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George Gershwin

George Gershwin. Rhapsody in Blue (excerpt ) Secondary / KS3 / 3 rd & 4 th Level Classroom Lesson Plan. Written by Rachel Leach. Trailblazer. American composer George Gershwin brought the sounds of jazz and blues into the classical music concert hall for the first time!. Lesson outcomes.

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George Gershwin

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  1. George Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue (excerpt) Secondary / KS3 / 3rd & 4th Level Classroom Lesson Plan Written by Rachel Leach

  2. Trailblazer American composer George Gershwin brought the sounds of jazz and blues into the classical music concert hall for the first time!

  3. Lesson outcomes After this lesson, pupils will be able to: • listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music • create their own piece of music using instruments and voice • perform as an ensemble • learn musical language appropriate to the task

  4. Curriculum checklist Learners will: • play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments • improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music • listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

  5. Glossary of music terms

  6. Lesson 1 Watching and listening

  7. Background – the composer George GERSHWIN (1898–1937) • American composer and pianist • A hugely famous songwriter from the age of 19 and, with his brother Ira, wrote some of the most famous songs of the 20th century

  8. Background – the music Rhapsody in Blue (excerpt) • Written in 1924 for a crossover concert featuring classical music and jazz • Gershwin was reluctant to write it until the very last minute. It was then orchestrated by his friend FerdeGrofé • Features a very famous clarinet solo at the beginning which was improvised during rehearsals and a huge solo piano part originally played by Gershwin himself – most of this was improvised during the first performance • Many of the ideas came to Gershwin during a train journey. His aim was to describe the spirit of 1920s America

  9. Watch the orchestral performance

  10. Go for a walk and listen out for all of the different sounds!

  11. What sounds did you hear? Quiet Loud Whirring Rustling Long Surprising

  12. Lesson 2 City soundscape

  13. Create motifs from the sounds you have heard. Structure them into a new piece of music. This is your City soundscape!

  14. Choose a conductor to create a big new piece, using everyone’s ideas

  15. Lesson 3 Syncopated ‘train’ rhythms

  16. Play a steady pulse!

  17. Demonstrate this rhythm

  18. Try this as a fun game, emphasising different beats!

  19. Lesson 4 Bluesy tune

  20. This is the classic blues scale,starting on a C

  21. Invent your own bluesy melody! It must: • Start high and move downwards • Alternate between two pitches • Wander up, before falling down • Use syncopation and the blues scale

  22. Lesson 5 Improvisation

  23. Set up a groove and put together some of the train rhythms from Lesson 3

  24. Use pitched instruments to improvise the blues scale – you can do whatever you like!Play these improvisations with the train rhythms underneath

  25. Recap • Cityscape motifs • Train rhythms and a bluesy tune • Improvisations

  26. Lesson 6 Performance time!

  27. Structure your three sections into one piece

  28. Practise and perform!

  29. Taking it further – cross-curricular activities MUSIC: Gershwin influenced many other composers including Copland and Bernstein – both have pieces featured on BBC Ten Pieces. Gershwin’s next big orchestral piece was ‘An American in Paris’ which is similarly about a city and features the sounds of actual Paris taxi cabs. TRAILBLAZE: ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ was premiered at a legendary concert in 1924, and put together as an experiment between jazz and classical music. Create a piece that combines classical music with your favourite modern genre. Perhaps use Gabriel Prokofiev’s ‘Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra’ as further inspiration. CURATE your own concert bringing together music from two different genres. Which artists would you hire? What would be the set list? UPLOAD: Showus what you’ve created! Submit your creative responses using our Uploader for a chance to be featured on the Ten Pieces website.

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