Objectives:
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Identify the social, cultural, and historical context of the decade, and how it informs music of the time period.
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Generate lyrical, rhythmic, melodic, and/or harmonic ideas in order to create a new musical work written in the context of an event from 1965-1969.
Materials:
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Equipment to play audio materials
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Writing materials to produce hard copy or word document
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Article,
Civil Rights Movement
from History.com
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Recording of “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke
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Printed lyrics of “A Change Is Gonna Come”
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Recording of “Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud” by James Brown
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Printed lyrics of “Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud”
Prior to the listening activity, instruct students to read the article,
Civil Rights Movement
, at home in order to prepare themselves to be able to write lyrics as though they are living in the time period.
As a class, listen to both songs and follow along with the lyrics sheets. Have students list all of the elements they can hear in each song-instrumentation and the texture and timbre, tempo, dynamics, lyrics, mood, and the message. Inform students that Cooke wrote his song after meeting with civil rights organizers, and that Brown was a symbol of black self-respect. Briefly discuss:
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The two songs represent different styles. Are the messages different, or similar?
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Does one style project the message better than another? Are they equally as powerful; why or why not?
Have students decide which style they prefer: the blunt style of Brown's lyrics, or the slightly more subtle, yet still obvious, style of Cooke's lyrics. To compare and contrast, the teacher might present individual passages from each song.
Now that students have an idea of the context, and an idea of how they may style their song, students should prepare to write song lyrics that include:
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At least 3 verses.
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A repeating chorus that indicates the theme of their song.
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A bridge-a separate section, unlike a verse or the chorus, that serves to bring the song to the final chorus.
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The song should rhyme, but students can decide what rhyming scheme they would like to use.
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Students should include a brief explanation, one to two paragraphs, of what event they imagine themselves to be a part of during the Civil Rights Movement, as outlined in the article they read for homework. Allowing students to select an event will make sharing their lyrics more interesting, and allows for meaningful student choice.
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Students share their lyrics, either a selection or as a complete work, to the class. They should also share their explanation of the event they chose. Students can decide if they would like to provide that information before or after their lyrics. Sharing it after the lyrics could provide the class with a brief discussion, where students try to guess what event the songwriter is alluding to.
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Depending on the abilities of your class, you may choose to further extend this activity to have students write a melody and/or harmonic accompaniment for the lyrics. Students should additionally add another brief description of what they chose the key, rhythms, harmonies, tempo, and dynamics, and how it helps support the meaning of their song.
