Lesson VII: The Musician
Objective:
Students will:
-
Listen to songs by blues artists to determine elements of blues lyrics to determine sad/humorous tones and themes
-
Research blues musicians
-
Write a biopoem (minimum five facts about the artist) based on music and research
Activities:
Listen to selected blues songs according to tone and theme
Select and research a blues artist
Read models of biopoems
Write a biopoem for a blues artist
Materials:
-
Music: Dinah Washington’s
Baby Get Lost
and Johnny Otis with Robins and Little Esther
Double Crossing Blues
in Urban Blues Volume 1
; Muddy Water’s
Same Thing
in
Chicago Blues
;
Monk—Standards;
Slow Blues
in
John Coltrane Lush Life
-
Independent research sources (student provided)
-
Biopoem models in
Every Shut Eyes Aint Sleep
:
Homage to the Empress of the Blue 8; Jazz Fan Looks Back, 161; For Bud, 174; Here Where Coltrane is, 176; Last Affair: Bessie’s Blues Song; Elegy for Thelonious, 251; Canary, 284; and Thelonious, 303
Extension:
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1) Create a children’s book or a short research paper or 2) dramatic monologue based on freewriting to music and research.
Challenged Writer: Write an acrostic poem based on research.