Treble clef reading (choral octavos)
Grand staff
Bass clef
Accidentals
Major scale

Harmony

Part singing/ playing
Chord progression (I, IV, V)
Arpeggio
Descant
Level bordun

Form

Rondo form
12-Bar blues

Expression

Vibrato
Tremolo
Reggae
Blues
Timbre: soprano, alto, tenor, bass

Other

Age-appropriate audience and performer etiquette
Age-appropriate pitch matching (Ab3-F5)

Skill Examples:

Performing

Improvise over standard folk songs using the pitch set: La, So, Mi, Re, and Do.
Improvise melodies in a major diatonic scale by singing or using a pitched instrument.
Compose melodies and accompaniments to songs, poems, stories, and dramatizations, using AB, ABA, and rondo forms.
Perform pre-written musical ideas.
Perform harmonic accompaniments using Orff instruments, Boomwhackers, electronic sources, or by any other appropriate harmonic instrument.
Notate simple rhythms and melodies within a specified meter and tonality.

Creating

Create a 12-bar blues song using appropriate chordal structure and lyrics.
Explore and identify musical instruments from different historical periods and world cultures.

Reading/ Writing

Write an original blues song.
Identify elements of music including tonality, dynamics, tempo and meter.
Identify patterns of whole and half steps in a major scale.
Compose 4 or 8 measure pieces using appropriate notation.

Responding/ Evaluating

Review and refine a composition.
Evaluate a performance, using appropriate vocabulary to describe strengths and weaknesses of the performance.
Listen to, identify, and respond to music of different composers, historical periods, and world cultures.
Identify terms related to form.
Recognize and identify longer music forms such as 12-bar blues, sonata form and theme and variations.
Identify vocal timbre as soprano, alto, tenor, or bass.
Write short self-reflections about his/her composition and the creative process.

Tags:

Canada, compose, found sounds, listen, Raymond Murray Schafer, Shafer, soundscape

License Type:

Custom Permission Type
See Terms: http://artsalive.ca/en/eth/footer/siteinfo.asp
For full descriptions of license types and a guide to usage, visit :
https://creativecommons.org/licenses

Partnered Event:

ALEX Resource Development Summit

Accessibility

Text Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings

Comments

Student workbook http://naccna-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/nac_listen_up_may2014_enq9_-_improved_web_version.pdf

Excerpt 1: Miniwanka Opening http://naccna-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/excerpt_1_miniwanka_-_opening.mp3

Excerpt 2: Miniwanka Plosh http://naccna-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/excerpt_2_miniwanka_-_plosh_page%2C_4_mm_before_f_to_g.mp3

R. Murray Schafer compositions from YouTube:

Miniwanka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViBbRM3gFnI

Epitaph for Moonlight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzUXzu7JYFc

**Additional R. Murray Schafer compositions can be found on YouTube