learningcreatively:

FILM SCORING IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM

In order to beginning the discussion about film scoring, I do the following activities with my students.

1) Play them an excerpt of music that is ambiguous in nature. I ask the students to think about what kind of movie this music could represent? Is it a horror film? A comedy? 

2) Play them another piece of music they do not already know - I love Stravinsky’s finale to the Firebird suite. Ask them to describe the scene or film they imagine as they listen to the song.

3) Play them 2 movie clips with their original music. Ask them to describe the music they hear. 

Stop right here. This process is done both orally and anonymously through a service called www.polleverywhere.com. Students use their cell phones to vote for step 1. During step 2, they are asked to text in their responses. This level of engagement brings about many more responses than simply polling the class. One of the great about this service is that it is free! 

4) Next, I play the same clips from step 3 with ridiculously contrasting pieces of music as the backdrop. This inevitably makes everyone laugh because the music obviously does not fit well with the visuals.

5) In Garageband (or other music creation software), I have students score a pre-made film (created by students in the class or by other students in the school). They use the supplied loops that come with the program. This opens up many doors to discussing how music is written to film.

Here is a sample piece of audio from one student’s work. The point was to explore this type of composing and they got creative!

In my experience, this approach to the scoring process is very engaging for the students. They are engaged because they are using technology that is near and dear to their hearts (their cell phone) but also because they have instant success due to the transparent user interface of Garageband. Lastly, they are were warmed up to the topic by starting light and getting deeper. The process follows Blooms’ Taxonomy by ending with the HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills) of creating. Try it in your music classroom!

heymissat:

There’s something amazing about making big achievements as a first year teacher. 

Joserisms has started teaching his first year as the head band director at a Title I school, a school most of us would avoid at all costs. He came into a music program that was all but dead. Last year, there were fifteen students in band. At a school with over 2500 students, let’s admit it, that’s a bit…sad. He’s currently up to twenty-seven students, and he’s working hard every day to keep them motivated and instill a love of music for them. 

I’ve been really lucky to see him teach this last week and be with the band as they went to two festivals. Last week, they played at the school for the entire staff. It was great to see the staff get behind the students, and see how pumped the students were with all that support many of them don’t experience outside of school. On Wednesday, they went to their very first festival. They played well, but felt discouraged after playing a few bad notes and then being followed by one of the best bands in the district. 

In many classes, the teacher and the students would have just said that was the best they could do considering their size and experience. Many classes would accept mediocre as their best, but not this class. They finished out their week strong, with many students coming in during lunch to practice even more. You have to understand, a lot of these students have no desire to put effort into anything, and they’re coming in on their own time to push themselves further. 

Monday was the CMEA Band Festival. The kids played their hearts out, and did an amazing job. As they regrouped, Joserisms asked the kids how they thought they did. “I think we got a two,” was the general consensus. Btdubs, these are scored like golf, you want the lowest, a one.

“No guys, you got a one. You earned ‘Superior.’” 

I can’t even tell you how awesome it was to witness that teacher/student moment. It’s something people outside of the classroom rarely get to see. The kids are excited and riding a high, and not only is it because of the hard work they’ve put in, but it’s also because of the teacher who has gone above and beyond to hold the highest expectations for his students, but still made it achievable. 

So if any of you want to send some congrats his way, I’m sure he would love it. I’m also sure any of the teachers you’ve had that have influenced your life would love to hear from you as well!