Before viewing the program, consider these questions:
- What motivations do recording artists and other musicians have for creating music?
- How does music help us understand history?
- Why is it important to be able to listen to music without judging or necessarily "liking" it?
Musicians write and perform the music they do for a variety of reasons. For some, the music may be personal to them and their life experiences (both happy and sad), while for others the music may reflect the culture, environment, or politics of the time. Use this chart to brainstorm five musical groups over time that reflect different styles of music, (country, rap, or hip-hop, for example). Think about the words in their music. Try to identify where their passion for the music or their musical ideas may have come from.
| Group 1 |
Musical Style |
Ideas
|
Theme/Message
|
| Group 2 |
Musical Style |
Ideas
|
Theme/Message
|
| Group 3 |
Musical Style |
Ideas
|
Theme/Message
|
| Group 4 |
Musical Style |
Ideas
|
Theme/Message
|
| Group 5 |
Musical Style |
Ideas
|
Theme/Message
|
"Music, for me, has a lot to do with the motivation behind it...."
(Lauryn Hill)
"I think that what makes art valuable is: it is about an individual expressing what they think is a part of them, and variety and difference and clashes is what makes art valuable, that there is no one defining idea of what art is or what it should do."
(Maya Lin, Artist and Architect)
Visual and performance artists have a lot to say about where their creative ideas come from. Review the video and then, working in small groups, expand your search to include other musicians, other visual and performance artists, and writers in the Gallery. For example, see Johnny Cash's Interview under The Hall of Arts.
What influenced each of these people? Find three examples for each heading.
- Travel
- Hard Times/Traumatic Events
- Significant People
- Passionate Interests/Concerns
You don't have to be grown up to have experienced major events in your life. What important experiences, events, people, and interests are significant to you in your life so far? They may be happy or sad. Discuss them as a group and add them to the circles above.
Pick one idea from those you listed above that everyone in the group has experienced in some way. As a group, write song lyrics about that significant person, event, or interest that expresses the emotion and meaning behind it. Share the lyrics with the whole class or another group.
Curriculum Connections: Student Handout
Select one of the projects below to further explore how music affects us.
1. Pick a topic to research.
2. Plan or design a project that will enable you to communicate your new knowledge.
3. Share your work through a written or multimedia presentation.
Curriculum Focus: Art
Challenge: Pick a war -- the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War II, or the Vietnam War, for example. How did music of the time reflect and "comment" on that war? What-and who is the music about? Does it seek to educate, soothe, warn, or entertain the public? What made it important to the generation of listeners at the time? Was it considered controversial? rebellious? What is the effect of hearing this music on you and on people your age?
Outcome: After completing your research, create a collage of words and pictures that describes how the type of music reflected and commented on the major political event of that time.
Curriculum Focus: Social Studies
Challenge: People often associate songs or musical events with specific events. Survey people of different generations for examples from their lives. For example, for many people the fall of the Berlin Wall as seen by millions of people on television will be remembered vividly every time they hear Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which Leonard Bernstein conducted at the Wall. Many people associate specific songs with the Depression, the end of World War II, and President John F. Kennedy's assassination.
Outcome: Write a report-with audio clips if desired-that describes the events and songs associated with them. Were some songs mentioned by many people? Did any examples seem to cross generations?
Curriculum Focus: Science/Health/Careers
Challenge: Use the Web, your public library, and local resources to investigate the role of certain types of music in hospitals, hospices, birthing centers, Alzheimer's facilities, and nursing homes. Find out what types of music are used with people before and after surgery, in pain, and who are dying. Discover why hospitals are making music therapists part of their staffs and how music therapists are trained.
Outcome: Develop a multimedia report that includes examples of healing music in your oral or computer-based presentation.
Research Project
"I'm motivated by music that heals...."
(Wynonna Judd)
WHAT HAS MUSIC EXPRESSED THROUGHOUT THE AGES? For some it was an oral history, recording the events of their lives. At other times, music kept hope alive, documented inequities, or helped make it through another day in slavery, on a chain gang, on the railroad, or at sea. Music has been used to celebrate victories, rock babies to sleep, mourn the beginning of life, the loss of life, land, or freedom, and recount changes in nature and cultural identity.
During this program segment, panelists discuss the motivation and passion behind different kinds of music. As record producer Clive Davis reminds viewers, each generation comes up with a new kind of expression, whether it's hip-hop, rap, or heavy metal. Often music is rebellious, but it can also heal the heart and raise people's consciousness.
In this research project you will act as a detective as you explore and find examples of different types of music and its functions throughout the ages.
SUGGESTED RESEARCH TOPICS
- Studying music throughout the history of one country or culture
- The meaning and function of the music of working class people
- Music as an oral tradition
- One type of music, such as lullabies, across cultures throughout time
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Purpose of Music in Different Cultures and Ethnic Groups
Music that Grew Out of Difficult Times
Geographic and Historical Influences
"Popular" Music Through the Ages
How Music Documents the Struggles of a Group of People
RESEARCH OUTCOMES
When you have completed your research, develop one of the following:
* Multimedia documentary on the music of a specific group of people
* Timeline tracing one type of music such as lullabies across time and cultures
Module II: Genius of Creativity
Before viewing the program, consider these questions:
- Before viewing the program, consider these questions:
- Where does "creative genius" come from?
- Who do you consider to be a creative genius in the field of music, and why?
- What does it mean to be "defined from within" and not by popular culture?
People often use the term "genius," or "creative genius," but what does it really mean? What qualities are embodied in the people through the ages we consider to be creative geniuses? What kind of a person is he or she? Think about people, past and present, you believe are "creative geniuses." Identify three qualities possessed by each of these creative people. Cluster your ideas using the cluster diagram below. Compile the ideas as a class to see what qualities/descriptive words come up again and again.
"It's so important to hear thoughts that are contrary to your own. If they challenge you, and if you become more secure in your previous thinking, fine, but always provoke so you can open up your mind."
Clive Davis, Music Industry Executive
Your group's challenge is to simply listen, read, and learn more about something new without making a judgment or forming an opinion. As a group, think of a type of music or a type of visual or performance art that you don't know much about. It might be Gregorian chants, Irish dance, opera, or minimalist painting. Use the planner below to organize how you will go about o-p-e-n-i-n-g your mind!
TOPIC: ________________________________
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Use technology or drawing tools to create a storyboard for a short informational piece on your topic. Present it to another group or to the entire class. Include what you found most interesting-and most surprising-about the topic. End your presentation by responding to the following questions:
- What is the value of keeping an open mind?
- How can you be open to something you may not like or agree with?
- What thoughts do you have regarding musical expression and censorship?
Select one of the projects below to further explore how music affects us.
- Pick a topic to research.
- Plan or design a project that will enable you to communicate your new knowledge.
- Share your work through a written or multimedia presentation.
Curriculum Focus: Language Arts
Challenge: Read a biography of a famous musician. What qualities of creative genius do you find? Were those qualities nurtured by family, friends, teachers, and mentors? If so, how? What challenges did the person encounter and how did he or she respond?
Outcome: After completing your research, write an article for the school paper on this person that will serve as inspiration for students.
Curriculum Focus: Social Studies
Challenge: Often people who are creative geniuses "make waves." They stir the pot, create controversy, and call us to question old patterns, beliefs, or ways of seeing the world. Think of people in your own family, community, and the world in all areas who have "made waves." Check the Gallery for many people who fit into this category -- Rita Dove, Philip Johnson, and Wynton Marsalis, to name a few.
Outcome: Make a mural of "wave-makers," past and present, using the computer to print out photos and create your own text to attach to the mural of ocean waves.
Curriculum Focus: Creative Writing
Challenge: It's time to bring the subject of creativity home. As Naomi Judd says, "You are only successful by being how you really are." [H to video segment/Naomi Judd]. Celebrate your unique talents, skills, and interests in this creative writing "note to self."
Outcome: Write a letter to yourself that identifies the uniquely wonderful and creative parts of you. What advice would you give yourself on how to encourage and develop your talents, skills, and interests in positive ways? Include mention of the people in your life who already encourage you. Include one positive short- or long-term goal for yourself along with steps to follow that, when met, will make you feel even better about yourself.
IS CREATIVITY IMPORTANT ONLY IN THE ARTS? IT'S TIME TO FIND OUT!
During this program segment, Lauryn Hill talks about how she found things that inspired and influenced her, which she then brought to a new platform. Panelists stress the importance of thinking for yourself, of not being defined by "popular culture."
In this research project you will pick several different careers in which to ask questions about creativity. You might pick the manager of a business, college dean of admissions, web designer, emergency room doctor, parent, newspaper reporter, and a construction engineer. The more and varied the occupations, the better! You will ask questions about the role of creativity in these different occupations. How do they identify creativity in their field? Is it important? Can it be learned? What type of education do they think encourages creativity?
SUGGESTED RESEARCH TOPICS
- What teachers and schools can do to foster creativity in students
- The value of creative thinkers in business
- The value of creativity in parenting infants (and/or teenagers)
- The costs of daring to be creative in our society
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Role and Importance of Creativity in Specific Occupations
Characteristics of Creativity that Seem to Cross Occupations
How to Identify a Creative Person in Specific Fields
The Rewards and Risks of Creativity
Why Creative Thinkers are Important in Our Society
An Education that Encourages Creative Thinking
RESEARCH OUTCOMES
When you have completed your research, develop one of the following:
- Create a presentation to give to your school or school board on how to encourage
creativity in students, stressing its value by employers in many occupations
- Design a three-page web site on Creativity and Careers
Module III: Pursuing a Career in Music
Before viewing the program, consider these questions:
- How might you know when you've chosen the right career for you?
- What are some qualities of musicians who have stood the test of time?
- How might it be possible to be successful and not be famous?
In this module, panelists talk about careers in music. What do you already know about this topic and what would you like to find out? Use the chart below to write down your prior knowledge and things you'd like to know.
| What I Know |
Questions I Have |
|
|
After watching the video, students can add a third segment to their charts if desired-What I Learned.
"Don't be afraid! Just don't be a sell-out. You can make that conscious choice. Don't be compromised!"
(Lauryn Hill)
FOCUS: "SELLING OUT"
Your group's challenge is to prepare for a debate on the subject of what it means to "sell out." Watch the video and listen to what the panelists have to say on the subject of being your own person. Think about these questions as you prepare for the debate. Assign opposing viewpoints on each question to different members of the group. Select one member of your group to be the moderator.
What exactly does it mean to "sell out" and how do you know if you've done it?
- Is it selling out if you write songs for other people? Why/why not?
- Is it selling out if you sing or perform other people's songs? Why/why not?
- Is it selling out if you sell your song for an advertisement? Why/why not?
Use this form to help you keep track of the information you collect.
| Question |
Source |
Quotes or data |
My Notes |
|
|
|
|
As a group, discuss the following question as a summary to your debate.
Is it okay to sell out? a. Always b. Sometimes c. Never d. Depends
Debate the issue before the class. Videotape it so you can watch and debrief it afterwards. What new ideas emerged? Did your definition of "selling out" change? What about your opinions? If so, in what ways? Does this discussion pertain to areas other than music? Follow up by organizing a web-based discussion on the topic.
Curriculum Connections
- Pick a topic to research.
- Plan or design a project that will enable you to communicate your new knowledge.
- Share your work through a written or multimedia presentation.
Curriculum Focus: Art
Challenge: Imagine you are looking back at age 40 at your life as a professional musician. What experiences led up to your success at this stage in your life?
Outcome: Create a timeline in words and images that shows how your musical experiences and career in music started at age 5 and evolved to where you are now at age 40.
Curriculum Focus: Art/Language Arts
Challenge: Review the part of the video where Wynonna Judd talks about "breaking the mold." How did she manage to "break the mold?"
In what ways have some musicians managed to break the stereotyped images that accompany each type of music? Yo Yo Ma is one example. So is Quincy Jones. You can read about him in the Hall of Arts.
Outcome: Research people who have taken a particular style of music to a new place. Choose one and create a poster that tells how they broke the mold and moved into new musical territory.
Curriculum Focus: Art/Career Education
Challenge: Naomi Judd talks about being a detective in your life as a way to know the direction you might go in as you think about a career.
Outcome: Create a jigsaw puzzle where each piece represents, in collage, photo, or word form, things that you like, things that interest you, or that you would like to learn more about. When the puzzle is put together it should be in the shape of something special to you.
Research Project
This video featured three recording artists and a record producer. But there are many exciting jobs that involve playing, recording, writing, producing, or working with music. Investigate and find out what they are!
In this research project you will explore the types of careers available in the field of music. Use community resources, the library, and the Internet to search for information on different types of careers.
- Careers in Classical Music
- Colleges Specializing in Music, Art, and Drama
- Writing Music for the Movies
- Life on the Road-Being a Traveling Musician
- A Career in Entertainment Law
- How Can I Prepare Now for a Specific Type of Job?
- What Kind of Education Would Be Helpful?
- Where Can I Find Out More?
- What is the Salary Range?
- What Are the Risks? Benefits?
- How Does Cutting-Edge Technology Expand the Options?
- What is Involved in Producing a CD?
When you have completed your research, develop one of the following:
- Create a computer-based database of careers in music
- Help organize a school-wide Careers in Music Workshop
