Grade 7 (Term 3/L1/2015/2016): Drums & Drumming

Assignment 1

1.     Complete a profile of any famous rock band from either the past or the present. The only restriction on your choice is that it must be a band with a drummer. Include the following:

• Members of the band
• When they started
• Changes to the band
• Hit songs, tours, albums
•  Instruments used
• Style of rock played  

2.     This question will be devoted to the drummer of the band you have researched. You should include the following:

• Drummer’s name
• Drummer’s history
• Brand of kit used
• A list of the gear your drummer uses on their kit.
• At least 1 diagram of your drummer’s kit.

Assignment 2

1.  Collect as many different pictures of different drum kits as you can find. You must show the development of the kit from its beginnings in the 1920’s to the present day. You should aim to have at least one kit per decade.

2.  Give brief details of the following famous drummers. Include things like:

• Which brand of drums they play
• Which band/s they have played with
• Some brief background.

Set your information out in a table, as shown below.

David Jones                Lionel Hampton          Dave Weckl

Buddy Rich                 Gene Krupa                Steve Gadd

Ringo Starr                  Lewis Nash                 Art Blakey

Phil Collins                 Lars Ulrich                  John Morrison           

Ringo Starr

Plays Ludwig Drums

Famous drummer for The Beatles during the 1960’s.

Born 7th, July 1940. Full name is Richard Starkey. He is an English drummer, singer, songwriter, and actor. He plays left-handed.

Assignment 3

Research the following types of drums from around the world. Provide a picture of each and state which country they come from, how they are played and how they are made. Present your information in a table as follows:

Drum	Picture	Country	Construction	Playing Techniques
Bodhran		Ireland	Wooden shell with rosewood cross braces. Covered with goatskin.	Played with a double-ended stick called a tipper.

Find out about each of the following drums:

• Doumbek
• Conga
• Timbales
• Bodhran
• Bongos
• Djembe
• Cuica
• Ashiko
• Talking Drum
• Tsuzumi

Grade 8 (Term 3/L1/2015/2016) : Musical Scavenger Hunt

1. Provide a brief history of your instrument (generic…history of the clarinet, etc)
2. Provide a history of your individual instrument (the one that you are playing right now)
3. What are the dates for the Baroque period?
4. List 5 composers of the Baroque period.
5. Provide a biography of 1 of these 5 composers
6. Write out a Bb concert scale 
7. Provide a list of five instrument found in the same family as the instrument you researched.
8. The Renaissance is a time period in music history, what does the term Renaissance mean and what are the dates for this period?
9. Find the name of one composer from the 20^th century.  Complete a biography on this person.
10. Transpose a selection of music for your instrument (selection should be 8-12 bars long and can come from our band music)
11. Define five of  the following terms – harmonic, chromatic, bourree, coda, interval, fugue, requiem, mass, accidental, vibrato

Be sure to include sources that you used to gain this information in the form of a bibliography.  This assignment can be completed in the form of a word document or a PowerPoint presentation.  Assignments are due February 15, 2015.

Grade 6 (Lesson 1/Q3/2015/2016) : Canadian Music Project

Canada has produced some great bands, singers and performers. These musicians have shaped our national identity and represented our culture to the world. How many Canadian acts can you name?

In this project, you will be choosing a Canadian band or performer to study in greater detail and then share your work with your class. You will be researching both the performer(s) and their music, leading to a better appreciation of the richness of our Canadian music culture. 

There are three parts to this project:

PART 1 Information Sheet

This sheet will be provided with the assignment and will be available on the website if you lose your copy. This sheet must be filled out neatly and completely, with all questions answered.    

PART 2 – Music Assessment Sheet

This will lead you through an assessment of one of your performer’s songs.You will be talking about the melody, the lyrics, the form and the instrumentation.

PART 3 - Promoting your Artist(s)

For this portion you may choose one of the following activities;

1. Create a poster or photo montage celebrating your band
2. Create a slide show featuring your band and its music.
3. Do a lip sync performance of one of the songs
4. Create a video of one of the songs
5. Create an album cover for your band
6. Act out an interview with you pretending to be the
   musician.
7. Create a dance (you may use friends for this) to one of
   your songs.
8. Create a computer quiz for the class to take after you
   teach us about your group.
9. Other (you must propose an idea to Ms. Carrie A and have
   it accepted) 

Due Date : February 1, 2015

Grade 6 (Lesson 4d/2015/2016) : Wild Child (New York, New York)

Sounds like Fun

Objective
Students apply the principles of sound by making a bullroarer.

Materials
Popsicle sticks, hollow eraser heads, rubber bands, index cards, string, stapler, glue.

Procedure

1. Staple an index card to a popsicle stick (see diagram). 
2. Slide an eraser head on to each end of the popsicle stick. 
3. Slide a rubber band lengthwise over the eraser ends of the stick. 
4. Tie a string to one end of the stick just below the eraser.
5.  Leave about a foot of string to hold on to. 
6. Make sure you have enough room to swing the bullroarer over head in a circular motion.

On safety: Make sure there is enough room to safely swing the bullroarer.    

Back in the United States, we see Wild Child using two instruments that make sounds when they are spun through the air: the Bullroarer and the Whirly Tube.

It is believed that the bullroarer was first used by the Aboriginal people of Australia. When swung around in the air on a piece of string it sets up sound waves, thus producing a whirring or howling sound. The bullroarer is used in hunting and in traditional ceremonies as a form of blessing. Bullroarers are also used to send animals into ambush, to alert one tribe of another’s presence, in rainmaking ceremonies, and for healing (see “The Rhythm of Healing” on this page).

This type of instrument has been used all over the world, including the Maori people of New Zealand, in New Guinea, and in various North American Native cultures.

The Rhythm of Healing

The Maori people of New Zealand use a smaller version of the Bullroarer (known as the ‘Porotiti’) for healing rheumatism and arthritis. By spinning the Porotiti over the afflicted areas, the sound vibrations massage the joints of the “patient” in a similar way to modern ultrasound. 

Grade 6 (Lesson 4c/2015/2016) : Wild Child and Stomp (Los Angeles, California)

The Science of Sound

In the scene where Wild Child and Fraser are riding their bikes, we hear the sounds of bells ringing and cards flapping against spokes. When Wild Child rides off the end of the pier into the water, the medium through which the sounds are traveling changes from air to water.

In this section we will explore how sound is generated, how it travels through a medium like air or water, and how it is received by the amazing apparatus we studied in the last section, the ear. 

Objective

Students learn how sound is generated and received, as well as why sound is so important for communication.

Materials

• A music element (or some other sound generating device) 
• A drinking glass

Procedure

1. Ask your students to take turns reading the Science of Sound description. 

• Ask them to sit quietly and listen to any sounds that they can hear, both inside and outside the school. 
• Ask them to make a list of sounds they hear, with an arrow pointing in the direction from which they think the sound is coming. 
• After five or ten minutes, make a list on the blackboard of the sounds that the students heard, and where they came from. 

      2.  Wind up the music element and hold it in the palm of your hand as it plays. Can any of             your students hear it?

• Now place it on a desk and let it play. Now can they hear it?
• Try different surfaces and materials, such as a drinking glass or a plastic cup. 

Further study Underwater acoustics

• How is our hearing different underwater?
• Do fish have “ears” and how do they “hear” underwater? 

Grade 8 (Term 2/L2/2015/2016) : Creating Music for a Scenario

Common Anchor

• Generate musical ideas for various purposes and contexts
• Select and develop musical ideas for defined purposes and contexts
• Evaluate and refine selected musical ideas to create musical work(s) that meet appropriate criteria

Enduring Understandings

• The creative ideas, concepts, and feelings that influence artists’ work emerge from a variety of sources.
• Musicians’ creative choices are influenced by their experience, context and expressive intent.
• Musicians evaluate, and refine their work through openness to new ideas, persistence, and the application of appropriate criteria.
• Musicians’ presentation of creative work is the culmination of a process of creation and communication.

Essential Question(s)

• How do musicians generate creative ideas?
• How do musicians make creative decisions?
• How do musicians improve the quality of their creative work? 
• When is a creative work ready to share? 

Prerequisite Skills and Knowledge

1. Able to identify music ideas (sounds, rhythms, melodies, harmonies ...) related to an expressive idea.
2. Able to perform and create harmonic/rhythmic accompaniments.
3. Have experience creating musical ideas to match an expressive idea or feeling.
4. Recognize and able to convey expressive intent in music performance.
5. Have experience manipulating the various elements of music displaying effective compositional technique.
6. Able to apply compositional techniques for creating unity and variety, tension and release, and balance to convey expressive intent.
7. Can read and use standard or iconic notation and/or can use audio/video recording devices and music technology to document rhythmic phrases, melodic phrases, and harmonic sequences.