MUSIC
Artsource
®
The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts
TRANSFORMATION
ENDURING VALUES
ARTISTIC PROCESSES
TRADITIONAL CLASSICAL
1. CREATING (Cr)
CONTEMPORARY
2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr)
EXPERIMENTAL
3. RESPONDING (Re)
MULTI-MEDIA
4. CONNECTING (Cn)
FREEDOM & OPPRESSION
THE HUMAN FAMILY
THE POWER OF NATURE
Title of Work:
About the Artwork:
My Family Home and The Immigrant’s Song
These two songs are based on Paul Tracey’s experiences in his homelands. My Family Home is a nostalgic, lilting, melody about returning to the family home in South Africa. The lyrics skillfully paint a picture of well-remembered sights, sounds, and even smells of the countryside. The chorus is sung in the Fanagalo language. The song conveys the spirit of the composer who revels in the culture of the people and the land. The Immigrant’s Song, from the show “The Great Briton,” portrays an immigrant, like Paul, who prefers to “live my life in the good old U.S.A.” Paul’s sense of humor is revealed in the amusing lyrics.
Creator: Paul Tracey b. 1939
Background Information: International troubadour, Paul Tracey, draws upon his cultural heritage and broad personal experience to communicate ideas about life through original songs. Born in South Africa, his parents separated when he was seven and he moved to England. He and his brother grew up with his mother on his grandmother’s estate, and attended boarding schools. At age eighteen, he returned to South Africa to reunite with his father and work on his farm. It was here that he attended “The University of the Bush” and learned much of what he considers important in his life. Working with his father and the foreman, a Swazi man named Simon Shabalala who became his mentor and friend, he learned about farming, building and appreciating other cultures. As the sons of Dr. Hugh Tracey, the noted African musicologist, he and his brother developed a repertoire of international and African folk music and learned to play classical and traditional instruments. This hobby led to the creation of the musical revue, Wait a Minim!, which opened in Johannesburg and ran for seven years on four continents. Paul elected to remain in the United States, performing in other Broadway musicals. The birth of his daughter inspired him to write songs for children, eventually leading to a request from Jim Henson to use several for The Muppets. Based in Los Angeles, Paul performs nine original One-Man shows for both children and adults throughout the United States and overseas.
Creative Process of the Artist or Culture: “How did I get into the wandering minstrel business? The inspiration came from John Runge, a brilliant singer/guitarist who came to my school when I was a boy just learning the guitar. He showed me what was possible!” Paul Tracey is a prime example of one who has drawn his texts from his own rich life experiences. Paul, who traveled with the American Waterways Wind Orchestra during the summers, also writes topical, satirical songs about the towns he visits. Photo by Chris Emmerick, courtesy of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
“I feel that if I can do a really good job of singing and playing, then the message I bring will be better heard.” Paul Tracey
L. A.
England New York
South Africa
After listening to the audio recording:
present family histories on moving from one location to another. Discuss the feelings associated with such a move.
• In the chorus of My Family Home, Paul Tracey
Audio-Visual Materials:
eliminated the guitar accompaniment, added voices
• Artsource® audio recordings: My Family Home ©
and featured a percussion background. Why do you
1973 from cassette: “Paul Tracey: One Man Show” and
suppose he arranged the song in this manner? (To
The Immigrant’s Song © 1990: Kunjani Music, Los
replicate a typical South African sound.)
Angeles, CA; video of The Immigrant’s Song, directed
• In The Immigrant’s Song not only do the lyrics
by Rosylyn Rhee. All courtesy of Paul Tracey. For more
portray life in the British Isles, but Paul Tracey’s
information or to purchase recordings of Paul Tracey’s
performance style also provides subtle hints about
shows, please go to www.paultracey.org.
each country. Listen to the lyrics and pinpoint the descriptive words or phrases for each country.
Sample Experiences: Level I
Identify the manner in which Paul’s performance
• Listen to instrumental program music about life in the
portrays each place.
United States. Suggestions: “Hoedown” from Rodeo
• Compare songs by American composers which
(Copland), “The Walking Song” from Acadian Songs
convey a deep love of this country to My Family
and Dances (Thomson), Parade (Gould), “Putnam’s
Home. Suggestions: America, the Beautiful, This
Camp, Redding, Connecticut” from Three Places in
Land is My Land, America, Shenandoah.
New England (Ives), The Old Circus Train (Ellington).
Discussion Questions:
Creative Process Continued:
* • Learn the game songs children sing and play in different
He composes these songs from a visitor’s first
countries. Perform London Bridge is Falling Down.
impression, making fun of local problems that need
Identify similarities between the games and songs.
attention and mocking the foibles of elected offi-
Level II
cials. He compares this work to the role of the song-
• Learn the history of troubadours, balladeers and
writer in Mozambique among the Chopi people.
minstrels. Describe similar qualities. Look for unique
“You can say what you like, so long as you sing it. If
characteristics. Identify contemporary troubadours,
you sing it, the chief cannot get too mad at you!”
balladeers and minstrels.
This is another example of how Paul’s international
* • Learn and share songs that have been gathered while
life has influenced his composing. He is a modern
researching family histories.
troubadour, sharing first-hand information about
• Listen to instrumental music from different countries
places and people, and always with wit and humor.
whose themes are derived from their folk songs.
Multidisciplinary Options:
Suggestion: Hungarian Fantasy (Liszt).
• Paul’s first trip to England was a two-week journey
Level III
by boat. Trace the probable route he traveled from
* • Compose original couplets on a favorite
South Africa to England. Name the countries he
subject and make them into lyrics for a song.
passed. In the song, My Family Home, three
• Listen to music written by composers from other
countries are identified in the lyrics. Using them as
countries which describes the beauty of nature in their
a guide, trace Paul’s return trip by air.
homelands, e.g. The Moldau (Smetana), Amid Nature
• In The Immigrant’s Song, the countries in the
(Dvorak), To Spring (Grieg), “By a Meadow Brook”
British Isles are named. Locate these countries on a
from Woodland Sketches (MacDowell), “Spring” from
map. Read about them to discover the unique
The Four Seasons (Vivaldi).
qualities of each. • Most students can find in their family histories incidents of immigration, emigration or movement from one community to another. Have students
• Learn about American folk singers who have popularized American folk songs, e.g. Pete Seeger, Josh White, Burl Ives, Bessie Jones, Woody Guthrie, Odetta and Peter, Paul and Mary. * Indicates sample lessons
2
MUSIC
CHILDREN'S GAMES FROM OTHER LANDS ENDURING VALUES
LEVEL I Sample Lesson INTRODUCTION: From the beginning of time, children have made up their own songs and often combined them with simple games or dances. Usually, no one knows who composed the songs. As they travel through different groups of children, the lyrics may change. However, they are usually simple and repetitive. As in folk tales, universal themes can be found in children's game songs. In this lesson, we have featured a classic children's song and game from England to match one of Paul Tracey's cultural influences. This popular historical song is based on a bridge in London with houses built on it. The houses got too heavy and caused the bridge to fall down. The melody is easy and repetitive and the movements that go with the words are fun to do. There are many different verses to this song found all over the world. It is interesting to note that over a century later, the London Bridge was taken apart, stone by stone, and rebuilt in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Children Playing London Bridge by William H. Johnson
OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes) Students will be able to:
From the David C. Driskell Collection and courtesy of the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. Photographed by Greg Staley
• Perform and compare game songs from several different countries. (Performing & Connecting) • Demonstrate understanding of steady beat by moving accurately to the music. (Responding & Performing) • Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Performing) MATERIALS: • Selected songs from folk song collections or State Adopted Textbooks. (See Classified Index under Games, Singing Games and Folk Songs.) A good recording of the song London Bridge is Falling Down can be found online here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtuV_mB88cc 3
PROGRESSION: • Select three or four game songs from different countries. Look for songs whose basic beats are essential for performing the game well. Examples: San Severino (Chile); Hawaiian Boat Song ; Lost My Gold Ring (Jamaica); Will You Follow Me? (France); My Head and My Shoulders (South Africa - Zulu) ; Indian Stick Song (U.S. Northwest Coast Native American) ; Looby Loo (England) ; Che Che Koolay (Africa-Ghana); Find the Ring (Greece) ; Button, You Must Wander (U.S.) ; Obwisana (Africa - Ghana); The Lion Game (South Africa - Zulu); London Bridge (England). • Be certain each song can be sung with confidence and each game is accurately executed before moving to the next song. Procedure: Teach the song first, then have the children tap the basic beat as they sing the song. Next teach the game, reminding them to keep the basic beat as they play. • Talk about similarities among the games and the importance of the basic beat to the movement in each game. (Some songs, such as Button, You Must Wander, Indian Stick Song, Lost My Gold Ring, Obwisana and Find the Ring each require similar passing movements.) • Throughout West Africa, young children and adolescents play many games that develop rhythmic and singing abilities. These games involve a wide variety of bodily movements and songs. One of the most popular type is called “passing games” in which children sit in a circle and pass a rock or other object on the basic beat of the song. Example: London Bridge, an English game for children: “London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady.
Two children make a bridge by facing each other and holding hands. The other children make a line and walk under the bridge during the verse.
Take the key and lock her up, lock her up, lock her up. Take the key and lock her up, My fair lady.
One or two of the children are caught in the middle of the bridge and stay there while the bridge sways from side to side. The captured ones also sway.
Take the key and let her out, let her out, let her out. Take the key and let her out, My fair lady.
The child who is next in line takes an imaginary key and unlocks the bridge, which open up and releases the prisoners. The children making the bridge also join the line.
London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down; London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady.
The next two children in line become the bridge and the others march or skip under the bridge. This time the bridge collaspes and everyone falls down.
Build it up with cotton thread, Cotton thread, cotton thread; Build it up with cotton thread, My fair lady.
All the children rise and mime trying to fix the bridge with thread. They all join together to make bridges in partners and small groups. 4
Cotton thread will not hold fast, Not hold fast, not hold fast; Cotton thread will not hold fast, My fair lady.”
All the students balance back and forth, side to side, then everyone falls down and the song is over.
It is best to learn the lyrics and melody at the same time, however either the melody or words could be introduced first. 1. Sing the song and have the children tap or clap the basic beat (or use rhythm sticks). 2. Try the actions that go with the song. 3. Have some children perform the song and some children tap the basic beat while all of them sing. 4. Use the discussion questions under “Assessment” to give the students a chance to discuss their experiences. EXTENSION: • Design an original game based on passing movements to a basic beat. VOCABULARY: basic beat ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting) DESCRIBE: Describe or show what a basic beat is. DISCUSS: Discuss the song/game and what you liked best and what you might change. Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking
5
MUSIC
OUR RICH HERITAGE ENDURING VALUES
LEVEL II Sample Lesson INTRODUCTION: In the song, My Family Home, Paul wrote about living in New York and his desire to return to his roots in Africa. He mentions specific nostalgic memories he had; these include the sounds and sights from the family farm, the daily conversations in the local dialect he had with the African farm workers, the spiders on the ceiling above his bed and the smell of the cattle in the valley down below. As you research your own family life, try to recall particular memories that stand out in your mind. Think of the sights, smells, sounds and people who are in your past or current life. What makes these memories special to you? When he wrote The Immigrant’s Song, Paul wrote about an experience that is common to many Paul Tracey in his one man show people. In this song, he is writing about “The Great Briton” immigrants from Great Briton (England, Photo by Craig Schwartz Scotland, Wales and Ireland). However, the same ideas of leaving one’s homeland to start a new life in another country are universal. These include religious or political freedom, work opportunities, new land to farm, joining family members, etc. This lesson is about discovering your own family roots. After interviewing a family member, you may wish to share an old family song, or take one or two of the memories and write lyrics for your own song. OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes) Students will be able to: • Tell about the communities, regions or countries where relatives once lived. (Connecting) • Share songs from the locations represented in student family histories. (Performing & Connecting) • Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting)
6
MATERIALS: • Family history Interview Guide (See the form at the end of this lesson.) • Tape recorder or record player. • Selected songs from around the world. Refer to music text books, song collections and students’ sources. PROGRESSION: (Requires several sessions) • Ask the students to interview parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to learn about the places where they were born and grew up. Some students may also choose to learn a song that members of their family remember. Others may choose to bring a home recording of a song their family members performed. • Have the students prepare brief oral reports highlighting the information they collected. Have them share songs, if possible. • Cluster the student reports into general geographical locations. Using the locations as a guide, plan to intersperse songs appropriate to the various locations. If an insufficient number of family songs have been volunteered, select appropriate songs from the music textbook or other songbooks. Try to use familiar songs as much as possible. If you wish to teach new songs, limit the number to two or three. If additional songs are needed, use recordings. • Organize a presentation so that the student reports are interspersed with songs appropriate to the locations. EXTENSION: • Plan a formal program for other classrooms and/or parents. • Take one or two of your best memories about your family history. Think of a familiar melody that you know and write your own lyrics about your life to that melody. Examples of a melody you might like to use is It’s a Small World or This Land is Your Land. VOCABULARY: mobile society, heritage, forebears ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting) DESCRIBE: Describe what you did to find out some of your family history. DISCUSS: Discuss the things that most surprised you about your family history. ANALYZE: Discuss how music and songs can keep you connected to your culture. CONNECT: Identify and discuss other things that keep your family history alive. Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; 7 Speaking
FAMILY HISTORY INTERVIEW GUIDE
_________________________________________________________________________________ Student’s Name
_________________________________________________________________________________ Name or names of persons interviewed _________________________________________________________________________________
1. Where were you born?_____________________________________________________________ 2. Where did you grow up?____________________________________________________________ 3. How long did you live there?_________________________________________________________ 4. What is your favorite memory?_______________________________________________________ 5. If you moved, how did you feel when you left?___________________________________________ 6. By what means did you travel when you left?_____________________________________________ 7. Where did you go?________________________________________________________________ 8. Did you ever return to your original home? If so, how did you feel?____________________________ 9. Can you show me on a map where you lived? ___________________________________________ 10. Can you remember a song that you knew as a child?______________________________________ 11. Please write the words for me, then teach me to sing it, too. (May I record it?) 12. Jot down some words that come to mind to describe your family. ___________________________ THANK YOU! 8
MUSIC
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR A SONG ENDURING VALUES AND THE HUMAN FAMILY
LEVEL III Sample Lesson INTRODUCTION: Songs are created in a variety of ways. Some composers write both the words (lyrics) and the music. Others write the lyrics, or the music, then collaborate with someone. Some set existing words to original music, or borrow existing tunes for new lyrics. Composers create music for many different reasons. Sometimes they are inspired by personal experiences or events. At other times they respond to ideas or things that they see. Other compositions are written to commemorate holidays or specific events. Composers are often hired to write music for musicals, films, videos or other special reasons. Whatever the motivation, composers respond to their own need to express themselves through music. OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes) Students will be able to: • Write a couplet that rhymes. (Creating) • Apply a steady beat to the couplet as it is spoken. (Responding & Performing) • Discuss the basic relationship of lyrics to music. (Responding & Connecting) • Identify some of the rhyming words in the couplets of one of Paul’s songs. (Responding)
“How soon will you take your bath on your own, How soon will you walk to your school all alone? How soon you’ll be grown! It’ll soon be the phone That takes over my place in your life!” “Daughter of Mine” song by Paul Tracey from Something Else album Drawing: Susan Cambigue-Tracey
• Write an additional couplet to add to your original or create four-line couplets with a partner. (Creating) MATERIALS: • Drum or percussion instrument to keep steady beat. PROGRESSION: • Listen to My Family Home, one of Paul’s featured songs. • Use the Discussion Question on the Unit page 2 to discuss the song. • Identify some of the rhyming words. You can also look at the lyrics of My Family Home at the end of this lesson to help you. Note: if the lyrics are printed out for students, it could be a good search 9 and discovery process to circle the rhyming words.
POEMS AND LYRICS. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? Both could be thought of as poems; but when a poem is given music, it changes its name. Now it’s called “lyrics.” WHAT’S IN A LYRIC? Lyrics are usually made up of words that have a strong meter or beat to them. Here’s one in a meter of 3 (3 time): “There once was a fellow named Jack.” Notice how the beat comes on the bolded and underlined letters. You could dance a waltz to this rhythm! The next line will also have the same meter to it, and it will end with a rhyme for ‘Jack.’ Like this, for example: “He lived in a broken down shack.” These two lines together are called a ‘couplet.’ Make sure you keep the rhythm exactly the same all the way through. This, for example, wouldn’t work: “He lived in a beautifully decorated shack.” The rhyme still works, but the rhythm of the song is way off. WRITE A COUPLET First, pick a subject that you want to write about. You should be an expert on this subject so you’ll know all the words that could describe the actions and feelings of this subject. Perhaps it’s skate boarding, because you know what it’s like to zoom along the sidewalk feeling every little crack in the concrete. Or perhaps it’s having a meal at your grandmother’s house and you know how good her muffins smell when she takes them out of the oven. It’s a good idea to write a list of words that you might include in your song. If you choose skateboarding, for example, you might have: wind, hair, helmet, knee cap, stairs, ramp, falling, fast, speeding, sneaker, cars, rules, Band-Aid, etc. Think about each word and see if you can come up with a rhyme for that word that would also fit into the meaning you want to put into your couplet.
“There is a land full of colors, I’m told, Where the people get up before dawn; And as the sun rises, the light brings surprises, The people can see what they’ve worn...” Song by Paul Tracey from “The Rainbow Kingdom” cassette. Drawing: Susan Cambigue-Tracey
10
For example: for ‘hair,’ you might put down, care or dare or tear. For ‘ramp’ I thought a good one would be ‘champ.’ So now you write the first line of words that have a rhythm to them and the last word would be ‘ramp.’ Like this one in a meter of 4 (4 time), maybe: “My skateboard whistled down the ramp.” The second line is the same length with the same beat to it, and ends in ‘champ.’ “I tumbled off, but I’m a champ.” The next couplet could describe how you escaped without killing yourself; I always like some humor in my songs! • Ask students to experiment with finding a melody that works with their couplet. It can be a tune they know or an original one. • Have a few partners volunteer to share their work. EXTENSION: • Using some of the musical elements, such as dynamics, rhythm, tempo and pattern, continue to develop your four line verse or couplet to make it even more interesting. • Write a second verse. • Write a chorus that is sung in-between the first and second verses and at the end. • Add simple percussion instruments to accompany the verses. VOCABULARY: composer, lyrics, verse, steady beat, couplet, dynamics, tempo, rhythm. ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting) DESCRIBE: Describe how you thought up the subject for your couplet. DISCUSS:
Discuss the point you are trying to make in your couplet.
ANALYZE:
Discuss the elements needed to make a good couplet.
CONNECT: Discuss how lyrics are different from regular speech. Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking
11
MY FAMILY HOME Words and music © 1977 by Paul Tracey. Munye, mbili (one, two) I think it’s time my family saw my family home, We could take the jumbo jet that goes via Rome. Flying high above Malawi and Zimbabwe, yes it’s far-we have to Go to reach the farm that I come from. It’s time my family got away from New York City And it’s time they laid their eyes on something pretty. And one thing I have my heart on Is some milk not from a carton, And the sounds I’m bound to hear when I get home. CHORUS: I hear it: “Nango Fish, nango Zandile Kudala isikati ungi bonile Vula canteen, leta mooti, Aikona balega futhi. Sebenza, sebenza, sebenza, Deliwe! Au! Ini indab’ ishugela iphelile? Inkosana mncane, bangaki bantwana? Umunye umfazi, akekho umfana.”
TRANSLATION OF FANAGALO* CHORUS Here’s Fish, here’s Zandile (girls’ names) Long time no see! Open the canteen, give me some medicine, Don’t run away again. Work, work, work, Deliwe (name) Hey! Why is the sugar finished? Young boss, how many children have you got? One girl and no boys.
And I’ll sit and watch the trees I planted grow, And listen to the bantams try to crow. And I’ll very soon remember that it’s steamy in December And that Christmas never, ever heard of snow. VERSE 2. And when I get back home I’ll lie down on my bed, Find my childhood blanket underneath the spread; See those spiders on the ceiling, Get that old familiar feeling Will they stay up there or fall down on my head? And I’ll revel in the smells from long ago, The cattle in the valley down below. And the farm will seem much smaller, But there’s one thing I recall a Sound that never changes, never will I know. CHORUS: And New York will seem so very far away, But too soon I know we’ll end our holiday. And already I envision In my mind that indecision: Should we all go back, or should the family stay?
*Fanagalo is the required language of the gold mines in South Africa. A simple language, it is based on Zulu, English and Afrikaans.
THE IMMIGRANT’S SONG Words and music © 1990 by Paul Tracey. Did you ever visit Ireland? It’s a green and pleasant place; Life is never hurried, Gentle is the pace. And while you’re in Great Britain There’s no use arguing, You simply have to visit Wales And hear those Welshmen sing.
CHORUS: It’s great to be in Britain, But I have to say That I prefer to live my life In the good old U.S.A. Verse 2. Did you ever visit Scotland See a Scotsman in full dress? Did you ever skip a stone and hit The monster in Loch Ness? And when you get to England There is so much to be seen; And don’t forget at 4 o’clock It’s tea time with the Queen. (One lump or two?)
Chorus. Verse 3. There are millions of us immigrants Who came across the sea Past Ellis Island and the great Statue of Liberty; With names like Quaney, Murphy, Jones, MacDonald and Tracey; And you can ask each one of us, You know we all agree that
Chorus.