For a long time the idea of how music is mediated to the populace has been coursing through my veins and Keith Negus' chapter on the issue brought the old dusty angers out of my "just deal with it" closet.
The first thing you see lately on my (dwindling) favorite rag - Rolling Stone - is usually some American Idol zero whom I never bothered getting to know - or some no talent ass clown that does not sing, dance or play a musical instrument (the cast of The Hills, seriously?).
As an educator, it is beginning to feel like the classroom space is the last untainted realm where we can enter Csíkszentmihályi's idea of flow without being bombarded with the 24/7 barrage of media (and even that is being attacked as students whip out their mobile computers and less and less teachers stop them).
The last thing I want to do is tell the students that they are all mindless drones and that everything they love is simply something they were manipulated into liking - that is simply not true - also that does not give them nearly enough credit. What I want to do, is show them what is going on in the media and how even their perfect teacher is enraptured with the glossy finish that is placed over so much garbage.
Assignment: What Is Quality?
Rationale: Often there seems to be a popular trend to "go with the flow" in terms of popular music and to simply sing along with the music that surrounds us simply because it surrounds us. What I want students to begin to do with this assignment - is analyze what is popular and why that might be so and if popularity sometimes, always or never coincides with quality (and what quantifies quality).
Step one: take a gander at Rolling Stone's Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time, 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (as these are three of my favorite issues ever - and they are lofty tombs to say the least - I know that anything but a surface browse is unrealistic) - pay special attention to the eras, the repeated artists, the topics, the genres, the look of the albums and the market at that time.
Step two: Look at lists of best selling artists past and present. Note similarities with what is considered the "best" music/artists of all time.
Step three: self survey: how do you consume music? Write down where you buy it and how you listen to it (iTunes, CDs, Best Buy, MySpace, etc.). Where do you find out about new music? Write down your answers.
Step four: check out BET, MTV, MySpace, Yahoo Music, Pandora and write down what you see. What pops out at you? What is being advertised? Who do you recognize? How are they selling the site? How are they selling the music? Think of how none of these sites were around twenty years ago. How were people consuming music then? How do these sites change anything? What is the effect on the music market? On bands? On artists? On sales?
Step five: check out a City Pages or MN Monthly and check out all the music events going on in Minnesota. Think about how there are as many (if not more) events going on in all 50 states and in all the countries all around the world. Think back to the top 500 artists/songs and try and put into perspective how limited in scope a list of the "best" musicians has to be. Consider all the bands and music being created and put out into the market place. Then check back to iTunes or other site and look at the Top 10. Why do you keep seeing the same names? What are the things that keep reoccuring? Why do you think that is?
This whole lesson is all about looking at what we consume as a culture - who we think is the best - and the path the industry is headed and why.
[As I write this I am receiving text messages and breaking news alerts that The Most Successful Entertainer of All Time - Michael Jackson - is in critical condition or is perhaps dead - this news is quite shocking and I am not quite sure how to handle it.]
Rationale: Often there seems to be a popular trend to "go with the flow" in terms of popular music and to simply sing along with the music that surrounds us simply because it surrounds us. What I want students to begin to do with this assignment - is analyze what is popular and why that might be so and if popularity sometimes, always or never coincides with quality (and what quantifies quality).Step one: take a gander at Rolling Stone's Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time, 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (as these are three of my favorite issues ever - and they are lofty tombs to say the least - I know that anything but a surface browse is unrealistic) - pay special attention to the eras, the repeated artists, the topics, the genres, the look of the albums and the market at that time.
Step two: Look at lists of best selling artists past and present. Note similarities with what is considered the "best" music/artists of all time.
Step three: self survey: how do you consume music? Write down where you buy it and how you listen to it (iTunes, CDs, Best Buy, MySpace, etc.). Where do you find out about new music? Write down your answers.
Step four: check out BET, MTV, MySpace, Yahoo Music, Pandora and write down what you see. What pops out at you? What is being advertised? Who do you recognize? How are they selling the site? How are they selling the music? Think of how none of these sites were around twenty years ago. How were people consuming music then? How do these sites change anything? What is the effect on the music market? On bands? On artists? On sales?
Step five: check out a City Pages or MN Monthly and check out all the music events going on in Minnesota. Think about how there are as many (if not more) events going on in all 50 states and in all the countries all around the world. Think back to the top 500 artists/songs and try and put into perspective how limited in scope a list of the "best" musicians has to be. Consider all the bands and music being created and put out into the market place. Then check back to iTunes or other site and look at the Top 10. Why do you keep seeing the same names? What are the things that keep reoccuring? Why do you think that is?This whole lesson is all about looking at what we consume as a culture - who we think is the best - and the path the industry is headed and why.
[As I write this I am receiving text messages and breaking news alerts that The Most Successful Entertainer of All Time - Michael Jackson - is in critical condition or is perhaps dead - this news is quite shocking and I am not quite sure how to handle it.]
Assignment Two: Music and Movies
Rationale: music can add so much to a movie and even break a new band or song. Why is it that the aesthetic of the mix is so appealing? It is worth taking a deeper look at the synergy of song and screen and why the two can twist together so seamlessly - it seems that they were made for one another.
Step one: watch Say Anything. There is no excuse to have not seen Cameron Crowe's 1989 classic - if you can't pick out "the scene" I wanted you to see for this assignment, then you should not be in school (I'm joking!).
Step two: seek out - if you can - some facts about "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic, "Secret Garden" from Jerry Maguire or other famous song/film combos.
Rationale: music can add so much to a movie and even break a new band or song. Why is it that the aesthetic of the mix is so appealing? It is worth taking a deeper look at the synergy of song and screen and why the two can twist together so seamlessly - it seems that they were made for one another.Step one: watch Say Anything. There is no excuse to have not seen Cameron Crowe's 1989 classic - if you can't pick out "the scene" I wanted you to see for this assignment, then you should not be in school (I'm joking!).
Step two: seek out - if you can - some facts about "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic, "Secret Garden" from Jerry Maguire or other famous song/film combos.
Yo Joe,
ReplyDeleteNice work weaving in Csíkszentmihályi. Stelar.
I like your music and movies assignment (duh)...some other things you could work into it:
There's a documentary about the making of Star Wars that shows some scenes with and without music, and with/without sound effects. It really shows how much music adds to a scene.
You could also talk about the movie Rushmore because Wes Anderson does such an amazing job of weaving music into the story. During the pre-production phase of the film, Anderson gave actors the music that would accompany various scenes, to help them to better understand the tone/etc of the scene.
Good to see you last night!
Hi Joe,
ReplyDeleteYour first lesson much more eloquently laid out what I wrote in a post on another classmate of ours page. I was saying that it is not for us to tell studnets what they should or should not be listening to, but maybe it is more up to us to give them the tools to understand the influence that music has on us, or the content that music has that affects us. Your lesson plan could prove quite influential into the way that studnets take in what they listen to.
Your first lesson was wonderful. What a thoughtful journey to put together for your students. While reading your introduction, you got me thinking about when popular music shows up in commercials. I was thinking that looking at how producers choose the music for thier commercials reveals how music can be used to target teenagers' desires.
ReplyDelete