Exploring Classic Style Music: Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy & Lean On Me

1. F R I D A Y 2 7 M A R C H 2 0 1 9 T H W A L T : A P P R A I S E A P I E C E O F I N A C L A S S I C A L S T Y L E M U S I C W I L F : T O T O U S E S O M E M U S I C A L V O C A B U L A R Y T O D E S C R I B E L I S T E N W I T H R E S P E C T T O A P I E C E O F M U S I C . T H E P I E C E

2. LISTENING Resources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV1qLYu kTH8&safe=active (piece of music) Resources: Use a search engine such as ‘Google’ to research about the piece of music you have listened to-‘Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy’ You may also use sites such as Wikipedia to research about the piece.

3. Key vocabulary: Timbre: Describes the tonal quality of a sound, specifically, what instruments are making the sound. Family of instruments: Examples below Brass: trumpet, tuba Percussion: tambourine, bass drum Tuned percussion: Piano String: guitar, violin Woodwind: Flute, saxophone Tempo:Speed of music Pulse: The regular beat or ‘heartbeat’ of a piece of music Pitch: The quality of a sound – high or low Rhythm: A pattern made up of long and short sounds. Structure:the parts that make up a song, eg, introduction, verse, bridge, chorus Style: Jazz, rock

4. TEACHER MODEL • The piece of music is called ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ and it is from The Nutcracker, a 1992 ballet choreographed by Petipa and Ivanov. The instruments in this piece work together to create a melodious sound. The work begins with an accompaniment with the string orchestra, which supports the main melody to create substance in the piece. The main melody repeats throughout, but there are frequent points of crescendo and diminuendo for emphasis. The tempo largely stays the same throughout, it is moderate since it does not rapidly speed up or slow down. The tone is major which means it is happy sounding. In the beginning of the piece, the music starts out soft with the plucking of strings, and slowly gets louder as the sound of a xylophone comes in with the main melody. As the piece goes on, other instruments in the string family fade in, such as the violins and cellos. I like this piece of music because it is very uplifting and inspiring and makes you feel exhilarated as you hear the unexpected twists in pitch and dynamics.

5. TASK What I’d like to see in your writing. You need to use 3 of the vocabulary words on the slide before such as timbre which is the instruments making the sound, tempo which is the speed of the music-( fast or slow) and the style of the piece of music- what type it is R and B or Jazz to write about the piece of music you have listened to ( Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy). See Teacher Model for ideas on the next slide. I have used complex vocabulary, you are writing about music for the first time this year, so don’t worry about my model too much.Your writing can be a few sentences. Challenge- Can you listen to the song “Lean on Me” released in 1972 sung by the songwriter Bill Withers Can you write about this piece of music of the genre, soul using music vocabulary, you can refer to the vocabulary slide.