1:

Music is an extremely important part of our modern lives, but how many times have you
tried to describe exactly what music is? See if you can put it into words.

ACROSS THE CURRICULUM:

Write a short paragraph describing what music is, as you
perceive it.

Music could be defined as "sound patterns organized in time." Music is not like the
visual arts; you cannot perceive music all at one time, as with a painting. Music must be
apprehended in time. Thus we have two elements necessary for making music:

Sounds and time, or, in musical terms, pitch and rhythm.

Pitch is the highness or lowness of a sound. High pitches have a high frequency (a
large number of vibrations per second), and low pitches have a lower frequency.

Musical notes (pitches) are indicated on a set of 5 lines, called a staff. The higher a
pitch is (the larger number of vibrations per second) the higher it is placed on the staff.
Look at the pairs of notes, below on the staff. Tell which note is higher, the first or the
second:

Rhythm is how the pitches are organized in time. It has to do with the duration of each
pitch (how long a pitch lasts in time).

An important part of rhythm is the underlying pulse, or beat, that is a foundation of most
of our music today. It is this pulse that makes you want to tap your foot or clap or march or
dance to various kinds of music.

The beat can then be divided into smaller units of time, so that you can have one single
note for every beat, or many notes for every beat. You can even have notes that last for
several beats. It is how the beats and the subdivisions of the beat are put together that
creates the rhythm of the piece.

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1 -- WHAT IS MUSIC?

Music is all around us in the world today. Music serves many purposes and is used in
many important ways in our society. Music is not only used for personal entertainment
and enjoyment, it also serves a social function. Music is used to inspire people to worship
in church. It is used to excite and energize crowds and teams at athletic events and parades.
It is used to comfort people at funerals and to heighten the celebration at birthday parties,
weddings, and anniversaries.

Music is used to evoke feelings of patriotism and loyalty to one's country; to unite people
in common political causes. It has been used to recall and remember events that are
important to that society. For example, what would a Fourth of July parade be without a
band playing a Sousa march? Or a Cinco de Mayo celebration without a mariachi band?
Or a Martin Luther King Day remembrance without the singing of "Lift Ev'ry Voice and
Sing"?

Music is used for occupying the listener when their phone calls are placed on hold. It is
used in doctor's waiting rooms, hotel lobbies, and elevators.

Music also has a great commercial value. Researchers have discovered that soft
background music can make people linger longer in restaurants and stores, creating the
possibility that they will spend more money while they are there. Retail stores use holiday
music to pump up sales during the Christmas season. Commercials on radio and television
use music to sell everything from baby aspirin to mobile homes. Television shows (even
cartoons) and movies are accompanied by music.

These are a few ways in which music plays a major role in our society. In Activity Sheets
1 and 2, you are asked to examine the ways in which music makes an impact on your own
personal world. Complete the Activity Sheets, and be prepared to discuss your findings
with the class.

Activity Sheet 1: Music Around Me

Activity Sheet 2: Music Diary

1. Duration--The length of time (in beats) that a note sounds

2. Frequency--Number of vibrations per second of a particular pitch
3. Pitch--The highness or lowness of a musical sound; determined by its vibration frequency
4. Pulse--The underlying steady beat of music
5. Rhythm--The way that notes of various durations are combined in a piece of music

2
 is a Quarter note. is a Half note.
receives 1 beat in common meter. receives 2 beats in common meter.

READ the following quarter note exercise in the following ways:

A. On rhythm syllables, 4 times through

B. With words
C. With the accent on different beats. Repeat 5 times, placing the accent on the first note
the first time, second note the second time, etc. The last time accent all notes heavily.
D. Perform each exercise as described above in canon.
E. Perform the exercises in harmony.
F. Perform each exercise in retrograde. Repeat Sign

1.
What did she say?

2.
I don't know.

3.
Go ask her.

4. Not now.
Movement: "Step out" each of the above exercises in the same way as you performed
them verbally above. Perform with words and without words.
Instruments: Perform each line on a different percussion instrument (or body percussion).

The Name Game: Sit in a circle. Patsch twice, clap twice, snap right hand, left hand.
Keeping a steady beat, say your name in rhythm (on the snaps), taking turns in order
around the circle. Any student who loses the beat on his or her turn is banished to the
"mushpot," the center of the circle and remains there until someone else misses.
Variation 1: Instead of saying your own name, say the name of the person seated next to
you; continue around the circle.
Variation 2: Instead of saying your own name, say the name of any other student. That
person must then say another name on the beat without breaking the rhythm, or he
goes in the mushpot.
Competitive: When a player misses, (s)he is out of the game. Play until there is one person
remaining.

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2 -- KEEPING THE BEAT

READ the following poems in your head while tapping the steady beat silently
in the palm of your hand. Read them out loud placing a primary accent on
the first beat and a secondary accent on the third. Add body accompaniment
by alternately patsching and clapping or snapping.
Patti DeWitt

1.
Post-man, post-man, at my door What is it you're wait - ing for?

You've a pack-age, nice and thick, Give it to me, please, and quick!

Anonymous

2.
Old man Joe broke his toe On his way to Mex - i - co.

Com - ing back he broke his back Slid - ing down the rail - road track.

each of the exercises below in the following ways:

A. With rhythmic syllables or numbers while tapping the steady
beat silently in the palm of your hand
B. With percussion instruments (or body percussion), and
C. In canon
D. In harmony
E. In retrograde
F. Without stopping at the double barlines.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Activity Sheet 3: Notable Names

Activity Sheet 4: Musical Math Game #1

4
 KEEPING THE BEAT -- 2

ACROSS THE CURRICULUM:

Write a rhyming poem to fit the following rhythm pattern.

Perform the poem with the class:

1. Barline--A line through the five lines of the staff that divides music into measures. A
double barline denotes the end of the piece or the section.

2. Beat--A regularly repeating pulsation in music

3. Canon--Performance of a single line of music by 2 or more voices beginning at different

times
4. Half note--A musical tone that sounds for 2 beats in common meter

5. Harmony--Performance of 2 or more different lines of music at the same time

6. Patsch--Body percussion sound made by slapping hands on one's thighs

7. Percussion--Musical instruments played by striking, scraping, or shaking

8. Quarter note--A musical tone that sounds for a duration of 1 beat in common meter

9. Repeat sign--A sign that tells the performer to repeat the previous measures, or the
measures between repeat signs

10. Retrograde--Performance of a musical passage in reverse order of what is written; from

right to left instead of left to right

11. Staff--The set of 5 lines upon which music is written

12. Whole note--A musical tone that sounds for 4 beats in common meter