CKV varendonck college
MUSIC
3
period
Horse with no name
On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of sound
I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la
After two days in the desert sun
My skin began to turn red
After three days in the desert fun
I was looking at a river bed
And the story it told of a river that flowed
Made me sad to think it was dead
You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la
...
From 'America'
Songwriters: Dewey Bunnell
Lyrics for A Horse with No Name © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc
Imagining music
What does music do to you? What emotion and movement is in music? And how would you visualize this?
Mix and Fusion
A beat, one or two songs and mix it up! That's how you create a beautiful crossover.
Rhythm
Melody
Harmony
What inspires you? How do you build a song? Is there rhythm in a song?
Imagining music
Introduction
What does it mean: 'music styles'. Which music styles do you know?
Assignment 1
a. Without looking it up: make a list of music styles you know. Then share your answers with the rest of the class.
Identify a characteristic of each music style.
b. Take a look at the following website. Which music styles are new to you?
c. The teacher will give you a music style. Create a mini (PowerPoint) presentation that explains the origins and characteristics of this music style and find two listening examples (link to Spotify or YouTube). We will share the information with each other.
Musical styles have evolved slowly over time. Often, a musical style is linked to a group of people who have a particular opinion and want to distinguish themselves. Music is close to your feelings and your own identity. Music can be an outlet or a response to a particular event or situation. For example, freed African-American slaves sang about their suffering and lives, which led to the birth of the blues. Due to the growth of the economy in the 1950s, American youth could afford more, and a youth culture emerged for the first time. This also led to the birth of rock 'n' roll. And in response to the materialistic society and the many wars, hippies began singing protest songs in the hope of a better world.
Music is emotion.
Music shapes your identity.
Music brings people together.
Music moves the world.
Assignemt 2
a. Make a top three list of your favorite songs. Why do you like them? What makes this song special? What are the song's highlights? Think about the subject matter, lyrics, tempo, specific instruments, effects, performance, structure, or the music video's styling.
b. Make a list of favorite songs with the class. Don't tell each other which song you've chosen. The teacher will choose a few songs from the list. Try to guess whose favorite song it is. Why do you think this song suits them?
c. Visit https://music.youtube.com/moods_and_genres. Which genres do you listen to most? Link the genre to your top three from assignment a.
On the homepage of this website, you'll see a work by visual artist Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944). Kandinsky drew considerable inspiration from music. He saw similarities between pictorial elements like lines, colors, and shapes and musical elements like rhythm, sounds, and chords. This is reflected in the titles of many of his paintings. He calls them "improvisation" or "composition."
Synesthesia is experiencing something through multiple senses. For example, experiencing colors, shapes, and patterns while listening to music.
Assignment 3
You will depict ten different musical fragments from various musical styles in color, shape, and pattern using different materials.
a. Divide an A4 sheet of paper into sections (ten in total).
b. Make sure you have the materials you want to work with. Think of chalk, watercolors, and/or colored pencils.
c. Listen to the music below and try to depict it in an abstract way.
1. White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
2. Killing in the name - Rage against the machine
3. A Ilha Do Caju - Trilok Gurtu
4. Disco Volante - Ida Engberg
5. Una Mattina - Ludovico Einaudi
6. Vapour - Slam
7. Beethoven- Symphony No.9
8. Creep - Radiohead
9. Beat it- Michael Jackson
10. Goodnight Moon - Shivaree
Assignment 4
In 1924, the German architect and designer Walter Ruttman created several short animations set to classical music.
a. Watch a piece from Opus 3 from 1924. Describe how he depicted the music. Name three visual mediums and three musical aspects.
In 1940, Walt Disney created the beautiful animated film Fantasia. It is Disney's third full-length animated film and an experimental animated film. Like many animated films, it uses classical music (just listen carefully to the music accompanying the Smurfs, for example!). This music is animated in the most imaginative way. Each section has an introductory text. The music is performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski.
b. How would you depict your favorite music? Make a sketch using your own chosen materials and depict your chosen music on A4 paper.
Mix and Fusion
Nowadays, electronic music styles are all the rage. Creating a good song is difficult, but creating a foundation in techno or dance music is a good start.
Cover versions of successful songs are also being made. This means the original song is given a new look. Think of "Umbrella" by the Baseballs. The song was originally by Rihanna. Or the song "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. N-Trance covered the song in 1995, and it became a hit again. Programs like Podium Witteman, De Wereld Draait Door, and De Beste Zangers van Nederland also often give songs a different sound. An example of this is the song "Duurt te lang," originally by rapper Glen Faria, but only became a real hit thanks to Davina Michelle.
Furthermore, multiple musical styles are sometimes mixed together. This is called crossover. Well-known bands that use crossovers include The Beatles and Queen. You can hear this, for example, in the albums "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and 'Revolver' by The Beatles, but also 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is a mix of different musical styles.
Assignment 5
Listen to the following songs and describe the musical styles they play:
1. Beyoncé, Grown Women
2. Alicia Keys, Piano and I
3. The Beatles, Within You Without You
4. Typhoon, Zandloper
5. Jungle by Night, Ethiopian
6. Rowen Heze, Limburg
Assignment 6
You're going to create your own techno song, a cover, or a crossover. Show each other the final result.
Search for and download the program 'Bandlab' or 'Audicity'. With Bandlab, you can create your own beat, and with Audicity, you can mix different songs, adjust the tempo, and so on. With Bandlab, you'll be asked to create an account. Don't worry, the program is free. Once you've started the program, you'll have the option to add a drum. Do so. Then add a song of your choice and start experimenting with the music.
A more advanced program is 'Ableton'; many semi-professionals use it.
Watching and listening tips:
-
You can find everything about the history of dance in the Netherlands here
-
https://www.ableton.com/ click here for a taste
-
Documentary PLANET ELECTRO about the origins of electronic music
Rhythm Melody Harmony
Much of the music features singing. If it's not singing, it's the spoken voice, or "rap." Rap is very popular these days, but writing a successful rap hit is harder than you think.
Assignment 7
a. Click on this link and visit the NPO website about the origins of hip-hop culture. Read the lyrics and watch the videos. What are the origins of rap? And how did it eventually become popular among young people? b. Write a short rap. Take an existing song and write different lyrics based on it.
Maybe you can find some useful tips on this website. Difficult? Keep the original lyrics of the chorus. Pay attention to the timing of the words. The sentences should flow through. That's one of the difficult aspects of rapping.
Rap originally meant "speaking to a beat." You speak in a certain rhythm. African slaves, for example, already did this in work songs in the cotton fields. They spoke/sang in the rhythm of their labor. But speaking to a beat or in a certain rhythm doesn't necessarily have to be related to singing. In poems, you also speak in a certain rhythm or flow. There are different types of poems. An example of this is the "limerick." A limerick has an AA-BB-A form:
1. Two lines that rhyme with each other, with a flow consisting of three parts
2. Two lines that rhyme with each other, with a flow consisting of two parts (this is shorter and sounds shorter!).
3. A line that rhymes with the final words of 1 and that also consists of three parts
An example:
Een schoothondje uit de Antillen,
die ging graag met kinderen chillen.
Hij lag op de bank,
maar o, wat een stank,
hij hoorde steeds knett'rende billen.
Een profvoetballer uit Wenen,
die verzekerde allebei zijn benen
Voor ontzettend veel poen,
Per been 3 miloen
Nu mag hij alleen nog maar trainen
Er was eens een man in timbouktoe
die ging naar de kroeg op de hoek toe.
Hij dronk daar een glas,
en deed er een plan,
en knoopte tevreden z'n broek toe.
Source: www.leukespreuk.nl/limericks.htm
Opdracht 8
Ritme en harmonie zijn twee essentiële elementen in de muziek
ware percussie wedstrijd creëren: Wie kan het beste ritme produceren? Inspiratie: Steve Reich clapping Music (1972)
b. Billy & Finneas Eilish zijn behalve broer en zus ook muzikale wereldsterren. Zoek uit hoe Finneas de aanstekelijke sample uit een van hun grootste hits 'Bad Guy' heeft bedacht.
