Critical Lesson/Case Study #2 – THE BEATLES Rock ‘n’ Roll, “In the Groove”

Goal: Students will research and evaluate two different historical/musical periods of the Beatles, the beginning and end of their career.

Music Standards addressed: 6c. Identify and explain compositional devices and techniques used to provide unity and variety and tension and release in a musical work and give examples of other works that make similar uses of these devices and techniques 7b. Evaluate a performance, composition, arrangement or improvisation by comparing it to similar or exemplary models 8c. Explain ways in which the principles and subject matter of music and various disciplines outside the arts are interrelated 9b. Identify sources of American music genres, trace the evolution of those genres, and cite well-known musicians associated with them.

Common Core Standards addressed: Wr2. (9-12) Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. Wr2a. (11-12) Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole

Lesson: Opening activity–Genre-A-Day Watch any remaining part of the episode. The last bit covers the introduction to the Beatles.

Introduce both albums that our source material comes from: Please Please Me (1963), the Beatles’ debut studio album, and Let It Be (1970), the last album released, a month after the band separated.

Using these two years as a starting and ending point, students will work in small groups to create a timeline using world events and hit songs that the Beatles released. They will differentiate historical, cultural, and political events using various colors along the timeline.

Finally, students will listen to a track on each of these albums and compare the two using as much musical terminology as possible. “I Saw Her Standing There” from Please Please Me (1963) “Let It Be” from Let It Be (1970)

Assessment: Total assignment worth is 10 points, including group participation and timeline content, as well as musical reflection (5 pts each).