The Names of all Fifty States and their Capitals sung by Wakko

The Names of the Fifty States and their Capitols sung by Wakko

The Nations of the World Sung by Yakko

Animaniacs' Yakko sings the nations of the world.

Holiday Concert Preview

Here is a preview of my 6th period Band class's upcoming Holiday performance.  They have been working very hard and I am very proud of them.

Journal : Thursday 12-8-11

Cajun Gold

Rockin Around the Christmas Tree

Question : What is your favorite genre of Christmas Music: 
Classical, Contemporary, Country, Cultural, Instrumental, Vocal

Journal : Wednesday 12-7-11

Ride of the Valkyries
Richard Wagner





Question : What is the most epic thing that has happened this school year for you?

Journal : Tuesday 12-6-11

Perry Como
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas




Question : What is your favorite scent of the Holidays?

Journal : Monday 12-5-11

Ruggero Leoncavallo

Vesti la giubba ('Il Pagliacci')

Question : How do you react when you loose something you really enjoy and love?

Journal : Thursday 12-1-11

Coldplay
Christmas Lights





Question : What did you do last year when it snowed ?

Journal : Wednesday 11-30-11

Hector Berlioz
Symphonie Fantastique - March to the Scaffold






Question : What is your favorite movie soundtrack?

Journal : Tuesday 11-29-11

Daft Punk
Adagio for Tron


http://youtu.be/nusd0SsAoy8

Question : What famous classical work does this song sound like?


Click the link below to find out.


http://youtu.be/DsyPhvrEzPU

Journal : Monday 11-28-11

Frederic Chopin

Prelude in E minor (op 28 no 4)

Question : What is the purpose of slowing down and speeding up (Rubato) in this song? 

Piano Stairs

I want one.

Bonus Journal : Friday 11-11-11

Johannes Brahms 
Hungarian Dance 


No.5 - F# minor : Allegro - Vivace
No.6 - D♭Major : Vivace

Journal : Thursday 11-10-11

Thomas Newman
Whisper of a Thrill

http://youtu.be/NFq42IibUeY

Question : What intrigues you more, "The Very Small" or "The Very Large"? 

Journal : Wednesday 11-9-11

Robert Schumann
Dichterliebe  Op. 48


Part 1
I. Im wunderschonen Monat Mai
II. Aus meinen Tranen Spriessen
III. Die Rose, die Lillie
IV. Wenn ich in deine Augen seh


Part 2
V. Ich will meine Seele tauchen
VI. Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome
VII. Ich grolle nicht

Part 1 : http://youtu.be/iDThu6l7pTE

Part 2 : http://youtu.be/90Wf0VSH7L4


Question : Which of the seven movements moved you the most?

Journal : Tuesday 11-8-11

Local Natives
Airplanes (Live Acoustic)




Question : What is your favorite style of facial hair?

Journal : Monday 11-7-11

Franz Schubert
Trio No. 2 in E-flat major for piano, violin and cello, D 929 Op. 100 Movt. 2




Question : In your opinion, which instrument did you enjoy the most when it was playing the melody?

Music and Identity Project

Between the ages of 11 and 13, I was just beginning to cultivate my identity.  All my years before had been primarily shaped by my parents and community.  I was at the age where I was allowed to start making some decisions for myself.  One of the most important of these decisions was "Who am I?" It was at this age I decided to pick up a guitar and join choir at my school.  I decided that I wanted to be a musician.  

As any middle school student, I grappled with the question "What group do I fit into?"  Music is very diverse and naturally as a novice musician I decided to associate myself with other students who shared a similar taste in music.  

There was the "G" who primarily listened to Gangsta Rap and Hip hop. 

There was the "Skater" who listened to any variation of rock, mostly grunge, punk or metal.  Most importantly, a "Skater's" credibility was primarily gaged by how well they could skate.

There was the Popular Kid or "The Prep" who listened to everything "popular."  The privilege of being a "Prep" was that they were generally accepted by all the other groups with ease, excluding the "Skaters." "Skaters" would only accept a "Prep" if they could skate.

There was the "Smart Kid" who mostly liked anything happy and pleasant.

There was the "Loner" who nobody knew what they could have been listening to.

And of course, the dreaded "Poser" or dork, who couldn't fit into any group and definitely lacked the coordination to skate.  

I was terribly confused and wanted to be apart of every group.  I desperately tried to assert myself into the variety of groups and was often rejected and pushed aside only to be  accused of being a "Poser."  This never made much sense to me and I wondered how musical taste could dictate such negative social habits in school.  On a side note... I tend to believe that being called a "Poser" only spurred my motivation to be a better musician.

My oasis was choir and the music department.  The music department was made up of all different kinds of kids from all of the different groups.  It was here that I was accepted.  I learned how to connect with other students that had different tastes in music and shared the same raw love of MUSIC that I had, despite the silly idea of musical cliques that plagued my school.

This memory helped to inspire this project that I did with the students.  I notice that categorization by musical taste still goes on today.  One of the great things about our students is that everyone seems to get along regardless of musical taste. 

Is it because most of our students are all artists in some shape or form?  

I wanted students to explore the genres of the music they like and see how they compare to their peers in an environment where there is no judgment.

Our students are in a wonderful environment here where they can explore their identity and not be afraid of ridicule. 

But why is music so important to our student's identity?

Nick Jaworski writes in regards to teaching in the 21st century...

"1. The music you listen to is a choice (in some way).

Think of it this way. Elementary school students may like the latest pop idol (Justin Bieber or whatever). More likely than not, those same students will NOT like “The Bieb” in a few years. What explains this? The music has not changed, yet suddenly it’s ability to be enjoyed has?


This is an issue of identity - at some level, we choose the music that we want to be identified with. Do you think it’s a coincidence that people who listen to the same type of music often dress similarly? No. Of course, it’s not. Why do friends often like the same music? It’s because people - in one way or another - see liking (and disliking) certain types of music as an opportunity to fit in with a larger group."

Originally posted on Moving Forward with Music , "Music as Identity"

http://teachingmusic.tumblr.com/post/754039518/music-as-identity


Here is what we did for this project.

Step 1: Each student is to write down their top 10 favorite songs.

Step 2: As a class, each student is to discuss each song with each other and identify the song by one or more of the following genres.

Rock

Hip Hop

Country

Classical

Dance

Indie

Pop

Jazz

Step 3: Compile the total number of songs in each genre out of the entire class's selections.

Step 4: Make a bar graph representing the findings.

And here are the results!

3rd Period Music History

4th Period Music Science

6th Period Band

7th Period Guitar

8th Period Vocals

9th Period Music Appreciation / Percussion

Middle School Music

Journal : Thursday 10-20-11

String Quartet Tribute to Radiohead
Exit Music (for a film)





Challenge : Write a brief synopsis of an original movie idea that would play this song at the end credits. 


You must post your response on the comments section of this blog.

Supplemental

Kronos Quartet - Clint Mansell
Lux Aeterna 




This soundtrack was very influential in my early adulthood. 
I had the pleasure of seeing the Kronos Quartet at Tulane University this past year and it by far one of the emotional musical experiences I have ever had.  I am not ashamed to say that I was moved to tears.  

Journal : Wednesday 10-19-11

Kronos Quartet - Clint Mansell

Meltdown

Question : What musical elements or sounds in the piece create the uneasy and scary feeling of madness? 

Journal : Tuesday 10-18-11

Joseph Haydn
The Joke





Joke : A tourist is sightseeing in Vienna.  She comes upon the tomb of Beethoven, and begins reading the commemorative plaque, only to be distracted by a low scratching noise, as if something was rubbing against a piece of paper.

She calls a passing local and asks what the scratching sound is.

The local person replies, "Oh, that is Beethoven. He's decomposing."

National Food Day Decorations

Sushi !

Journal : Monday 10-17-11

String Quartet Tribute to the Killers
Mr Brightside





Question : What string instrument would you add to the String Quartet to create a Quintet and why?

Journal : Thursday 10-13-11
blink - 182
Adam's Song





I never thought I'd die alone
I laughed the loudest who'd have known
I traced the cord back to the wall
No wonder it was never plugged in at all
I took my time, I hurried up
The choice was mine, I didn't think enough
I'm too depressed, to go on
You'll be sorry when I'm gone

I never conquered, rarely came
16 just held such better days
Days when I still felt alive
We couldn't wait to get outside
The world was wide, too late to try
The tour was over we'd survived
I couldn't wait till I got home
To pass the time in my room alone

I never thought I'd die alone
Another six months I'll be unknown
Give all my things to all my friends
You'll never set foot in my room again
You'll close it off, board it up
Remember the time that I spilled the cup
Of apple juice in the hall
Please tell mom this is not her fault

I never conquered, rarely came
16 just held such better days
Days when I still felt alive
We couldn't wait to get outside
The world was wide, too late to try
The tour was over we'd survived
I couldn't wait till I got home
To pass the time in my room alone

I never conquered, rarely came
Tomorrow holds such better days
Days when I can still feel alive
When I can't wait to get outside
The world is wide, the time goes by
The tour is over, I'd survived
I can't wait till I get home
To pass the time in my room alone 


Question : What does the age of 16 mean to you?

This is Podcasting

This is Podcasting
Ear Training > Lesson 1
A Major

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Journal : Wednesday 10-12-11
Inva Mula
The Diva Dance




Question : What planet would you take a vacation to ?

Journal : Tuesday 10-11-11
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Clarinet Concerto in A major

Question : Which instrument would you like to hear featured in a concerto?

Journal : Monday 10-10-11
Gene Kelly
Singing in the Rain



Question : Describe your feelings about the thunderstorm that rolled through this weekend?

Tony Bennett and Alejandro Sanz 
Yesterday I heard the rain





SLIDE SHOW: Tornado hits San Antonio’s West Side

Last night I recorded the storm just as it began from my kitchen.  I was intrigued by the coincidence that I had just gone to see Tornado Alley at the IMAX on Friday with the students not knowing whether they would like weather.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the movie being that it was a huge screen and the 3D footage of tornados was breathtaking. What seemed so unlikely in San Antonio, due to the severe dry conditions we have experienced lately, is that we had a storm cell of our own produce a tornado that caused significant damage just a day later.  I send my thoughts to those affected by the storm.  The tornado was rated an EF0 borderline EF1, but even stil produced high enough winds to cause major damage.  As I watched the storm from my kitchen and listened to the raspy voice of Tony, I was thankful to see the beautiful water fall from the sky and nourish the depleted land that needed it so much.  But, when I woke and saw the news of what happened just miles away, I realized that sometimes even things that everyone agrees is good comes at a price that does not always seem fair.  It is interesting how life unfolds and gives you lessons that just so happen to correspond with an IMAX movie.

Photos from woai.com

Journal: Thursday 10-6-11

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448



Question : What instrument would you play if you had four hands?

Journal : Wednesday 10-5-11

Johnny Cash
Ghost Riders in the Sky



Question: Would you rather be a ghost or a zombie?

Journal: Tuesday 10-4-11

Ludwig von Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27/2 "Moonlight" I. Adagio sostenuto



Question: Would you prefer to hear a more modern or classical version of this song?

Modern:
http://youtu.be/kJkjh1IH4Fg

Classical:
http://youtu.be/UHd8jwXBzXE

Journal Monday 10-3-11

Weird Al Yankovic
Eat it



Question: What song do you think would make a good food cover?

Open Mic Night Tomorrow 5pm-8pm

From Drop Box

Come one come all to the first Open Mic Night at the San Antonio School for Inquiry and Creativity. Everyone is invited to come to the music room after school tomorrow for some music and fun. Any teachers interested in fundraising by selling concessions. Music will be selling Frito Pie. There are also still openings for performers so see you there.

Journal: Thursday 9-29-11

Onyx Ashanti
This is Beatjazz



Question : What futuristic instrument would you invent?

Journal : Wednesday 9-28-11

Radiohead
Lotus Flower



Question : What genre of music makes you move uncontrollably?

Journal : Tuesday 9-27-11

Steve Riech
Electric Counterpoint



Question: Describe how your feelings change while watching this video.

Journal : Monday 9-26-11

Giovanni Dettori
Fugue on a Theme by Lady GaGa



Question : What song would like to become the theme of a fugue?

Journal : Thursday 9-22-11

Stevie Wonder
Superstition



Question : What, in your opinion, is the purpose of superstitions?

Journal : Wednesday 9-21-11

Arcade Fire (Mr Little Jeans Remix)
The Suburbs



Question : If you could drive anywhere in the world, where would you drive?

Journal : Tuesday 9-20-11

Fleet Foxes
Helplessness Blues



Question: What would you sing the blues about?

Arts Education Week Assignment

10th Grade Academy: HOMEWORK: Arts Education Review of Wavelengths and...: Alright, here is the plan 10th Grade. 1) I want a comprehensive paper written on Google Docs and shared with 10thgradeacademy@gmail.com wh...

Journal : Monday 9-19-11

Broken Social Scene
Meet me in the basement




Question : What inspires you?

Bonus Journal : 9-14-11 (Extra Credit)

Broken Social Scene
Anthem for a Seventeen-Year-Old-Girl

Journal : Thursday 9-8-11

The Be Sharps
Baby on Board





Question: If your life was a cartoon, what genre would you pick for your theme music?

Journal: Wednesday 9-7-11

Queen
The Show Must Go On



In honor of Freddie Mercury's Birthday yesterday.

Question: Which show on the SASIC music calendar are you most excited about?

Journal : Tuesday 9-6-11

Playing for Change
Stand by Me



Thanks to Mr. Ozuna for sharing this video with me.

Question: Who was your favorite performer and why?

Journal : Thursday 9-1-11

Nick Pitera
A Whole new World




Question: Do you like the unexpected?

Journal: Wednesday 8-31-11

Doreen Ketchens
Street Music

This is a recording I made... and a poor one at that, while I visited New Orleans last March. It was taken on Royal St. where Doreen (AKA the Queen of Clarinet) performs regularly. I have posted this earlier in my blog, but I believe it deserves a re-post. Man I cannot wait to visit again and ask her the title of that song.





Question : How do you feel after that?

Journal : Tuesday 8-30-11

Stop Motion
Amateur




What instrument would you make a stop motion video with?

Journal : Monday 8-29-11

Death Cab for Cutie
Bixby Canyon Bridge




I descended a dusty gravel ridge
Beneath the Bixby Canyon Bridge
Until I eventually arrived
At the place where your soul had died.

Barefoot in the shallow creek,
I grabbed some stones from underneath
And waited for you to speak to me.

In the silence it became so very clear
That you had long ago disappeared.
I cursed myself for being surprised
That this didn't play like it did in my mind.

All the way from San Francisco
As I chased the end of your road
'Cause I've still got miles to go.

And I want to know my fate
If I keep up this way.

And it's hard to want to stay awake
When everyone you meet, they all seem to be asleep
And you wonder if you're missing a dream

You can't see a dream
You can't see a dream.
You just can't see a dream.
A dream

And then it started getting dark.
I trudged back to where the car was parked
No closer to any kind of truth
As I assume was the case with you.

Question: What do these lyrics mean to you?

What is up with Noises? (The Science and Mathematics of Sound, Frequency...

I have to thank Robert Skelley for sharing this awesome video with me.

Multiple Intelligences

Here is a useful link I found a few years ago.  It is sometimes difficult to gage your student's learning style early on in the semester and therefore there is a lot of trial and error.  One way to minimize the error side of things is to give your students this online Multiple Intelligences Assessment.

The theory of Multiple Intelligences was developed by Howard Gardner in the 1980's.  He suggested that each individuals cognitive abilities were unique and different and the standard IQ test did not account for the full picture of one's true intelligence.

He divided intelligence into eight categories with a ninth currently being explored.
Spatial
Linguistic
Logical - Mathematical
Bodily - Kinesthetic
Music
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Naturalist
and currently under research
Existential

Once you asses what a student's strengths and weaknesses are, you have a better chance of customizing your teaching approach for each student. For instance you most certainly do not want to teach math to a student using a Logical approach if they tend to learn best in a Naturalist environment.

Try it yourself and see where you fall, then try it with your students.  There is always some very interesting insight in the results.

http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html

This is Podcasting

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NY Times - Record Industry Braces for Artists’ Battles Over Song Rights By LARRY ROHTER

Record Industry Braces for Artists’ Battles Over Song Rights
By LARRY ROHTER
Since their release in 1978, hit albums like Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” Billy Joel’s “52nd Street,” the Doobie Brothers’ “Minute by Minute,” Kenny Rogers’s “Gambler” and Funkadelic’s “One Nation Under a Groove” have generated tens of millions of dollars for record companies. But thanks to a little-noted provision in United States copyright law, those artists — and thousands more — now have the right to reclaim ownership of their recordings, potentially leaving the labels out in the cold.

When copyright law was revised in the mid-1970s, musicians, like creators of other works of art, were granted “termination rights,” which allow them to regain control of their work after 35 years, so long as they apply at least two years in advance. Recordings from 1978 are the first to fall under the purview of the law, but in a matter of months, hits from 1979, like “The Long Run” by the Eagles and “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer, will be in the same situation — and then, as the calendar advances, every other master recording once it reaches the 35-year mark.

The provision also permits songwriters to reclaim ownership of qualifying songs. Bob Dylan has already filed to regain some of his compositions, as have other rock, pop and country performers like Tom Petty, Bryan Adams, Loretta Lynn, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Waits and Charlie Daniels, according to records on file at the United States Copyright Office.

“In terms of all those big acts you name, the recording industry has made a gazillion dollars on those masters, more than the artists have,” said Don Henley, a founder both of the Eagles and the Recording Artists Coalition, which seeks to protect performers’ legal rights. “So there’s an issue of parity here, of fairness. This is a bone of contention, and it’s going to get more contentious in the next couple of years.”

With the recording industry already reeling from plummeting sales, termination rights claims could be another serious financial blow. Sales plunged to about $6.3 billion from $14.6 billion over the decade ending in 2009, in large part because of unauthorized downloading of music on the Internet, especially of new releases, which has left record labels disproportionately dependent on sales of older recordings in their catalogs.

“This is a life-threatening change for them, the legal equivalent of Internet technology,” said Kenneth J. Abdo, a lawyer who leads a termination rights working group for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and has filed claims for some of his clients, who include Kool and the Gang. As a result the four major record companies — Universal, Sony BMG, EMI and Warner — have made it clear that they will not relinquish recordings they consider their property without a fight.

“We believe the termination right doesn’t apply to most sound recordings,” said Steven Marks, general counsel for the Recording Industry Association of America, a lobbying group in Washington that represents the interests of record labels. As the record companies see it, the master recordings belong to them in perpetuity, rather than to the artists who wrote and recorded the songs, because, the labels argue, the records are “works for hire,” compilations created not by independent performers but by musicians who are, in essence, their employees.

Independent copyright experts, however, find that argument unconvincing. Not only have recording artists traditionally paid for the making of their records themselves, with advances from the record companies that are then charged against royalties, they are also exempted from both the obligations and benefits an employee typically expects.

“This is a situation where you have to use your own common sense,” said June M. Besek, executive director of the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at the Columbia University School of Law. “Where do they work? Do you pay Social Security for them? Do you withdraw taxes from a paycheck? Under those kinds of definitions it seems pretty clear that your standard kind of recording artist from the ’70s or ’80s is not an employee but an independent contractor.”

Daryl Friedman, the Washington representative of the recording academy, which administers the Grammy Awards and is allied with the artists’ position, expressed hope that negotiations could lead to a “broad consensus in the artistic community, so there don’t have to be 100 lawsuits.” But with no such talks under way, lawyers predict that the termination rights dispute will have to be resolved in court.

“My gut feeling is that the issue could even make it to the Supreme Court,” said Lita Rosario, an entertainment lawyer specializing in soul, funk and rap artists who has filed termination claims on behalf of clients, whom she declined to name. “Some lawyers and managers see this as an opportunity to go in and renegotiate a new and better deal. But I think there are going to be some artists who feel so strongly about this that they are not going to want to settle, and will insist on getting all their rights back.”

So far the only significant ruling on the issue has been one in the record labels’ favor. In that suit heirs of Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley, who died in 1981, sued Universal Music to regain control of and collect additional royalties on five of his albums, which included hits like “Get Up, Stand Up” and “One Love.”

But last September a federal district court in New York ruled that “each of the agreements provided that the sound recordings were the ‘absolute property’ ” of the record company, and not Marley or his estate. That decision, however, applies only to Marley’s pre-1978 recordings, which are governed by an earlier law that envisaged termination rights only in specific circumstances after 56 years, and it is being appealed.

Congress passed the copyright law in 1976, specifying that it would go into effect on Jan. 1, 1978, meaning that the earliest any recording can be reclaimed is Jan. 1, 2013. But artists must file termination notices at least two years before the date they want to recoup their work, and once a song or recording qualifies for termination, its authors have five years in which to file a claim; if they fail to act in that time, their right to reclaim the work lapses.

The legislation, however, fails to address several important issues. Do record producers, session musicians and studio engineers also qualify as “authors” of a recording, entitled to a share of the rights after they revert? Can British groups like Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and Dire Straits exercise termination rights on their American recordings, even if their original contract was signed in Britain? These issues too are also an important part of the quiet, behind-the-scenes struggle that is now going on.

Given the potentially huge amounts of money at stake and the delicacy of the issues, both record companies, and recording artists and their managers have been reticent in talking about termination rights. The four major record companies either declined to discuss the issue or did not respond to requests for comment, referring the matter to the industry association.

But a recording industry executive involved in the issue, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak for the labels, said that significant differences of opinion exist not only between the majors and smaller independent companies, but also among the big four, which has prevented them from taking a unified position. Some of the major labels, he said, favor a court battle, no matter how long or costly it might be, while others worry that taking an unyielding position could backfire if the case is lost, since musicians and songwriters would be so deeply alienated that they would refuse to negotiate new deals and insist on total control of all their recordings.

As for artists it is not clear how many have already filed claims to regain ownership of their recordings. Both Mr. Springsteen and Mr. Joel, who had two of the biggest hit albums of 1978, as well as their managers and legal advisers, declined to comment on their plans, and the United States Copyright Office said that, because termination rights claims are initially processed manually rather than electronically, its database is incomplete.

Songwriters, who in the past typically have had to share their rights with publishing companies, some of which are owned by or affiliated with record labels, have been more outspoken on the issue. As small independent operators to whom the work for hire argument is hard to apply, the balance of power seems to have tilted in their favor, especially if they are authors of songs that still have licensing potential for use on film and television soundtracks, as ringtones, or in commercials and video games.

“I’ve had the date circled in red for 35 years, and now it’s time to move,” said Rick Carnes, who is president of the Songwriters Guild of America and has written hits for country artists like Reba McEntire and Garth Brooks. “Year after year after year you are going to see more and more songs coming back to songwriters and having more and more influence on the market. We will own that music, and it’s still valuable.”

In the absence of a definitive court ruling, some recording artists and their lawyers are talking about simply exercising their rights and daring the record companies to stop them. They complain that the labels in some cases are not responding to termination rights notices and predict that once 2013 arrives, a conflict that is now mostly hidden from view is likely to erupt in public.

“Right now this is kind of like a game of chicken, but with a shot clock,” said Casey Rae-Hunter, deputy director of the Future of Music Coalition, which advocates for musicians and consumers. “Everyone is adopting a wait-and-see posture. But that can only be maintained for so long, because the clock is ticking.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/world/asia/17music.xml

What Tau Sounds Like

New Video Poll

Which video did you enjoy the most?









I'm pretty sure that one was fake.

Björk to release new "iBlum"

In the past 15 years we have seen the "Big Business" music labels plummet from power giving way to more artist driven content.  With the proliferation of the internet as a distribution and publishing channel, more and more content is available for free, leaving the businessmen scrambling to build their product's value in other ways.  Artists have also had to adapt to this new information culture and develop business and marketing skills for themselves.

Icelandic recording artist Björk has had a long career of creating avant garde music that stretches the ear to the limits of what is beautiful and what is noise.  She has always been an artist for herself, not the critics, and has a flair for inovation and creativity.

Her new multimedia project Biophilia combines her new album featuring songs inspired by math, science and nature, with interactive apps on a customized iPad, a different one for every song.
The album consists of songs about plate tectonics, DNA replication and crystal formation.
Track List

01 – Virus
02 – Cosmogony
03 – Dark Matter
04 – Thunderbolt
05 – Moon
06 – Crystalline
07 – Hollow
08 – Sacrifice
09 – Mutual Core
10 – Solstice



In this album Björk also creates and uses new instruments for her compositions.  One such instrument is the "Gameleste" which is a hybrid of a gamelan and a celesta.  By creating a new instrument out of existing instruments, the listener's attention is grabbed by the new and unique, slightly familiar sound.




One of the most interesting features of the project are the interactive apps created by some of the top app builders in the world.  These apps are designed to incorporate music theory, science and the songs on the album in a fun and interactive way.
Hollow is a basic drum machine app that uses the bases of DNA to create a rhythmic line. Virus allows the player to fight off mutating rhythms while in Mutual Core, chords are created by rearranging geological layers.

The most innovative aspect to this whole project to me is the packaging.  With the Apple ipad and other tablet devices, Björk can package her whole vision of a full comprehensive educational and enriching musical experience on a personal electronic canvas capable of interacting with the user.


Björk is quoted in Rolling Stone "I think I'm probably semi-autistic or something – I'm just obsessed with riddles," Björk says. "It felt like the music industry was off the grid, and I wanted to solve the riddle."




Read the full Rolling Stone article by Sott Steinberg at

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/blogs/gear-up/bjork-unveils-multimedia-biophilia-project-20110629

Music Integration Resources

Check out this great site for integrating music into the classroom.

http://www.philtulga.com/resources.html

Vote in the Music Poll. Do you listen to music for the words or the sound?

Scroll down to the bottom of my blog to vote.

http://musicroomburns.net/2/post/2011/05/project-based-learning-in-elementary-music-class.html

Written by Amy M. Burns

Project Based Learning in Elementary Music Class05/26/2011 0 Comment(s) Even though I am currently on maternity leave, I am thinking about the second graders at my school today because they are completing a project-based learning assignment that the second grade teachers, the Chinese teacher, the Spanish teacher, the drama teacher, and I have been collaborating on all school year. Project Based Learning revolves around an essential question that the students answer utilizing a collaborative process of investigation over a period of time. The second graders studied immigration and empathy and their essential question was "What was the experience of an immigrant?" In music class, we studied the life of Maria von Trapp and integrated the immigration and empathy unit into a SMART Board project that made the students think about why the von Trapps immigrated to America and what they would do if they were "walking in the von Trapp's shoes." This project culminates today with a huge Heritage Festival with the students ending the festival by stating some facts they learned about the von Trapps and singing four songs from The Sound of Music.  We began this project in the 09-10 school year, but developed it more during this current school year. I was thrilled to collaborate with the teachers to teach this project. When the students were learning about the von Trapps in music class and learning about their trials and tribulations of immigrating to America, I was extremely impressed with their thoughtful insights. Some were:  When asked about leaving the country (I typed what they said):  "Confused because you are just a kid and you do not really know how you are going to adjust to a new life because you are used to your life." "Scared going to a new place." "Scared because I would never know what people would be like in America." Walking in the parents shoes: "Overwhelmed, because I want my family to be happy and safe and you don't want your kids to be unhappy." Other questions that were posed dealt with living in a country with a very harsh leader, what it would feel like to lose everything you had, and how you would feel turning a hobby into a profession. It was a wonderful and extremely insightful project that I look forward to continuing and completing next school year.

Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan - Girl from the north country

Modern Day Folk Ballad based on the 17th century

English Popular Ballad "Scarborough Fair"

Spotlight on Music McGraw Hill

American Folk Music

"On his 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, there is a song called

"Girl from the North Country." The song has very simple lyrics, in which

the singer asks a traveler to say hello to a girl he once knew, who lives

near a fair that the traveler may be visiting.

That song is remarkably similar to "Scarborough Fair," recorded three

years later and included on Simon and Garfunkel's albumParsley Sage

Rosemary and Thyme. In the song, the traveler is asked to say hello to

a girl, but the singer goes on to make a number of mysterious requests.

The singer wants the girl to make him a cambric shirt, and to find him an

acre of land beside the sea which she must tend with "a sickle of leather."

Paul Simon learned the song from Martin Carthy, an English folk musician,

and Carthy found them in a group of northern English folk songs collected

by Frank Kidson in the late nineteenth century.

Both songs are remarkably similar to a ballad known as "The Elfin Knight."

The earliest published version of it appeared in 1673, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

It is undoubtedly much older, and belongs to the medieval tradition of games

and rhymes in which the devil sets nine riddles, or tasks. Twelve versions of the

song were collected by Francis J. Child, and included in The English and Scottish

Popular Ballads, published between 1892 and 1894. In most of these,

an elf sets a maiden a number of impossible tasks, including sewing a shirt

without seams and planting corn on the barren sand beside the sea.

One Scottish example, which Child found in an 1810 book of nursery rhymes,

has the refrain "Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme."

Another Scottish example asks the traveler,

"Did ye ever travel twixt Berwick and Lyne?"

Most were collected in northern England and Scotland,

but one was collected in New York, by way of Massachusetts.

The traveler in this version is traveling to Cape Ann, on the Massachusetts coast.

We can say that this version is an authentic American folk song.

Folk music, as Woody Guthrie said, is ".music of the people, by the people,

and for the people." It is the musical expression of a community at work and at play,

in celebration and in mourning, in love and out of love, at war and at peace.

The community can be a household, a farm, a village, or it can be a whole nation.

Folk songs are not composed music: they have evolved, often over many generations,

out of the lives of men and women. They continue to evolve as they are passed on

from generation to generation, and from musician to musician. This process is known

as oral transmission."

http://spotlightonmusic.macmillanmh.com/music/teachers/articles/folk-and-traditional-styles/anglo-american-folk-music