Grade 7 (Term 1/L1/2015/2016): Music Genre

Assignment 1

1. Choose a song from any genre to present to your class. 
2. Genres may include Pop, Rock, Classical, Jazz, Blues, Rap, R&B, Country, Gospel, etc. 
3. The song may be instrumental or contain lyrics.
4. If the song you choose has lyrics, it must be suitable and appropriate for a school audience. This means that the song must not contain swear words or actively promote the use of drugs and/or alcohol. Songs that contain lyrics of a sexual nature will not be considered.
5. Have the song approved by Ms. Carrie by 13th August 2015.
6. Prepare a short oral presentation of the song (approximately 5mins. No powerpoint or anything formal necessary)
7. Recordings of your song may be played  from www.youtube.com or another online source during your presentation. If you would like to bring in a personal recording on a CD, that is fine.
8. Consider and include the following items:

• The name of the composer/artist with a small amount of background information (ex. What the group/artist is best known for, what country the group/artist is from, etc. Look it up!).
• The genre of the song, and why you chose to classify it as that genre (see above for a list of possible genres). If your selected piece does not fit in any of the genres listed above, describe what genre you think it is and why (ex. “Techno”, because of the beat; “Country” because of acoustic guitar).
• What the song is about. Even instrumental works often have a theme or a reason for being written (ex: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 was originally written about the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The Beatles wrote “Blackbird” with reference to African American civil rights). Is there a story? If the story isn’t obvious, what do YOU think it’s about? 
• Any other points of interest about the song. Why do you like it? Do the words mean anything to you, personally? What do you like about the song? The melody/melodic line? The beat? Is it the harmonies that stand out to you? Or the difficulty it would take for someone to perform the piece?

Presentation Dates:  26th August 2015 (last names A-Z)