Lesson Overview:
Students will learn to identify musical styles and musicians associated with Harlem, focusing on jazz. They will learn about the special role of music in Harlem as a unifier of a community and of a culture. Students can listen to audio samples and analyze elements of jazz and its musicians, participate in a group dance activity, and partake in language arts and visual arts extensions to reinforce key concepts learned.
Length of Lesson:
Four 45-minute periods
Notes:
This lesson is particularly suitable for grades 3-4.
Instructional Objectives:
Students will:
- gain historical background of the Harlem Renaissance as a flowering of art by African Americans, including how the Harlem Renaissance relates to the evolution of jazz.
- distinguish and compare different types of jazz and jazz musicians.
- identify jazz terminology and concepts.
- identify and analyze different musical sounds and instruments to understand how music may be used to express ideas and emotions.
- create original artwork incorporating color, line, and shape as visual representations of the technique and/or emotions found in jazz.
Supplies:
- Chart paper
- Markers, crayons, or colored pencils
- Drawing paper
- Selections of music by Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, and Duke Ellington (see the Instructional Plan for links where you can find audio clips online, or see the Teacher References section for suggested recordings)
Instructional Plan:
Part 1: History of Jazz
Play for the students Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan Fantasie,"
found on ARTSEDGE's Duke Ellington mini-site
or on the CD or cassette, Duke Ellington: Masterpieces: 1926-1949.
Have the students describe what they heard. Was the music fast, upbeat, fun, and/or melodic? Tell students to share how the music made them feel.
Ask the students to call out these observations, and write them on a chart. When they've
finished calling out, explain that this type of music is known as jazz, and
write the word JAZZ on the top of the chart.
Tell the students that jazz is a type of music that largely originated with
African Americans and was a way for them to express themselves. (You can glean
historical information from the timeline on PBS Kids.)
This need for self-expression stemmed from their African musical heritage. In
African societies, music was very important in maintaining and continuing the
culture. As a result, Africans brought with them to America the tradition of
using music to accompany and define the activities of their lives. There was
music for working, for playing, for festivals, for marriages, births, deaths,
and wars.
Ask students about times when music played a major role in their
own lives, and share some of your experiences with them, e.g., wedding day or
favorite trip. Tell the students that many Africans, while working, playing,
mourning, etc., would use a musical technique called "call and response."
This technique had a "leader" who would sing or speak something, or
make a dance move, and those around him would echo the words, sounds, and/or
dance moves.
Dance/Movement Activity: The "Body Jazz" Game
Have the students stand in a circle. Ask one student to start a rhythmic pattern
by clapping, stomping, etc. Have the rest of the students repeat the pattern.
Explain that this type of interaction with sound is known as "call and
response," a musical technique in which one instrument, voice, or part
of a band answers another by repeating the sound. The alternation between leader
and chorus is a defining characteristic of African music, and is a common element
in jazz.
Give a few more students the opportunity to lead the group in a pattern while
the rest of the group repeats.
Next, designate several students to improvise or make up a clapping or stomping
pattern on the spot, to accompany the other students who are following the leader.
Tell them to try to make their clapping/stomping complement, or sound nice together
with, the other students' clapping/stomping. This mimics the "riffing"
manner in which jazz musicians play off of one another.
Explain to the students that in the early 1920s, many African American artists,
writers, musicians, and performers lived in a neighborhood in New York City
called Harlem and were part of a cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance.
Add the words Harlem Renaissance to the chart. Continue the discussion by explaining
that a huge migration to the North from the South after World War I brought
African Americans of all ages and walks of life to that thriving New York City
neighborhood called Harlem. (See the lesson, Creative Voices of Harlem, for more information.)
Distribute printouts of the map of Manhattan from New York City's Official Tourism site, and identify the neighborhood of Harlem.
Tell the students that jazz was a relatively new type of music in the 1920s
and 1930s but was becoming very popular in Harlem, which was home to many musicians.
Explain that a number of American cities, such as New Orleans and Chicago, also
had rich jazz scenes, but that in this lesson you're focusing on the artists
who were famous in Harlem. Ask the students where they think people used to
go to hear this type of music. (Jazz clubs, music clubs, concert halls) Explain
that there were many popular places where jazz was played. Then take the students
on a "virtual tour" of famous music spots in Harlem, also found on New York City's Official Tourism site.
Some important landmarks to view include the Apollo Theater, the Cotton Club,
and the Savoy Ballroom.
Part 2: Getting to Know Jazz
Ask the students to recall the name of the type of music that Duke Ellington
played in order to bring back the focus to the discussion of jazz. Explain
that now you are going to talk about the instruments used in jazz bands.
Have the students listen to Duke Ellington's "Black and Tan Fantasie"
again. Ask the students to name the instruments they hear (trumpet, piano, saxophone,
drums) and to write their answers on chart paper.
Explain that there are many instruments used in jazz bands, and each instrument
has its own important role in communicating mood, lending to the tempo (beat),
supplying melody, etc.
Show the students the book Ben's Trumpet by Rachel Isadora. The story
is about a young boy's yearning to play the trumpet just like the musicians
he hears at the Zig Zag Jazz Club. The students are introduced to each of the
instruments that make up the jazz band. (If you don't have access to the book
you can find pictures, brief descriptions, and sound clips of various instruments at Data Dragon's Education site.)
Show these images to the students and ask them the instrument names. Make sure
to include in the discussion the instruments they noted in "Black and Tan
Fantasie."
In class, go to the activity on the PBS Jazz Kids site, Repeat the Beat,
where students can hear the sound of an instrument being played and identify
the instrument by clicking on its picture.
Part 3: Mood and Image
Play an audio clip of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo".
Brainstorm with students what they feel is the "mood" of the music.
Introduce mood as an expression of feelings about a situation that can take many
forms in art and music (i.e., happy, excited, sad, nervous, etc.). What is the mood
of the music? How did it make you feel? Did you like the music? Why or why not?
Present the etching Jammin' At The Savoy by Romare Bearden found at the Romare Bearden Foundation Web site. Ask the students what they see in the etching. What are the people doing? (Playing instruments.) What instruments are they playing? (Piano, guitar, bass, drums.) How do you think the musicians are feeling? (Relaxed, perhaps slightly sad.) How do you know? (The way the musicians' bodies are positioned, the dark somber colors.)
(Note: Romare Howard Bearden is an internationally renowned American artist of African
American heritage. Bearden experimented with many different types and styles
of art but found a unique form of expression in collage. He was an art historian,
teacher, author, curator, and one of the founders of the Cinque Gallery in
New York City.)
Discuss the mood being expressed in Bearden's etching. Explain how the artist's selection of certain
colors, lines, and shapes can visually represent moods and emotions. For instance,
Bearden's use of blues and the posture of the men convey a melancholy mood.
There also seems to be a "laid-back" kind of joy in the picture. (Notice
the trumpet player in the background. Also notice how the guitar player is centered
up front. It's almost like the painting is centered on him.) The teacher can
then ask if the students think the jazz song the musicians are playing features
a guitar or perhaps a banjo.
Part 4: Harlem Renaissance Jazz Musicians and Their Styles
Display images of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Ella Fitzgerald (you can
find images on the Web sites listed below) and identify them as three of the
great jazz musicians of the Harlem Renaissance. Divide students into groups
and have them do independent small-group research on each of these artists.
Play an audio clip from each of these musicians:
Introduce the jazz technique of "scat" by listening to Ella Fitzgerald imitate a trumpet solo with her voice in "Flying Home". Or. listen to a recording of "It
Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)." The recording is located on the album, Ella Fitzgerald,
First Lady of Song, (Polygram, 1993). Tell students that scat is a singing
technique of "nonsense" sounds that are improvised (made up on the
spot) by a jazz singer.
Introduce the call and response technique with Cab Calloway's "Minnie
the Moocher". The recording is located on the tape or CD, Best of the Big Bands: Cab Calloway, (Columbia, 1990).
Introduce the big band sound of Duke Ellington's "Harlem
Airshaft". This recording can be found on the tape or CD, Duke Ellington: Masterpieces: 1926-1949,
(Proper, 2001).
Prepare chart paper with the heading "Mood and Instruments." Label
it with the three musicians' names—Duke, Cab, and Ella—down the left side
of the page. After you play each music selection, ask students to respond to
the music. Repeat similar questions as explored earlier in the lesson: What instruments do you hear? What is the mood of the music? How did it make you feel? Did you like the music?
Why or why not? Record individual student responses as a means to discuss similarities
and differences between the musicians and their styles.
Once the chart is complete, have students listen to a different audio clip
for each of the three musicians (either from the above Web sites or CDs). Ask
students who the artist is. Who is singing, Calloway or Fitzgerald, or who is
the composer, Ellington? This also serves as a means of understanding the differences between musicians and their styles.
Assessment:
Assess student learning using the Assessment Rubric provided.
Extensions:
Language Arts Extension: Interactive Word Wall
Divide students into groups and assign to each group terms to define from the
following list: rhythm, drum, saxophone, mood, jazz, communication, melody,
tempo, blues, jam session, improvisation, set, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway,
and Duke Ellington. The Word Wall is slowly built up as groups decide when their
definitions are correctly defined and add them to the wall. This can be an ongoing
activity, with other definitions added (from the Vocabulary handout).
Research a Harlem Musician, Dancer, or Landmark
Divide the class in pairs or groups, and assign each pair or group a musician,
dancer, or landmark to research. Hand out the Musician/Dancer Fact Sheet or the
Landmark Fact Sheet to help students glean information from their research. (Distribute the handouts based on what each group will be researching.) Your Teacher's Research Guide has starter research sources you can also distribute to the students as needed.) When the students are ready to research, allow for time at the computer (if possible) so they can access the Internet.
After they complete the research process, have the student groups prepare
oral or written presentations about their artists, and present these to the class.
Visual Arts Extension: Draw The Music
Replay the audio clip "Mood Indigo." Explain to the students that they will create artwork that reflects the mood of a jazz selection they've heard by selecting different types of materials
and using them in different ways. Have the students use both realistic forms, such as the actual shape of an instrument they hear being played, as well as abstract forms, such as swirls,
blocks of color, zig-zag lines, etc.
You can demonstrate by cutting out the shape of a guitar or trumpet from a
piece of paper and gluing it onto another sheet of paper. Once applied, paint
around the instrument with particular colors and lines or forms to reflect a particular mood.
Have the students present their artwork to the class and explain why they chose
certain colors, lines, and/or shapes.
Sources:
Web:
Authors:
-
Scholastic Inc.
New York, NY
