Unit Three: Traditions and Innovations

Suggested Activities	Possible Resources
World Music The students will: continue to develop an awareness of the music of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada (past and present) examine the functions of music in the community and beyond begin to discover how the elements of music and the principles of composition may be used differently in the music of various cultures.	Note: All resources listed in this column appear in Arts Education: A Bibliography for Grades 6 to 8, 1994. Citations appear in full in the bibliography, alphabetized by title.
Listen to recorded examples of music of various cultures. Are all the elements of music treated equally in each culture's music? Which elements are focused on in each example? Which elements are de-emphasized? Can the students discover what purpose the music serves? For instance, was it written to be used as entertainment, to accompany dance or to communicate feelings or messages? Discuss how music can have different functions for different people or groups of people. Invite students to share their multicultural heritage with the class. Many students are involved in dance groups and instrumental groups that focus on the traditions of a particular culture. Invite community members to the classroom to discuss music from cultures with which they are familiar. Have students make notes in their journals about the similarities and differences between the music of various cultures. Research a number of Indian drum groups found in Saskatchewan. Contact the local bands for the names of the singing groups on their reserve. Obtain catalogues from the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre in Saskatoon. Explore the use of the elements of music and the principles of composition in traditional Indian music.	Listening Worlds of Music (recordings) Lets Dance: Indian Social and Cultural Dances (recording) Film/video such as: Discovering the Music of Africa Discovering the Music of India Discovering the Music of Japan Discovering Music of the Middle East Discovering American Indian Music Songs of Indian Territory: Native American Music Traditions of Oklahoma Kits Métis Dances Kit The Pacific Northwest Coast Indians: Music Instruments, Legends The Chinese People: Music, Instruments, Folklore The Japanese People Elk Whistle Singers, A Love of the Music: Prairie Variations (audio and video resource)
The following quotation provides some insight into traditional Indian music. To the unfamiliar listener, Indian singing sounds exotic, different, and difficult to comprehend. To the trained ear, melodies flow, ascend, and descend. Dancers react to these melodies, spinning, turning, dipping, and nodding to the key shifts in melody and structure. Northerners sing in high falsetto voices from deep in their throats, pushing sound from the diaphragm. Southerners sing with lower pitch but use the same basic song structure. A drum group is headed by one or more lead singers. Drum groups learn their songs through constant repetition. The lead singer ensures that everyone remembers the song by either humming or whistling the melody, and running through it shortly before everyone sings. Most songs don't use words but employ vocables (vowel sounds of ya, hey, hi, lay, loi, etc.). These have no meaning but carry the tune of the song. They correspond to tones and notes. A lead singer "leads-off" (begins) with the first line of the song's chorus. Another singer "seconds" him by repeating that line with slight variations in pitch and tone before the first line is completed. The rest of the group joins in singing all of the first chorus. Three accented drum beats indicate the break between chorus and verse. Dancers "honour the drum" at this time by bending low, hopping low if they are fancy dancers, or shifting their dance styles in certain ways. Repeating a chorus and verse four times (four "push-ups") constitutes a full song. Emphasis on speed and volume on the last five beats of the song indicates its end, which allows dancers to stop right on beat. A "tail" is sung, a short repeat of the final chorus, and the song is over. (Roberts, 1992, p. 86)	Powwow Country by Chris Roberts
It is important to note that much of what has been referred to in the above quotation is American Indian tradition. The "southerners" mentioned above refer to the south-western United States. People from northern United States and Canada would be classed as "northerners". While it is true that many songs do not use words, we find that today in the prairies the tide is turning and about half of the songs created by the groups use words. The vocables listed are but a few. There are many more sounds, depending on the language. Roberts explains that after the lead singer begins another solo singer "seconds" him. It is not common in Saskatchewan to have a second soloist. This is evidenced in the Elk Whistle Singers songs found on Prairie Variations. In this recording the entire group "seconds" the lead singer. Also, some groups will have a soloist in the middle of a chorus. However, this is not widely used at this time. The Canadian "northern" style does not use three accented drum beats to indicate the break between the chorus and the verse. Instead, the drummers use one beat and an off-beat, one beat and an off-beat, and three constant beats. The singing of a "tail" is at the discretion of the drum group.
Suggested Activities	Possible Resources
Music Through The Ages The students will: examine musical compositions within the context in which they were created. Organize the students in pairs. Have each pair of students pick a composer to research. They are to prepare a mock press conference to promote a composition of their chosen composer. They will need to know what year the work was composed and premiered, and who it was written for. The students will need to be familiar with the area of the world with which the composer is most often associated. The students should also investigate some general ideas present in the musical composition. The students could present their "press conference" live or record it on tape for playback. The press conference should end with the playing of the selection or an excerpt if the work is lengthy. Again, individually or in pairs, have the students conduct mock interviews with two or three famous persons from history. These people do not have to be associated with music and could be chosen by the students. Have the students discuss when the famous person normally listened to music, what kind of music they listened to (what was available at the time), etc. Have the students write their interviews down or record them onto tape for presentation to the class.	Recording liner notes, music history books, social studies materials Music: Sound and Sense (book and audio resource) Audio Resource Mr. Bach Comes to Call Beethoven Lives Upstairs Video Resource The Stations of Bach Newspaper and magazine articles, social studies materials
Pick out several songs to sing from different periods in history. Before singing each song, discuss with the students when and where it was written. Relate the songs to the famous people they "interviewed" earlier; would those famous people have been familiar with these songs? Discuss how we now can receive information from around the world in minutes. However, years ago, information passed much slower and many people might not have known songs or music from a country even a few hundred miles away. Have the students research the orchestral and band instruments listened to in Unit Two. They should try and discover where they came from (what region of the world) and when they were invented. They will discover that many instruments cannot be traced to an exact date as they were modifications of an earlier instrument. However, they could discover when the instrument first became prominent in its present form. What kind of group was (is) it normally used in? Was it initially a folk instrument? On chart paper, make a time line with the different years that the various instruments became popular. Under the years that different instruments became popular, have the students discover what well-known composers were alive. Below that, have the students list the major events happening in world at that time (wars, kings and queens, European exploration of various lands, etc.).	Songs "Viva La Musica" p. 226, "In Dulci Jubilo", p. 196, "Knowledge and Wisdom", p. 233, "Worship The Lord", p. 240, "Who Did Swallow Jonah?", p. 257, Canada Is...Music 5/6 "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", p. 4, "Go Tell It On The Mountain", p. 15, "Wimoweh", p. 18, "Twelve Gates to the City", p. 36, Music Builders VI "Jesous Ahatonhia", p. 24, "A la Claire Fontaine", p. 21, "The Squid-Jiggin' Ground", p. 32, "The Kettle Valley Line", p. 51, "Danse Villageoise", p. 55, "Till We Meet Again", p. 88, "Four Strong Winds", p. 97, "The Seeds of Brotherhood", p. 101, Canada: Its Music Other resources "Sections of the Orchestra", p. 99, Canada Is...Music 7/8
Suggested Activities	Possible Resources
Contemporary Music The students will: continue to discuss and describe the characteristics of sounds in music using an increasingly appropriate vocabulary. Invite a community member that plays an electric instrument (guitar, keyboards, etc.) into the classroom. Ask the guest to demonstrate how his or her instrument works and the kind of sounds it produces. Are the sounds similar to the sounds of other more traditional instruments? Discuss with the guest what innovations he or she foresees being available in the future for his or her instruments.
Ask the students individually to invent an instrument of the future. They could draw what they think the instrument might look like or simply describe it. What kind of sounds would it make? Would it be electric? Would it be a string, percussion or wind instrument? Can the students describe in simple scientific terms how their instrument makes its sounds? Have the students share their "future instruments" with the class.	Journals, art supplies
The students will: begin to recognize that their background and experiences affect their reaction to and understanding of music compare and discuss the works of various musicians and composers, including Saskatchewan and Canadian musicians and composers.
Have students brainstorm a list of contemporary composer/musicians. Their list will probably be primarily popular music artists. Have they listed composers from various cultures? Have they listed any "classical" composers? Discuss why many students have little or no knowledge about these other types of musicians/composers. Are there fewer opportunities to hear this type of music? Can the students discover any composers or musicians who write or play music from two or more styles (e.g., rock and jazz, classical and jazz, rock and classical)? Prepare a list of contemporary composers and musicians that are not involved in what the students view as pop music. Assign one of these artists to each pair or small group of students. Have them research information on their artist and share it with the class.	Contemporary Artists could include: R. Murray Schafer Winston Wuttunee Malcolm Forsyth Healey Willan Claude Champagne Louis Lortie Elizabeth Raum DUCT Elk Whistle Singers Jon Ballantyne Other Resources Canada: Its Music ComPoster Kit Inside The Music Business A Love of the Music: Prairie Variations Music: Sound and Sense

Teacher Information In the "World Music" section of this unit, the teacher may wish to focus on music from areas of the world being studied in Social Studies. The theme of the Grade Six Social Studies curriculum is "Canada And Its Atlantic Neighbours". Some of the countries suggested for study are Canada (eastern), U.S.A. (eastern), Mexico, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, Great Britain, France, Spain, Morocco and Nigeria.