While there are distinct levels of understanding about how music influences society, this unit looks at it as it influences visual art in the Twentieth Century. It attempts to provide students with a concentrated look into music as it affects artists’ lives and the art they produce. As artists related their work to the music they heard and how they felt, the students should learn that there is more to music than what they hear. As music produces strong emotions, the unit’s purpose is to heighten student’s awareness and give them ideas of how music not only influences themselves, but others as well.
In this unit, the students will listen to various musical selections and gain different perspectives on them. The students should tell the class how it affects them and everyone should listen and take note of each students’ comments. They will be asked how they think the music affected each artist emotionally. After listening to each selection, the students will then look at the comparable artwork and they will be asked questions concerning how they think the music influenced the artist in that particular painting.
Using the history of specific musical selections and music’s impact on emotions (our emotions and the artists’ emotions), this discussion of music and related artwork will provide a unique approach to the study of jazz music and visual art.
(Developed for Music Appreciation, grades 9-12; recommended for Music Appreciation and General Music, grades 7-12)
