Educational Uses of Classic Pop

and Rock MusicEQUIP, INSPIRE, EXCITE, ACHIEVE AND GO! WITH POPULAR MUSIC

Presented by Jim Tinter (jimtinter@gmail.com)

I. Musical People - TBA - Tuneful, Beatful, Artful (may not be literate)...John FeierabendII. Warm up with movement

A. “Billie Jean,” from Thriller. See separate handout for listening/movement activities.III. Considerations

A. Embrace the teachable moment.B. Choose wisely - try to find quality examples and be able to justify using them.C. Using classic tunes (older) can lessen dissensionD. Never play music blind!E. Shifting controversy — How artists are perceived by society.

1. Artists who started controversially then softened: Elvis, Ozzy Osbourne.2. Artists who started benignly then became controversial: Michael Jackson, Miley Cyrus.

F. The day the music changed — 1981 (MTV).IV. Three Chord Bliss — I IV V Chords. Letters in ( ) represent the key of the song.

A. Lots to choose from: “Green Onions” (F) - Booker T & The MG’s, “Pride and Joy” (Eb) - Stevie Ray Vaughn, “Lucille” (C# or C, it varies. Probably a tape speed issue) - Little Richard, “Bama Lama Bama Loo” (F) - Little Richard, “Barbara Ann” (F#) - Beach Boys, “The Twist” (E) - Chubby Checker, “Peppermint Twist” (C) - Joey D and the Starliters, “At the Hop” (Ab) - Danny and the Juniors, “Hound Dog” (C) - Elvis Presley, “Hard Headed Woman” (C) - Elvis, “Too Much” (Ab) - Elvis, “I Feel Good” (D) - James Brown, “Johnny B. Goode” (Bb) - Chuck Berry.

B. Movement activity to “Green Onions,” by Booker T and the MG’s. (Could be done with any of the tunes listed above.1. Movement Level 1 (individual): I — pat legs; IV — clap; V — snap w/hands over head.

Simultaneous imitation (leader faces students and students imitate exactly, at the same time). a) Extension 1 — Say “one, four and five” on beat 1 of each chord.b) Extension 2 — Sing the root pitch of each chord. Use “I, IV, V” or solfege (do, fa, so).

2. Movement level 2 (preparation for partner activity): I — pat, clap; IV — patty cake (clap/pretend to clap a partner’s hands, both at the same time. Clap, partner, clap, partner. a) Extension 1 — Alternate the partner clap to increase difficulty (clap, right, clap, left).

3. Movement level 3 — Pick or assign partners. Concentric circles. Face partner. Level 2 movement. Everyone says “head” on beat one of the next chorus, indicating we're at the beginning or the head of the tune.

4. Movement level 4 — Same as level 3 except on the first beat of the next chorus, do a right step-together while saying, “head.” Now you have a new partner.

V. Flea trainers place limits and restrict opportunities. Fleaberators remove the lid and liberate the fleas! A. The Lion King — “I Just Can’t Wait to be King.” 5th grade flutes playing in F# & G major.

VI. Movement/Promoting beatfulness/Form identificationA. “Billie Jean,” from Thriller, the #1 selling album of all time. See separate handout for process.

VII. Cool recorder examplesA. “Stairway to Heaven” — alto, tenor, & bass recorders.B. “Wild Thing” — Ocarina (sweet potato). You Tube: Troggs — Wild Thing 1992. Easy solo to play.

GGEGEGEGGE…. Uses the notes E, G, A & B. Figure out the rest by ear.VIII. Listening opportunities

A. Word Painting.1. Eagles — “Lying Eyes.” “...to comfort an old friend who’s feeling down.”2. Tommy James — “I Think We’re Alone Now.” “...the beating of our hearts is the only sound.”

B. The break (or the freeze).1. Mamas and Papas — “Monday, Monday.”2. Rascals — “Good Lovin.’”

C. Dynamic contrast.1. Aerosmith — “Back in the Saddle.” Also word painting & how not to sing!

2

2. Elvis Presley — “An American Trilogy.” An exceptionally dramatic crescendo.IX. Teachable moments

A. “Iron Man” (in E and A. Original in B) — Black Sabbath, 3rd grade recorders, voices, guitar, alternate B. Alternate lyric: “I am Iron Man, I learn every melody that I can. You can learn them too, A-B-C-D-E-F-G that will do.”1. Notes for SR: E G G AA CBCBCBG G A A. Same fingerings for AR. In A and you have parallel

fifths — POWER CHORDS! — “Bad for Bach, but rad for Rock!”2. Original recording in B. Another teachable moment — high register and high F#: B D' D' E' E'

G'F#'G'F#'G'F#'D' D' E' E'. B. “Do, Re, Mi” — The Sound of Music.

1. How a shy, introverted 3rd grade girl experienced fleaberation.2. Homonyms: Do-doe; re-ray, mi-me; fa-far (almost); so-sew; la-la; ti-tea.

C. Star Wars, “Main Theme” — John Williams. In G. Awesome on recorders and/or saxes.D. “We Will Rock You” — Queen (A). Original is in E.

1. Collaboration, drums, soprano & alto recorders, improvisation, A/D pentatonic (SR/AR).X. Christmas with Elvis.

A. “All Shook Up” played on guitar and sung by 4th grader, Robert Rossman.B. A word to music educators by Robert as a college student.

XI. I, IV, V (with a twist).A. "Stegosaurus," from Dinosaur Rap and Rondo.

1. 24 bar melody. 2. BX: I = G/F; IV = C/Bb; V = D.3. AX/SX: I = GB/FA; IV = CE/BbD; V = D. Rest/ti ti/rest/ta, etc. On V and IV chords at end of song,

play roots of chords on each beat.4. Stegosaurus Stomp (movement): Step/touch, step/touch (step w/left foot, then touch L ankle w/right

foot. Repeat this motion for eight beats. Every time "his name is Stegosaurus…" occurs, walk forward 8 steps. Continue. On "He's nine feet tall…, "pogo jump w/hands in the air. On "his brain is small…" pat top of head w/both hands.

XII. More three chord bliss…reinforcing I, IV, V chord & 12 bar blues progression with movement.A. Big Mouth Blues

1. Two concentric circles, facing partner.2. I = pat/clap; IV = patty cake; V = high ten (clap both of partners hands above head).3. Advanced extension — on last two beats of last measure, each circle steps to the right (step/together)

then will have a new partner.

Further reading — “A Whole Lot of Learnin’ Going On,” Mac Randall. Teaching Music, August, 2010. Volume 18, Number 1Music Alive — Pop & Rock music listening guides. Grade 5-12.The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum — rockhall.org. The mother ship of all things Rock & Roll and one of Cleveland's premiere attractions (the others being the Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Clinic, Playhouse Square).

Publications by Jim Tinter

A Minor MelodyBig Mouth BluesB-A-G Bossa NovaDinosaur Rap and RondoJingle Bells in 10 FlavorsVFX

This session partially sponsored by:

Keep movement activities fun, simple, and playful. Be mindful of your facial expressions and try to maintain eye contact. Practice doing this in private (use a mirror) before attempting it with students. Remember to learn it in reverse (mirror) mode if you will be facing students. Stand in a circle or in rows with students facing you. Change these suggestions to suit your comfort level and the needs of your students. Avoid telling students what to do but rather, show them. Repeat each beat motion for at least 8 beats but try to repeat each motion for 16 beats, or “two sets of eight” (a four measure phrase) so that students have plenty of time to figure out what you are doing. The idea is to foster beatfulness and expression, not to trick anyone. Remember to include vocal sounds too.

Intro — Put the beat somewhere in your body (move shoulders, bob head, etc.).

V1 — Beat motions. Keep them simple: move elbow, pat legs (together or alternate), brush lint off of sleeve or hair, tap fist into palm, etc.

V2 — Similar to V1 but increase complexity (alternate from one side of body to other, combine pat/clap, clap/snap).

Bridge — “people always told me...” Sweep rh (right hand) gracefully out to side and up over head and back down (look at hand) for 2 measures; then lh; back to rh; then for last 2 measures, sweep both hands from knee level up and over head accentuating the crescendo.

Chorus — “Billie Jean, is not my lover…” Step right to left (right/close/left/close); clap on beats 2 & 4. After “I am the one” shake hands in front to show the guitar strum (dum, chicka dum, chicka dum, etc.). Back to step/clap.

V3 — Show new synth background pad. Both hands slowly across body from r to l showing melodic shape. End by circling both hands around back toward waist. Step r/close/l/close. Snap on close this time. For triplet (“remember to always think twice”), both hands pointing index finger up over head and show beats while moving and lowering hands diagonally across body. “Don’t think twice” panned L (point out to L), “Don’t think twice” panned R center (point to R). Must be listening in stereo to experience this.

V4 — As V3 but move hands from l to r this time.

Bridge — “People always told me,” as previous bridge.

Chorus — As previous chorus. A new synth part and violin descending line are added (show with one hand descending across body).

Guitar solo — Air guitar motion. Both hands in air for the two “whoo’s” which only occur at the beginning.

Chorus — as before.

This should be enough to get you started. Enjoy! Remember what Carl Orff said, “If it’s not joyful, don’t do it!” This song is 4 minutes 54 seconds long. I try to keep most movement to 2—3 minutes, especially when introducing a new piece.

Movement Activity to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”Created by Jim Tinter

jimtinter@gmail.com

Billie Jean Listening Lesson Outlineby Jim Tinter

1. Intro (14 measures) — kick/snare (famous), synth bass (moving), syncopated synths (staccato). Kick/snare continues throughout entire song with addition of a clap during choruses.

2. Verse 1 — Tell the story. 12 measures long. Moves from F#m to Bm (I - IV chords). “I am the one.” Unusual phrase length.

3. Verse 2 — 8 measures long. Finger snaps. Similar to V1.4. Bridge 1 — “People always told me...” 8 measures long. Bass rhythm slows. Long synth pad

introduced. Short synth stabs. “Eeeee.” Synth/strings added at end w/crescendo. Increased rhythmic activity.

5. Chorus 1 — Cymbal crash. “Billie Jean, that’s my lover.” Hand clap (drum machine?) added to snare. Legato syncopated synth. Guitar strum. Lots of vocal embellishments. “Ooo.” 12 measures long (unusual).

6. V3 — Hand claps removed. New synth pad/counter melody. Voice dubbed in octaves. Triplets (“remember to only think twice”) — only occurrence of triplets. 12 measures long. “Don’t think twice, don’t think twice (panned left/right).

7. V4 — Synth pad/counter melody repeated. Vocal embellishments in octaves. 8 measures. 8. Bridge 2 — “People always told me,” strings, crescendo. 8 bars.9. Chorus 2 — “Billie Jean, that’s my lover.” Hand claps. Legato syncopated synth. Descending violin

lick. Guitar strum.10. Chorus 3 — Foreshadowing of guitar solo. Legato syncopated synth. Analog synth w/filter sweep

solo (R channel) & strings (L channel) interact. 12 bars.11. Guitar solo — “Woo” sung twice then left out. 8 bars.12. Chorus 4 (coda) — “I am the one”…. guitar strum and solo re-enters, repeated many times. Lots of

vocal embellishments — Guitar solo reminder. Fade out