LessonPlans

Apple Learning Interchange http://ali.apple.com

Jamin The Blues http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=9723 media type="file" key="jammin_bluesy.mp3" width="240" height="20" media type="file" key="jammin_bluesy_horns.mp3" width="240" height="20"

=Jammin the Blues=
 * Intermediate/Middle School Music Lesson Idea**

Project Overview
Students work in pairs at each computer, using GarageBand, a MIDI keyboard, and headphones. Using a 12-bar blues in C that the teacher has previously created in GarageBand, students take turns improvising melodies. They record one of their improvisations, doing a number of takes if they so desire.When they get a performance that they like, they save it to play back for the class.

Project Steps

 * 1) Prior to class, create a 12-bar blues progression in GarageBand (or download the one accompanying this lesson plan). Place this GarageBand file on the hard drive of each student computer, or make it accessible to students over a network.


 * 1) Instruct the students on the notes that comprise a C blues scale (C-Eb-F-F#-G-Bb-C), if this has not been done in a previous class. Have the students take turns practicing the scale on their MIDI keyboards.


 * 1) Working in pairs, have students take turns improvising melodies over the previously created GarageBand 12-bar blues.


 * 1) When each student is satisfied with his or her improvisation, the student should save it to play for the class during the GarageBand concert to take place during the next class meeting. It is important to use the Save As command and save the performance with a different name than the one that was used for the original blues accompaniment file. Prior to playing the improvisation for the class, the student pairs should describe any special attributes of their improvisation.

Extensions
You can post .AIFF files of the studentswork on a website where parents and others can listen to them.

Outcomes
After completing this project, students will be able to:
 * Play a C blues scale (C-Eb-F-F#-G-Bb-C)


 * Improvise over a 12-bar blues progression


 * Listen to their classmates blues improvisations during a GarageBand concert

Sample Files
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<span style="border-bottom-color: #c7c7c7; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: initial; border-top-color: #c7c7c7; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; bottom: 0px; display: block; font-size: 10px; height: 20px; left: 0px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 212px; z-index: 99;">Duration: **2:24** Listen to the sample

Technology Skills
After completing this project, students will be able to:
 * Use a MIDI keyboard to play a scale


 * Use GarageBand to create, record, save, and play improvisations

Assessment Suggestions
Students can be assessed on their description and performance of their recorded improvisations for the class. During the performance, students can evaluate each others improvisations. Students can also be assessed on their use of the C blues scale and provide other feedback (oral or written) on qualities of the improvisation.

Preparation and Duration
You can have the class do the following activities to prepare for doing this project:
 * Explore websites about the blues and improvisation


 * Listen to recordings of the blues


 * Practice the C blues scale on the music keyboard


 * Learn how to record MIDI sounds with GarageBand

This specific project can be completed in one class period, with the improvisation concert of studentsworks taking place in the following class.

Tools and Resources

 * Internet**


 * Lees Summit Lesson Plans**
 * []**
 * Worldwide Internet Music Resources: Blues


 * A Jazz Improvisation Primer


 * Dr. Estrellas Incredibly Abridged Guide to MIDI


 * Resources in music technology


 * MacJams.com


 * MacJukebox


 * GarageBand resources from Apple


 * Apple digital music website


 * Tools**

Macintosh computers, MIDI keyboards, two sets of headphones for each computer, at least one set of speakers to attach to a computer (for the concert), GarageBand, GarageBand Jam Pack (optional)

Prerequisite Skills
Before beginning this project, students should have the following skills:
 * Functional knowledge of the MIDI keyboard, including beginning abilities to play melodic ideas


 * Understanding of scales, and specifically the C blues scale


 * Ability to play GarageBand files and to record MIDI sounds with GarageBand

Soundtrack for My Life **http://www.readwritethink.org/beyondtheclassroom/summer/grades9_12/Autobiography/**
 * Students could create their own music to describe stages in their lives..**

For Ages 14–18 Soundtrack for My Life
 * Teens these days are accustomed to the combination of text, images, and music to express meaning. In this project, teens create** __[|autobiographies]__**, adding music selections to their life stories. After brainstorming lists of important events in their lives, teens select music that represents those events. This is a great project for teens to work on together.**

Time
 * Several hours (can be done over different days)**

What You Need

Why This Is Helpful
 * Internet access
 * 4 x 6 Index cards
 * __[|Sample Multimodal Autobiography]__
 * This activity asks writers to combine words, images, and music—something teens are already familiar with, but may never have put all together in one project. It requires them to think about literacy in a different way.**

Here’s What To Do More Ideas to Try Glossary Autobiography
 * 1) Begin this project by having teens brainstorm up to 10 major events in their lives. They can work with others in a group or individually to build a list of any events that hold personal significance. Here are some possible suggestions:
 * First day of school (e.g., preschool, kindergarten, first grade, middle school, high school)
 * A special family trip or vacation
 * A family event or milestone
 * A personal achievement (e.g., first place in a competition)
 * A personal loss
 * 1) Next to each event, ask the teen to write a short description or related key words.
 * 2) Make sure each person has 5 index cards. Ask the teens to narrow down their list and select up to 5 events and record them on the index cards.
 * 3) Using those events, ask teens to think about the events described and to connect songs to these events. For example, someone might associate a love song with a family member’s wedding ceremony.
 * 4) Be sure to discuss lyrics with participants to assure that song selections are appropriate for all audiences. Emphasize that they should avoid using music that involves profanity or derogatory remarks towards any race, gender, sexual orientation and/or religious affiliation.
 * 5) Teens can write or type of the scenes from their lives, using their selected events and music. Encourage students to think of this information as similar to liner notes that might accompany a CD and provide background information on the songs.
 * 6) If desired, teens can burn their own CDs with their selected music on them. They can create their own CD covers using the __[|CD/DVD Cover Creator]__. They can also add illustrations and pictures to help them share their life events.
 * 7) Alternately, students can also create playlists of the songs on MP3 players (e.g., iPods). For more information on how to use that online tool, visit the __[|CD/DVD Cover Creator Tool Tip Sheet]__.
 * 8) Make time for teens to share their soundtracks with others.
 * Teens can create PowerPoint presentations of their soundtracks by adding pictures and illustrations to the autobiographical events and music.
 * Use these resources to familiarize the teens with PowerPoint:
 * __[|PowerPoint in the Classroom]__
 * __[|PowerPoint Tutorial—Adding Sound]__
 * Demo: __[|Add music to a presentation]__
 * Once everyone is comfortable with PowerPoint and has practiced with the software, have them begin creating slides using their notecards as a first draft of the slides.
 * Share this __[|adding sounds]__ page, which details how to add portions of a song from a CD to a PowerPoint slide, with participants.
 * Have a showcase night where everyone presents their PowerPoint autobiographies to a group. Use a projector if one is available.
 * It is fun to turn these autobiographies into a story. Visit the __[|Sample Multimodal][|Autobiography]__ for more ideas.
 * The fact-based account of a person’s life story, told by him- or herself.**

=Music Education Online Lesson Plans=
 * 1) **[|A Great, Crazy Sailor]**- Basic facts about Columbus' voyage, mastery of an ostinato part of Orff instruments are used.
 * 2) **[|Be A Music Investigator]**- Comparing composers in history.
 * 3) **[|Body Rhythm]**- This lesson is perfect for teaching primary grades about the value of ti, tah and toh before they are ready to read.
 * 4) **[|Dynamics and Timbre of "Amani Utupe"]**- Students will perform with appropriate dynamics and timbre the accompaniment to a song from their repertoire using non-pitched percussion instruments.
 * 5) **[|Finding the Beat]**- The student will locate music books and recordings related to the rhythm of music from various countries.
 * 6) **[|Find The Sound]**- To help children in knowing the particular sounds of certain instruments.
 * 7) **[|How to Blues]**- A month long unit.
 * 8) **[|K-12 Music Resources]**- List web sites for everybody in music education.
 * 9) **[|Keyboards]**- Become familiar with appearance and characteristic sound of piano. Identify piano as part of percussion family. Find middle C on the keyboard.
 * 10) **[|Learning through The Duke]**- As the students explore the language of the 1920's, connections will be drawn between popular expressions and the sounds created in jazz. Your students will craft an original poem using these words and expressions.
 * 11) **[|LessonsPlansPage.com- Music]**- 35 lessons sorted by grade level.
 * 12) **[|Making Music]**- By experimenting with musical instruments and making their own, children develop.
 * 13) **[|Math and Music]**- The student will add musical notes together and come up with a real number as the answer. The student will create different addition problems with the answers using musical notes as the product.
 * 14) **[|Music Lesson on Rhythm (Tempo)]**- The students will experience a fast and a slow tempo in music and create drawings the different tempos cause them to think of.
 * 15) **[|Music Lesson on Melody and Rhythm]**- The students will predict what music from different cultures sounds like based on what they have heard through the media, movies, etc. They will then listen to music from these nations and compare how their predicted music differed. They will also note any differences in melody and rhythm between the various cultures and our own.
 * 16) **[|Musical Instrument Appreciation]**- This lesson plan is designed to give students the basic knowledge of musical instruments. Through this activity students will develop a greater appreciation of music and the different instruments involved in its creation.
 * 17) **[|Musical Rondo]**- This lesson is designed for groups of children to compose pieces of music for different types of weather. These are then put together in the form of a rondo.
 * 18) **[|Musicianship Basics]**- These are short music skill exercises that allow students to show that they understand a new concept, such as major intervals or leger lines in the bass clef.
 * 19) **[|Off the Field and into the Stands]**- This is a lesson of fun and enjoyment for the students in your music class. The students will learn about the National Anthem and its importance, do some singing, and create rhythm activities that can be used the next time they go to a big game.
 * 20) **[|Opposites]**- The students will discover opposites with: books, discussions, and songs.
 * 21) **[|Phonemic Awareness through Music]**- Students will respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual work to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought.
 * 22) **[|Pitch]**- The learner will understand that the length of an instrument dictates the pitch.
 * 23) **[|Quarter Rest Lesson]**- The student will indicate the silent beats (rests) with an outward motion of the arms. The student will be able to indicate a measure clapped out with a quarter rest, and a measure clapped out without a quarter rest.
 * 24) **[|Rhymes]**- The students will broaden their knowledge about rhymes through looking at poetry, books, and songs.
 * 25) **[|Rhythm Rests Lesson]**- The students will feel the rests in the song by creating motions for the rests rather than singing.
 * 26) **[|Rhythmic Patterns]**- This lesson is made so the students have examples of how syncopated rhythm sounds. The teacher is going to assign three different groups different rhythm patterns and different sounds.
 * 27) **[|St. Patrick's Day Sing-A-Long]**- The student will use the indexes of song books to locate songs indigenous to Ireland. The students will identify recordings which include songs indigenous to Ireland.
 * 28) **[|Teaching Adjectives With Music]**- The students will broaden their knowledge about adjectives through using them to describe both objects and music.
 * 29) **[|Teaching Meter]**- The teacher will introduce the lesson by asking students, Who likes to dance? How do you know when to move your feet? You have to listen to the beat don't you? The repetition of the beat creates what is known as rhythm. The rhythm is what you are dancing to in music.
 * 30) **[|The Instruments of the Orchestra]**- A great site for instrument recognition.
 * 31) **[|The Music Education Madness Site]**- A community website for all music teachers, regardless of ages teaching or levels of expertise. Includes monthly articles, plans, kids' section, and more!
 * 32) **[|Where Did Rock and Roll Come From?]**- The student will use specialized music reference sources to locate information about the origins of rock and roll.
 * 33) **[|White Water Rafting]**- Students will create a piece of art to demonstrate their understanding, or they will retell the story in their own words.