Transcript Making Musical Masterpieces

Making Musical Masterpieces
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By Paul Provencio,
Townsend Elementary
Making Music Masterpieces - Reading
Stephen Foster lived most of his life
in the northeastern U.S., but many of his
songs are about the South. When his
“Swanee River” was published, Foster had
never been farther south than Ohio. Today
it is the official state song of Florida.
Another Foster song, “My Old Kentucky
Home.” is the state song of Kentucky.
Making Music Masterpieces - Questions
If you could compose the official song for a
place, which place would you choose? Why?
1. Choose a place (home, school, community,
state, country, continent, solar system, galaxy,
universe, etc.)
2. Write the lyrics (the words) to your song.
3. Improvise a melody to go with your lyrics
(sing your lyrics aloud, making the song up as
you go.
Making Music Masterpieces Teacher’s Page
General Tips for success:
First let class read silently. Then read out loud as class. Brain-storm to find out their
schema and stimulate ideas. Repetition of key words or phrases is an important lyric
writing technique.
When singing, making it up as you go: think about melodies that go high and low, fast
and slow, in steps or skips, loud and soft to create interest. Don’t worry about
sounding like Pavarotti. God gave you a voice, you give it right back. Don’t worry if
your voice won’t do what you want at first. Keep trying until your voice listens to
you. You’re the boss. Tell your voice you want to sing. Have fun and don’t take
yourself too seriously. Laugh and look like your having fun. Kids will follow.
Work in structured cooperative learning groups to create a classroom song. Each
group creating a variation on a theme or different part of the song. Perform.
Activity notes
2
Making Music Masterpieces Teacher’s Page
Activity 2
Process: Choose the number of lines (keep it short). Decide
which ones will rhyme. Have a repeated phrase or section.
Example:
Townsend Tigers are the best,
We work much harder than the rest.
Music class is lots of fun,
Townsend school is number one!
Rah! Rah! Sis boom bah!
(Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap)