"Race" and "hillbilly" are here to stay

When we read the chapter in Rockin’ Out that was about the eighties, I was greatly intrigued by the discussions of race in music. Due to this factor, I decided to read chapter 2: Blues and Country Music: Mass Media and the Construction of Race. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of this chapter, but it still fell a little short for me.

I’m not saying that there weren’t some interesting facts I learned in this chapter, but on the whole, I felt like it was a list of musicians from each type of music: race, hillbilly, country blues, classic blues. This was not outrageously helpful to someone with no background knowledge in these types of music, or these specific artists.

I feel like this book could have benefited from a CD accompaniment. It would have helped its reader to understand faster about not only the different artists, but the subtle (or not so subtle) differences between the various types of music.

Having said that, I truly enjoyed looking up and listening to some of the artists and songs mentioned in this chapter. The songs listed below showcase my musical journey through this chapter as well as my initial reactions to the songs and their history.

• Fisk Jubilee Singers (Ezekiel Saw De Wheel) – It seems that there is nowhere else that the blues could have started from. The sound of this soulful music holds so much emotion, mostly lamenting, that shines through to its listeners. I really enjoyed this style of call-and-response song and I particularly liked the specific version I listened to. It had a crackly sound, either from the recording or the playing of a phonograph record. I think this added to the history of this music.

• Johnny Cash (Casey Jones) – I feel like this version retains some of its history. You can feel the nod to the early blues. First off, Johnny Cash has a wonderful voice for this style music, but then you bring in both the backup singers and all the instruments. It is these to properties that truly make this a joy to listen to.

• Grateful Dead (Casey Jones) – Of course this version is much different from the Johnny Cash version, but I think that speaks to almost the oral tradition of music. While the sound wouldn’t always stay the same, the message would, and that was the important part.

• Clarence “Pine Top” Smith (Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out) – When I read the term “boogie-woogie blues” I did not expect what I heard in this recording. Of course I did expect the piano, since Reebee Garofalo talks about the classically trained musicians that make up this style, but I was not expecting the slow talk-style of singing. Boogie-woogie, to means, sounds like it would have been a little more upbeat than this song showed.

• Mamie Smith (Crazy Blues) – While I am not really crazy for this style I don’t understand how it took record companies so long to tap into this market. I think this section frustrated me the most. Why wouldn’t you want to open your markets up to all people? I guess it is easy for me to say this now since all the groundwork has already been laid, but come on. We are all people and we definitely do not all tlike the same type of music. It seems like good sense, as well as good business sense, to be open to producing all types of music to draw in all types of audiences.

• Bessie Smith (Downhearted Blues) – I can definitely see the jazz influence in this song. While the instrumental seems simple behind her, Bessie’s voice is complex and rich as she croons about her life. Going from saving Colombia from bankruptcy with this song to having no career after the Great Depression struck six years later seems like a tragedy. Luckily, places like iLike.com keep her music library there for you to hear.

• Bessie Smith (Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out) - This will be a short one…no disrespect to Clarence “Pine Top” Smith, but I enjoyed this version more. I liked the rhythm and beat better. It is interesting to note that this was her last song before the depression. I guess it came true for her.

• Blind Lemon Jefferson (See That My Grave Is Kept Clean) - To me, this sounds like much of the bluegrass music that I listen to today. It would make sense that bluegrass and country blues are linked. I love his voice and style of music. It sounds similar to the music I had at my wedding.

• The Carter Family (Keep on the Sunny Side) – Who knew I had heard this song before. Thank you O Brother Where Art Thou?. Again, I enjoyed this song, both this version and the movie version. It is unfortunate that country music no longer sounds like this. You can almost hear in this recording the essence of the family. I think this songs goes well with the image I am sure they wanted to portray.

• Jimmie Rodgers (Blue Yodel #9) – The first thing that struck me was the title. On iLike.com it is now called Standin’ on the Corner (Blue Yodel #9). I wonder why the change. The other thing that strikes me is his musicality. It is definitely in contrast with what the Carter Family was putting out at the same time. He is a bit freer and more open. He also “rocks” a bit more. Could his song choices be a part of carrying on his “ramblin’ man” image?

• Roy Acuff (Great Speckled Bird) – TI choose this artist due to his history surrounding baseball. I wondered what a former baseballer would sound like on a record. I wasn’t disappointed. The instrumentation in this piece adds greatly to the tune. This song didn’t only showcase the voice but also made the instruments part of the story they were telling. It was almost like they were using the instruments to portray the “great speckled bird”. I feel like you don’t find this technique much anymore (in the limited music I listen to these days).

• Meade Lux Lewis (Boogie Woogie) – I had to find out about this artist because the person who read this copy before me had underlined his name and let me tell you - this was what I expected from boogie woogie. The piano playing was upbeat and complex. You don’t need the voice to tell the story, the piano does it all on its own. I can imagine people having a grand old time out on the dance floor listening to this song.

Assignment #1:

For this assignment, I would like my students to take a musical journey similar to that which I just took. I would start off by having them, either alone or with a partner, research and present on a specific time period in music history.

As a part of this presentation, I would have the students come up with a list of musicians that impacted this time period. Following the presentation, I would give them time in the computer lab in order to look up these specific artists and their music. They would have to react to a set number of the songs or artists similarly to how I reacted to them. They would then turn in their paper.

I think that this would not only be a good follow-up for the time period presentations, but would be a good precursor to having them write a review later on in the course.

Assignment #2:

While I was listening to the songs from this section, it struck me that many of them had been redone – if not once, multiple times.

For this assignment, I would have the students find a song from this era that had been covered by at least two other artists. They would then write not a review, but a comparison of the songs. How are they similar? How are they different? Vocally and instrumentally? How does this change the message of the song, etc? This will help them to see how music changes depending on the time period in which it is sung.

Review Assignments

Assignment #1:

This assignment is an extension of one already posted. In the previous assignment, the students had to put together a CD of songs that represented who they were or a time capsule of songs that represented their life.

For this extension, the students would write a review of their partner’s CD. They would focus on the placement of the songs and talk about if they are good transitions between songs or if things could have worked better with a rearrangement of the playlist.

Assignment #2:

For this assignment I am going to ask the students to find a song that they want to review. The catch is that the song they find must be a remake of an older song. In their review they should make sure to make some comparisons to the older song. In effect, this will be a combination review and compare/contrast paper.

One More Cup of Coffee

The White Stripes

One More Cup of Coffee

In 1976, Bob Dylan sang One More Cup of Coffee as a song of regret and absolution, the ending of a love affair based on physical passion but marred by deep differences. Sung as a duet with Emmylou Harris, the lyrics hinted at forgiveness, both to Dylan’s female companion who he was leaving, and to himself for walking away from what was still good in their relationship.

The White Stripes covered the Dylan tune on their 1999 self-titled debut album. Carrying the weight of Jack White’s heavy, blues-influenced guitar and the deep, droning beat of Meg White’s drums, the same lyrics Dylan sang in 1976 no longer offer any forgiveness, but rather aim to ridicule and shame the singer’s lover. Dylan wrote of leaving a beautiful, sensual woman, whose family and background doomed any hope of a long-term relationship. Jack sings it as a scornful ex, who is using his lover’s insecurities – things like her lack of education and lack of money – as a weapon to leave her broken as he walks out the door.

Jack and Meg’s version, while more forceful, also lacks the depth of feeling that makes the Dylan version so haunting. Dylan is torn, and Harris’ back-up vocals make the song a conversation – two lovers parting ways agreeing that they will always remember each other. The Stripes bring a harder edge, but fail to capture the sadness that accompanies even the ending of even the most ill-fated relationship.

Social Networking Site Assignments

Assignment #1

The objective for this assignment would be to understand how a celebrity’s celebrity is decided upon and showcased in society.

Day One:

I would first talk to the students and have a discussion about what is a celebrity. What are the characteristics a person must have in order to be considered a celebrity. I would write their responses on the board.

I would then have them throw out some names of people they consider to be celebrities. We would then compare these so-called celebrities to the list of characteristics we made as a class.

Day Two:

I would first have the students choose a celebrity they wanted to complete this project on.

Then, we will spend the hour in the computer lab finding current news stories or articles on their chosen celebrity. These articles could be more factual or more entertainment based (Us Weekly/Star/etc).

Day Three:

The students will again be spending the day in the computer lab. Today they will be looking up their celebrity on Facebook and Twitter. I want them to see what types of news or posts are posted.

One they are finished with the research, the students will be writing a paper comparing and contrasting the information they found on Facebook/Twitter and other “news” sites. I want them to describe how each set of news or posts changes the representation of that celebrity.

Assignment #2

For this assignment, I would like the students to try and figure out if the posts on social media sites are authentic to the celebrity.

In order to complete this assignment, the students will have to choose a myriad of celebrities and groups that they want to research. They will then have to take the time to study the posts found on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They will need to notice the minute details that account for the differences in author.

They will need to write a paper using posts as their evidence and try to determine if the posts are authentically their celebrity or not.

The Authenticity of Social Networking Sites

What I first have to say is “Wow!” I must be one of the most naïve people in the whole world. I had no idea how much social networking sites were being used for promotion. I mean, I knew that Barack used these sites throughout his campaign, but I never really made the leap to actors and musicians. I guess it only makes sense. Why wouldn’t you use the popular social media to promote both you and your celebrity, if you do happen to be a celebrity?

In my defense, I do have a Facebook account, a MySpace page, and a twitter account, but let me tell you how little I delve into each of them. Lets start with the latter. While I do have a twitter account, I have never tweeted. In fact, I have never read or followed anyone else’s tweets. I signed up for the account during my last Masters course with Rick Beach. My husband, on the other hand, uses his Twitter account daily. So, for this assignment I gave myself over to the expert to find out more about this exciting new social medium.

He gave me a run down of how it works. How people can post small status updates quite often. To me, that sounded a lot like what occurs on Facebook. But, the benefit of Twitter is that it is only the statuses without all the other annoying Farmville and Mafia Wars updates. My husband doesn’t follow a lot of celebrities. I think he does follow Joel McHale, but he is an anomaly. Being that he works at the state capitol, he mainly follows legislators and news media. He says that Twitter is an invaluable tool for knowing what is going on in the world of politics. He continues to say that if a reporter has a fact, they typically tweet it before they write the story.

Last night, I asked him about the celebrity postings and how he knows that they are truly posted by the celebrity. He said he didn’t know. He did not seem to care too much about if it was really Joel McHale or his publicist. He did say that most of the post sounded like McHale himself. I talked with him about what I learned in the reading regarding Mariah Carey and Brittney Spears using first and third person to distinguish between their true selves and their publicist. We both found that extremely interesting.

On to MySpace…I do not have to talk about this one for very long because I truly only set up this account to stay in touch with my nephew. I later on found out that he wasn’t using that particular social media site. Due to that, I have not logged into that account in a really long time.

The same cannot be said for Facebook, however. I log on to Facebook multiple times a day. I do not believe, however, that I use this site in the same manner as most of the people (at least most of the younger generation) do. Again, my main reason for signing up was to keep in contact with a friend who moved over seas. If he had not left, I am unsure if I would have entered the Facebook realm. I typically use Facebook as another email. I sign in, check the home page, look at my profile, see if I have any new invites/requests, and sometimes play a game.

Up until two days ago I had never searched for people or organizations outside my realm of friends. I didn’t really know that different organizations had pages, but now I do and I am interested in looking up some Facebook pages that would be beneficial to my teaching career. I love the idea that there are other teachers out there that I can hook up with and exchange ideas with. And while I knew that celebrities had Facebook pages, I didn’t really care about them. They’re not my friends.

After reading Celebrity Studies: The promotion and presentation of the self: celebrity as a marker of presentational media by P. David Marshall, I was highly motivated to do some research on the issue of using social networking sites as a was to promote both the self and the performer. I know we talked earlier about how an authentic performer would not separate these two halves of the whole, but I think believed it to be different in the case of the online self.

I would imagine that in the online self, artists are going to show a more intimate side of themselves. I do not believe all of them will go as far as Ashton Kutcher and post pictures of their wives in underwear, but they will still show us some glimpse into their personal life.

One reason I believe that artists and performers would want to do this is because they control the message that gets sent out. This is most definitely not the case in most of the media coverage they get. Usually the paparazzi and other media sites choose what to report, and in turn, how they are represented or come across. By using sites like Facebook and Twitter, the artists cannot represent themselves in the way they see fit. While this may still be a performance, albeit not on a stage, we (their audience) still see this as a more intimate view.

When choosing a celebrity to research I went to Facebook first. I clicked on the music section and scrolled through the artists that have sites dedicated to them. I did not have an opinion on who I wanted to see, so I ended up looking at multiple peoples’ and groups’ sites.

Early in the research, I came up with a hypothesis I wanted to test. It came to me, after looking at Mariah Carey, Brittney Spears, and the band The Killers, that it seemed like it was easier to determine if the posts were actual posts from the artists themselves or their publicist if it was a site dedicated to one person rather than a group. This led me to believe that most single person sites were more intimate in nature than the band sites.

Taking this as my hypothesis, I dug a little deeper and looked at more celebrity Facebook pages. I started by looking at some band sites. For this I examined The Black Eyed Peas, Maroon5, and Weezer. While I know that this is a small sample size, I think the point gets across. After scrolling down and reading a multitude of posts on each of these band’s sites, I noticed a trend in what was uploaded to these particular sites. All that was posted were news pieces on each of these artists, tour dates, and their music, along with other promotional materials. There was never an intimate or more telling post. Even when the band tried to make it more intimate, it was still promotional. This can be seen in Weezer’s post of “Are you ready for Bonnaroo? Share some pics of your camping gear”. I feel that they were trying to make it sound like it was the members posting this, but it was still really all about promotion and telling their fans that they would be at Bonnaroo.

One band site that leaned more into the intimate realm was that of Tapes ‘n Tapes. While their posts were mostly made up of tour dates, I did notice that they took the time to answer some of their fans’ posts.

Shane C Mutter Are you guys ever coming to New Orleans? What the hell? June 3 at 8:30pm

Tapes 'n Tapes

we hope so. it's been at #1 on our list of "cities we haven't played in yet, but want to" for a while. we're trying....guess we'll just have to try a little harder, though.

June 3 at 8:47pm

Shane C Mutter

Glad to hear. Well keep me posted and I'll keep my fingers crossed. My brother, cousin, and a few friends have been following you guys for a few years.

June 4 at 7:19am

I feel that this really lends to the authenticity of these posts. And it makes me feel that they care about their fans and their fans’ desires and wishes.

So, now onto the single artists’ pages, where I expected it to reflect a more intimate relationship with the audience based on the types of posts I would find. Instead, I found that this isn’t really the case. I have found examples of single artist Facebook pages that are very much not intimate. The pages I looked at were Jay-Z, Michael Buble, and Celine Dion. None of these artists posted anything that I would declare truly from them rather than from their publicist. It was still all about the tour dates and promotion.

This makes me wonder then, why do some artists take the time to post materials themselves while others don’t? What is it about Brittney Spears or Mariah Carey, or even Joel McHale that makes them want to have that more personal connection? Unfortunately, I don’t have the resources or time to answer this question, but I hope that someday someone will.

What is Censorship?

Censorship Lesson Plan

Day One:

Present information about the first amendment.

Class Discussion: What is censorship?

• Have the students define the word both my creating a definition and by looking it up in the dictionary.
• Pose the following discussion questions (if needed)

Have you ever been censored? Describe.
Give examples of censorship that has occurred in our society (Hopefully they will bring up the topic of censorship and music).

Let them know our overarching question for this unit will be: Is censorship ever okay?

Day Two:

Start the day by playing some music that has either been censored (lyrics/playtime) or that has a parental advisory sticker.

Disseminate information about the PMRC and their issues with and goals for music.

Pass out song lyrics. Have a discussion that includes the following:

• What is your reaction to the song?
• What does it mean to you?
• What is the message of the song?
• Does the artist want to motivate you to do something or persuade you to think a certain way?
• How compelled are you to follow the artist’s direction?

Talk about specific cases where artist’s have been sued.

Day Three:

Explain their assignment.

• The students will be participating in a debate. This debate will center around the 1985 hearings where the decision was made to use parental advisory stickers.
• Each student will be assigned a character they will have to play in the debate. They will have to research their assigned character and formulate an idea of what their character would believe about the issue of the parental advisory sticker.

Assign them characters:

• Tipper Gore
• Sally Nevius
• Pam Howar
• Susan Baker
• Mike Love
• Stan Gortikov
• Frank Zappa
• Dee Snider
• John Denver
• Prince
• Madonna
• Garth Brooks
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Mr. McCullom
• Mrs. McCollumn
• Charles M. Young
• Jason Newsted

Give them the rest of the hour to research

Day Four:

Final research day

Day Five:

The students will have the hour to debate.

Day Six:

For the first half of the class, we will debrief about what happened the previous day during the debate.

Using what they learned during the debate, the students must now write a paper that answers the following question:

• Should CDs that may be considered offensive contain warning labels?

They must take a stand on this issue and provide evidence for their decision. Their paper must be one page in length.

Day Seven:

The students will complete their papers.

Lesson Plans: Authenticity

Lesson Plan 1: Authenticity

Objective:
• To have the students understand the concept of authenticity.
• To have the students take a look at a specific artist and decide if they are authentic or not.

Procedures:
1. Give the students the prompt of, “What does the word ‘authentic’ mean?” Give them five minutes to brainstorm on their own. After five minutes, open up the discussion. Write their responses on the board. Once all the responses have been told, lead a class discussion.
2. During this class discussion, come up with a set of qualities they believe fit the concept of being authentic.
3. Once this list is made, read articles discussing the concept of authenticity in relation to musicians.
4. Go back to the class list and make any changes the students deem necessary.
5. Explain that the students will each need to pick an artist that they will do a project on to determine whether or not they are authentic.
6. Using Kembrew McLeod’s Semantic dimensions, have the students do some research into their artist’s background as well as using their own experience with that artist in order to determine their authenticity.
7. After the research is complete, have the students complete a paper describing the authenticity of their assigned artist. They should also present their results to the class.


Lesson Plan 2: Authenticity

Objective
• To enhance the students’ understanding of authenticity in regards to musicians

Procedures:
1. This lesson should follow an initial discussion of the concept of authenticity.
2. Have the students review the idea of authenticity and discuss what the characteristics of an authentic or true self are.
3. Break them up into groups. Assign each group a different genre of music. Each group now needs to come up with a list of qualities that are necessary for an artist of that genre must have in order to be considered authentic.
4. Once those lists are complete, have each group present their list to the class.
5. Now, assign each student one of the genres that have just been characterized.
6. Have each student pick an artist from that genre and see if they are an authentic member of that genre or not based on the characteristics provided.
7. Have them present their results to the class.

Authentic or Not?

Each day in my life I am faced with the idea of authenticity, though I have never put that name to it. In working with high school students you get to see both their authentic side, and their not-so-authentic side. With them, the struggle to find their “true self” is extremely difficult. And the struggle to have their peers accept their “true self” is even more difficult.

This acceptance of the “true self” occurs throughout each aspect of our lives; with our friends, our family, and in our jobs. I believe that if you become a musician, with the aspect of fame, this drive for acceptance is even greater. due to being in the limelight, your livelihood now depends on creating that authentic self and having people connect with and believe in it. But, what is this “it” that musicians have to get their sudience to believe in?

According to David Pattie, they way in which a performer creates his or her authenticity is through the music. In fact, he states that the music is the “ultimate proof of authenticity.” This means that the audience must believe in the song that is being performed to us.

Once they have us hooked by song, the performers must themselves be real. This gets a little more complicated. We, as the audience must believe that the performer is onstage giving us their true self. We want to see, know, and understand who they truly are. But, we also know that the self that they are showing us is a performance.

When we finally believe that the “true self” is shining through, and we have a connection to the song, a miraculous moment happens. We connect. And it is almost like the audience and the performer become one.

I do not believe that there is one person out there who can say that they have not felt this bond. That they have not been listening to one of their favorite bands or vocalists and they have felt a deep connection with the person on stage. At times it has felt that they were singing specifically for you (or me). This authentic moment is exactly what these performers want to happen.

Do they all do this? Do you always feel this connection? Probably not. I do like the idea of taking a peek at those that I deem worthy of paying money to watch them play music. So, who would I consider to be some of my favorites? I think I will have to take a look at The White Stripes and Bright Eyes.

The White Stripes

To start with a little background of this band, they are considered a rock duo. In fact, when these two first made it big, they were a self proclaimed brother and sister band. Too bad their divorce papers surfaced later on.

I have seen them in concert three times. The main reason for this is my connection to the music. The connection I have with the music is not on a deep and personal level, however. I just think that they are able to write lyrically fun, musically wonderful songs.

The first time I saw them in concert, they were at Roy Williams Arena and my seats were in the nosebleed section. This made the experience difficult for my by not really allowing me to connect with them. They were too far away to really have a feeling like they were singing to me. It did briefly occur once, when they sang a cover of Bob Dylan’s One More Cup of Coffee. And this was mainly due to the fact that I was one of a handful of people who knew what they were singing.

The second time I saw them they were playing The Orpheum Theater. This venue was much smaller. That allowed for a bit more intimacy and connection to occur. In fact, that night they had much more discourse with the audience than during their first concert. I wonder if they even felt more of a connection with their audience. But, what makes me feel that their performance is really about their true self is what happened during the third concert I saw them perform.

This concert actually occurred the night after I saw them in concert at the Orpheum. They played a second show and I was in attendance. To back up a bit, the night before Jack and Meg had gotten a little frustrated with the amount of people taking their pictures. They continually asked the audience to stop. Flash forward to the next night and you see Jack walking on stage snapping a Polaroid picture of himself. As it develops, he tosses it out into the crowd. This gave him a bit of control of the situation while also interacting with the audience.

One other way I know that they are authentic (in my eyes) is due to the fact that when Meg developed a case acute anxiety, or stage fright, and had to cancel a bunch of concerts, I really felt for her. I felt such a personal connection for her that I remember thinking that I hoped she was okay.

Bright Eyes

The band Bright Eyes is made up of a band with ever changing members but one main singer, Connor Oberst. I have also seen both his band and him playing solo shows a multitude of times. In fact, I have probably seen him in concert more times than any other band.

Do I think he is authentic? It’s complicated. I think that he began authentic and is slowly fading into the inauthentic realm.

His music, and specifically his lyrics, is amazing. He writes some of the most poetic words that I have ever heard (now remember, I am kind of naïve when it comes to music). This is especially true of some of his first albums. Each and every song is able to pull you in to the story. And the story is beautiful.

However, I feel less of a connection with some of his recent albums. In fact, I can’t even name one of the songs on his newest album. I don’t know if it sue to my tastes changing, or him changing.

I do feel like he has changed over the time of his career, and I feel like that has affected my belief in his authenticity. When he first began, he played venues such as First Avenue and the 400 Bar. While First Ave. is a pretty good sized venue, it is nowhere near the size of the venues he is playing now. And the 400 Bar was even smaller. The first time I saw him at the 400 Bar, he told a story about his connection to that venue. He actually knew and was really close to the person who owned that venue and he said he wanted to show his support for that place and was glad that we came out to show our support as well. I think that this declaration really hooked me. I fell for his true self [act] in that moment. However, he has not played this particular venue in a really long time.

Although I can make a case for his authenticity (even though I think it is waning) you can definitely make a case for his inauthenticity. He has been criticized for both over writing his songs and over emoting when on stage. Since these are both important qualities in the idea of authenticity, if you felt this way you would definitely not believe he was authentic.

Found Lesson Plan and My Additions

Soundtrack of Your Life

Again, this is a lesson plan that I found during my pop music in the classroom search. I really thought the my students would like this lesson, so I wanted to include it in this post. The link to this lesson plan can be found in the previous post.

Type of Activity: Individual.

Approximate time: Four 50-minute class periods.

Objective: Students will write reflectively and personally.

Materials: The Soundtrack of Your Life assignment sheet includes blanks for songs and artists and an explanation of each required paragraph. It may also be necessary for students to consult their Compact Disc (CD) liner notes or Internet sites for lyrics. The Green Book by Jeff Green is a great optional resource which provides a thematic categorization of over 20,000 song titles.

Setup: Play music as the students are entering the classroom.

Procedure:

Day One: Distribute a copy of the lyrics and play Bon Jovi's "It's My Life." Then, discuss the meaning and message of the song and the possible relationships to Jon Bon Jovi's life. Next, have the students discuss this song in relevance to their own lives. After the discussion, have the students choose eight major events — deaths, first car, entering high school — in their lives and then choose songs to accompany each event. Some students will need overnight to complete the list.

Day Two: Have the students collect the titles of at least eight meaningful songs that correspond to the events they selected on Day One. The songs should be of a school-appropriate nature. By using CD Liner notes, the Internet, and The Green Book, students will be able to find lyrics that fit their events. It is also helpful to encourage sharing of events in order for students to find songs that fit their musical tastes.

Day Three: Now that the students have created an "imaginary soundtrack" to their lives, have them write a reflective letter that explains why each event and song is included. Create examples or use examples fromwork by previous students to help explain the expectations of the assignment. Have the students follow the outline on the student handout for constructing the soundtrack of their life.

Day Four: (Wait several days after Day Three for this part of the lesson.) This is the day the writing assignment is due for presentation to the class along with a visual aide. Students need only share a small portion of their soundtrack; this helps everyone feel more comfortable in front of the class. As the students share their visual aides (usually CD cases of their soundtrack) everyone in the class begins to better understand their peers, which builds a positive classroom climate and mutual respect among students.

Summary: This assignment combines a student's passion for music with a teacher's respect for the personal narrative. It's an invaluable combination for inspiring students to write. The assignment sets a positive tone at the beginning of school by having students share their lives with each other and with the teacher. Through the vehicle of the personal narrative, the teacher learns about each student's background through a first writing effort that unfolds in a safe, creative, and comfortable atmosphere. Of course, the personal narrative — particularly as it connects to music — also engages students in the emotional response to a creative work, which the teacher will expect from them when they respond to literature later in the school year.

Enrichment: Use this same "imaginary soundtrack" activity, but create the soundtrack to a novel your class is reading instead. This works extremely well because it challenges students to summarize the main ideas of each chapter with an individual song that captures or shares that same meaning. Other successful and creative ideas include a poster and presentation, an interview with the "rock star" (student), a CD release party, a mock concert, or a "behind the music" documentary.


One way in which I could alter this assignment:

I have been in a classroom where I was given the task to make a CD that represented me. On it, I was able to put music that represented me throughout the different time periods of my life. After each member of the classroom had finished their CD, we swapped. In fact, we put them all in a box and randomly drew one out. They did not have our names on them.

You then were required to write a two page paper discussing what you felt this person was like, hat they went through, or what this music represented for them. After these papers were graded, the person who made the CD was given the paper.

One addition that I would make to this assignment is to have each student write an initial paper reflecting on their music choices. Then, they can swap papers with the person who picked their CD. Then they could have a discussion about how similar or different the interpretation of the music choices were.

Resources for Teaching Popular Music in the Classroom

Rock and Roll hall of Fame Museum website

This site has 52 lesson plans that cover a wide range of topics – from the music of the Vietnam War, to Woody Guthrie and the Grapes of Wrath, to the Bill of Rights. I picked a lesson at random to look at (Lesson 40 – Rock and Poetry: A Thematic Project). I chose this because I have before tied music lyrics to poetry. What I found when I clicked on a link is a very well thought out, detailed lesson plan. It gives information on the objectives of the lesson, Materials needed, background information, procedures, evaluation, and more. If each of the lesson plans found here are this well done, it is going to be a wonderful site to keep going back to.

Media Awareness Network website

I wanted to include this particular lesson plan because it went so well with our assignment for this week. On this page you will find a lesson plan that introduces students to the idea of popular music and music videos. In this lesson plan, the students will get to learn about the role that music videos play in the history of music itself (much like we did) and also look at how music and popular culture invade their lives as well.

Read Write Think website

Over my career as a teacher, I have found a lot of great lesson plans on the Read*Write*Think website. I feel like this website has a lot of materials that connect standard Language Arts curriculum with pop culture. Along with this specific lesson plan, I have also used lesson plans that discuss satire with both the movie Shrek and the television show The Simpson’s. I have included these links below as well.

This specific lesson plan uses the lyrics of Stairway to Heaven to examine and analyze metaphors in poetry. Again, I have done something similar and it worked really well. I think I would use this lesson to introduce a poetic device project I would want my students to complete.

Lit Tunes Lesson Plans website

The reason that I included this website was it’s main belief or goal. The lesson plans on this page are meant to “enhance literacy and inspire writing.” I think that this is definitely a goal that most, if not all, Language Arts teachers can relate to. It looks as though it has quite a few lesson plans that would interest my students, including ones on The Barenaked Ladies and Johnny Cash.

I also really like the “Soundtrack of Your Life” lesson plan. It is reminiscent of an assignment that I completed while taking a Rhetoric of Rock Music class at the University of Minnesota.

Read Write Think website

Here are the two lesson plans on satire that I used during a summer school class. I think that the one based on Shrek and fairy tales was a definite success. The one based on The Simpson’s was also fun, and the students were engaged, but I think I would tweak it a little bit to make it more successful.

Shrek

The Simpson's

Music and Politics from the 1970's and 1980's

Due to growing up in the eighties, I was rather excited about starting off with the chapter in Rockin’ Out that Reebee Garafalo dedicated to that decade. Learning about the music that I grew up with definitely interested me and kept my attention - again, I have to make a bit of an aside to reiterate that if we could catch our students’ attention by engaging them in a topic that they are interested, we will achieve this same effect with them. They will want to acquire more knowledge in that area and we, as educators, will sneak in that pesky reading that they seem adverse to. Ok. Rant over. Back to the topic at hand.
While I don’t define myself with the songs and artists of the eighties, I am sure that they had some influence over me. This influence could have taken root in the more political aspect of my life. I find that I agree with the outcome of the political actions of the eighties. Now I know that my political leanings did not come solely from the music of the eighties (since I was between the ages of 0 and 10) but I am sure they influenced the people around me and therefore passed on when I got to the age to think more politically.
While reading Chapter 9: Music Videos, Superstars, and Mega-Events: The Eighties, I found myself immersed in the story of the time. As a naïve, passive music listener, I really had no idea about the history that surrounded this decade. I grew up in a world where MTV dominated the television. In fact, I only lived one year of my life devoid of this channel. It was interesting to learn how the pairing of the auditory and the visual helped the recession that occurred in the music industry to bounce back.
On the other hand, it was quite sad to learn about the racist and sexists practices MTV succumbed to in order to make money. I realize that big businesses have to follow the practices of the times if they want to make money, but you would think that a revolutionary business would be willing to takes more risks and take them in a speedier manner than they actually occurred. This was just not true.
As far as the topic of race was concerned, the music industry showed its true colors both in the artists it signed, but also in the artists it showed on television. I think that the quote by veejay Mark Goodman really sums up the argument against promoting African American performers: “Of course, also we have to try and do what we think not only New York and Los Angeles will appreciate, but also Poughkeepsie or the Midwest. Pick some town in the Midwest which would be scared to death by Prince, which we’re playing, or a string of other black faces, or black music” (298). This just shows the political influence that controlled the music industry. I will be forever grateful to Michael Jackson for breaking down the color barrier that exists not only in the music industry, but also in our society. Who knows where we would be as a society if he had never gained the fame and popularity he did.
When approaching the topic of women in music, and specifically in music videos, I feel that my last post goes into a lot of that detail, and I refer you to that if you haven’t already read it. However, I will say that I do not believe that the use of women in male artists’ videos has changed much in the last thirty years. It seems that the idea of using women as visual hooks is still alive and well. Will this ever change? Part of me hopes that it will, but the larger part of me thinks that this is a trend that will stay for a long time.
Overall, I was thrilled with the leaps and bounds that the political realm gained due to or at the same time as the leaps and bounds made in the musical realm of the 1980s. On the other hand, while reading the chapter in Rockin’ Out that talked about the history of the 1970s, I had the opposite reaction.
My beef doesn’t really reside with the music of disco, but rather with its counterpart of punk music. Since I was not a child of the 70s, I really had no exposure to the music that came out of this decade. Even my older brother, who was born in 1973, missed this era of music entirely. I do now, however, have a group of students that are taken over by puck music. In fact, one of my students decided to do a research project on punk music, reading for weeks about intimate detail of two of his favorite bands. After reading chapter eight in our textbook, I began to wonder if he really understood what punk music meant or represented. It would be interesting to find out if this particular student knows the history of the punk music or if he just fell in love with the sound of the music.
I have to say; I understand some of the philosophy behind punk music. I understand not wanting to be controlled, and instead opting to be something different. But, I do think these thoughts were taken to some pretty far extremes. And sadly, these extremes showed up in the political climate of both Britain and the U.S. I know that it wasn’t the goal of the punk movement to become a symbol for the National Front, but when you choose to use symbols such as the swastika to make a political stand, it can come back and haunt you. The book states that it was more about confrontational art and not an endorsement of racism, but it amazes me that they could have over looked the history of the aforementioned symbol.
Not only did they forget about the history surrounding the swastika, they used it not to enhance their beliefs, but instead to make more money. For Westwood and McLaren, it became a way for them to put a stamp on the fashion of the times as well as get themselves immersed in markets other than music, such as the film industry. To make money off of the tragedy that surrounds this symbol is disgusting to me.
I was glad to hear that groups formed to combat the message and beliefs of the National Front. I feel that the Rock against Racism (RAR) was indispensable to what our country became. I loved that they worked to bring not only blacks and whites to the stage at the same time, but worked also to cross the gender and sexual orientation barriers. It is amazing to me that the culture of music has such a wide reach that it could help a politician gain the popular vote in an election. And this is not something that only happened in our history. This is still going on today. You can see it in shows such as Rock the Vote. I am glad there are people who are using their influence to make people think about what it is they want our country to stand up and believe in.
As a teacher, it seems like a no brainer to want my students to understand how politics and music go hand in hand. I think in noting this connection, it will help them understand the music and lyrics that they are enamored with.

Women and Sexuality in Music Videos

After watching the assigned videos, and reading the critique of Fiona Apple’s Criminal, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to write for this blog post. Leaving the subject as open as it was makes me think about the plethora of topics that could be discussed. So, that’s what I am going to do. I am going to dissect each of these videos and look at the images, the lyrics, it’s place in history, and the reaction the viewer had upon seeing the stimuli.
We first viewed Lesley Gore’s It’s My Party video. This video was produced in 1963 and shows the artist singing to a group of dancing young adults while background dancers perform behind her. The camera cuts back and forth between Lesley, the crowd, and the background dancers as the song goes along.
As far as the lyrics go, they are pretty harmless. It is a poppy little tune about her boyfriend dumping her for another girl and bringing the new girl to the exes birthday party. Of course, his old girlfriend is a bit upset by this new revelation and decides to cry. And do we want to stop her? Why would we – It’s her party and she can cry if she wants to, as the song tells us.
The first thing that I noticed is the lack of connection between the music video and the lyrics of the song. I think my generation is used to the video either telling the pictorial story of the song or at least enhancing the song through images. With this video it is not the case. The images do not follow the lyrics, nor do they enhance the song. I am assuming that the reason for this is due to the time period in which this song was written and performed. This video felt like more of a performance than a music video – one maybe taped during an episode of American Bandstand.
Due to the “safe” lyrics and the even safer video, I did not have too much of a reaction to this song. It is one that I had heard many times in many circumstances, from on the oldies channel to on the Sweatin’ to the Oldies VHS tape my mom still brings out on occasion. This particular song from this era, coupled with the video, does nothing to challenge or shock its viewer in any way.
In 1996, Fiona Apple gave us the song, and video, Criminal. In this music video we see a young woman in the basement of a house that we, the viewers, are led to believe that she has just taken part in an orgy.
The lyrics to this song talk about the fact that she has made mistakes and needs help to redeem herself. In fact, in the lyrics to this song she compares herself at one point to the devil. These song lyrics are a far cry from Lesley Gore’s It’s My Party. As time has gone on, and decades have passed, women have been able to take more of a power role when expressing themselves though song. If Lesley Gore had decided to write something similar to Criminal, there would have been an outrage and both the music industry and her adoring fans would probably have ostracized her.
When I first saw the Criminal video, fourteen years ago, I remember really liking it. It seemed to my sixteen-year-old self that it was a really good video. Looking at it today, I would agree with that assessment. I think that the mood of the video matches with her voice and the lyrics of this particular song.
Video reviewer, Mark Zeltner dislikes that in this video we, the viewers, were pulled into this sensual video through the use of Fiona both taking a picture of us in the beginning and also singing straight to the camera (to us) throughout the video. I actually think that this is what most artists shoot for. They want their listeners to be drawn into the music, into their lyrics, into their video. If we were not meant to be apart of their work, it would never be published for us to read/hear/see.
Another critique Mark Zeltner makes is the assertion that the director of the video has created “a soft porn four minute masterpiece masquerading as a contemporary rock music video”. If you look at what the accepted definition of what soft porn is you will see that this video, while sexual in nature, does not meet these standards. One definition found on Wikipedia states that “Softcore pornography depicts nude and semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic representations of sexual intercourse or masturbation.” I would argue that the actors in Apple’s video do not engage in any sort of representation of sexual intercourse or masturbation. While these acts are hinted at, they are not displayed for the viewer to see.
This is very unlike the images shown in Lil Kim’s How Many Licks. This video is filled with nothing but “semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic representations of sexual intercourse or masturbation.” Why then did Mark Zeltner leave this song alone when writing his critiques? In Lil Kim’s video, multiple images are cut together to show the story of the main character. We see this character 1.scantily clad while dancing with other scantily clad women, 2. on a poster with nothing covering her breasts other than pasties, 3. being used as an image for a gentleman to get self-pleasure, and 4. as a take charge sexual being wearing a low cut, skin tight outfit while driving a powerful automobile.
Not only were the images of this video explicit, but so were the lyrics. Holy cow. During the introduction of this song Lil Kim uses very graphic language. I had never heard this song before, so when I did hear it for the first time I was quite shocked.
But, I do think that was the point. She is challenging the conventions of each and every viewer with both her lyrics and the video she put together. Over time, we have definitely come a long way from the tame videos of the 1960’s.
The last question I want to bring up is this: if Fiona Apple’s or Lil Kim’s songs were performed by males, would Mark Zeltner and I be more comfortable with them? I believe that the members of our society are pretty used to men being in charge, taking control, and flaunting their sexuality, both in life and in music videos. Would that have made Zeltner more comfortable with the “soft porn” images, or me more comfortable with Lil Kim’s lyrics? It is hard to know the answer to this, but I tend to think the answer is a resounding yes.

Why teach popular music in the classroom?

After reflecting over the school board’s idea to move “back to the basics” in order to improve test scores in reading and writing, I wanted to put forth reasons why this plan may not work.
For many years, we have seen a decline in not only students’ test scores, but also in their interest level in participating in class discussions, assignments, and other coursework. What seemed important and interesting to the student population fifty, forty, or even ten years ago does not hold the same value for the students we are currently teaching. Our students’ interests are evolving right along with the change in our society. Why is it that we, as educators, are not willing to change right along with them, but instead stick to the same rigid curriculum we have been teaching, without success, for a long time?
The lack of interest in the curriculum they are supposed to learn is a key reason why they are becoming more and more disinterested in our classrooms. If we can provide the students with a “hook”, or a link to who they are and what they like, we may be able to draw them back into an environment where learning can, and will, take place.
I want you to think for a moment about a topic in which you have no interest to learn about. Maybe it is knitting, or fishing, or maybe it is underwater basket weaving. Now consider how you would react if I told you that all you could read about for the next nine months was that one topic, which you have already professed disinterest. Were you overjoyed at the thought of learning more on that subject and being able to understand it better, or did you groan audibly, shut down, and decide you wouldn’t do the reading? Now think about how you would have reacted if you were a teenager.
Next, think of a topic that you love. If you got the chance to read about that topic for the next nine months, how would you feel? Excited? Interested? Ready to get started? We are not so different from our students and I think we lose sight of this as we continue to choose curriculum that does not interest them. Now, I do understand that there is not a magical topic; a subject area that will appeal to each and every member of our school’s community. But I do feel that there are those that will appeal to a large majority of our student population.
One topic that may garner the interest of the majority of the population is popular culture, and, more specifically, popular music. The question is: how do we incorporate the topic of popular music into the already existing standards that we have set for ourselves? Where does this topic fit? At first glance, it doesn’t seem like it would be a smooth transition to bring the topic of popular music into our school. Into which discipline would it best fit?
While reading Rockin’ Out: Popular Music in the USA by Reebee Garafalo, I felt that the ideas presented in both the introduction and in the chapter on the music in the 1980’s would be not only interesting for the students to learn, but also would enhance their understanding our country’s history. Just as reading Wuthering Heights enhances a student’s understanding and knowledge of 19th Century England, learning about and reviewing music from various eras can provide a lens in which to view history and culture.
We can use popular culture and popular music as bait to help students become interested in new subject matter. Will we only be discussing the history of music without opening the doors to the history of our country and the world? Of course not; the two are intertwined. We cannot look at the history of music without talking about the history of the world. It is just not possible. Our history influenced the music of the times, which in turn, influenced our history. Many social and cultural shifts that occurred in the American society happened right along with shifts in the music scene.
If a social studies teacher was given the opportunity to reach out to a student through their love of music, we may be able to help them culture a new passion for history by linking the two together. This new passion could carry on for years, opening new doors to our students as they continue on through the world of academia.
You may be asking, if we can only teach popular culture and popular music in socials studies class, why are you, a language arts teacher fighting for this opportunity? I struggled with this myself. After a cursory glance it seemed that the most logical place to study popular music would be in the social studies classroom, but after probing further into the topic and talking with my colleagues, it is apparent that the topic of popular music is a multidisciplinary one.
Go back to our earlier example of reading something that interests you and relate this to our students. As a language arts teacher, one of my duties is to open our students’ eyes to writing from across the world. By the time they graduate high school, my students are supposed to have been exposed to American literature, British literature, world literature, and poetry. I cannot tell you how many times I have introduced a new novel to a group of incoming students and have been told, I haven’t read a book since elementary school. When asked why this is, it quickly becomes apparent that they have no connection to what they are reading.
Even today, after the students took the practice MCA-II Reading test, one student told me it wasn’t so bad since the reading was interesting. In fact, many concurred with this assessment stating that they hoped to never read about how to peel potatoes ever again; which was one of the passages we had read earlier in the year. The message from our students is clear: if we let them read things they’re interested in, they will want to read. Once we can get past a student’s aversion to reading, I believe they will be much more inclined to give other topics found in literature a chance.
Along with literature, the students must be introduced to poetry. When we think of poetry, people like Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, Deborah Keenan, and Allen Ginsburg pop into our minds. But what about the likes of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Kanye West? Looking back at the works of Emily Dickinson or William Shakespeare it is easy to see where a high school student could get lost when trying to come up with the “true meaning” of their poetry. While the themes may be universal, the language used is not. It can be quite tedious for a novice in poetry to understand the intentions of the poet. If we instead were able to introduce them to poetry through a poet of our students’ generation, such as any of the above musicians, I believe the students would have an easier time understanding the poetry and grasping the meaning. Does that mean that there isn’t a place for Henry Wordsworth Longfellow in our curriculum? Definitely not. After the students have mastered the poets of their generations, it would be our job to take them a step further and challenge them with the classics. But at least them we would have built upon the groundwork of the knowledge and confidence of our students.
In summary, we have tried the “back to the basics” approach and have seen the decline in our student’s knowledge and willingness to learn. Why not try to generate an interest in their own education by offering topics that interest the students instead of pushing them away? Please consider this proposal to include the topics of popular culture and popular music into our curriculum.