Christylez Bacon with Wytold

Teacher Guide: Classical Hip-Hop

Description Remixing the classics, this program merges the contrasting worlds of Classical and Hip-Hop music in a collaborative musical program featuring GRAMMY nominated Progressive Hip-Hop artist Christylez Bacon (pronounced: chris-styles) and six-string electric cellist, Wytold (William Wytold Lebing). Traditional elements of hip-hop such as human beatbox, rhyming and storytelling are blended with classical compositions of composers like Bach, Vivaldi and Pachelbel.

Christylez Bacon demonstrates the amazing human beat-box and how it can interplay with the percussive and bowing techniques the electric cello. On-stage audio engineering enhances the layers of rhythmic and tonal complexity. By building cross-cultural connections, these presentations help students gain insight into the universality of artistic expression; call and response techniques encourage direct audience participation in the performance experience.

Program Objectives Students will learn about the elements of improvisation and ensemble performance and explore a range of tone qualities, rhythms, and musical genres. The program will demonstrate how music can be created using the most basic materials of the artist’s own voice and body in addition to using modern-day acoustic engineering technology.

About the Artists Christylez Bacon Christylez Bacon adds a new flavor to hip-hop by mixing musical genres from around the world through multi-instrumental exploration of beat box (oral percussion), rap, go-go, classical music and beyond. He frequently performs with artists of diverse backgrounds as part of what Bacon calls his “mission towards cultural acceptance and unification through music.” Originally from Southeast Washington, DC, Christylez Bacon continues to perform and give back to his native community. Bacon was the first hip-hop artist to be an Artist in Residence at the Music Center at Strathmore, as well as the first hip-hop artist to perform at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. He has performed at the National Cathedral, composed a concert for a 12-piece orchestra for the Kennedy Center and produced multiple albums. He received a 2010 Grammy nomination for children’s CD, Banjo to Beatbox, a collaboration with folk musicians Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer.

Wytold Musician and composer Wytold creates a rock-orchestral experience through looping live stage recordings on six-string electric cello and acoustic cello. His performances layer the textural effects of percussive bowing and melodic string-plucking, melding the tones of bass, cello, and violin in impressive feats of acoustic engineering. Wytold began his study of classical cello at the age of ten and expanded his learning experience from private lessons to participation in school and regional youth orchestras of Northern Virginia. Wytold remixes the instrument’s sounds into modern classical music compositions. Wytold was a 2012-2013 Artist in Residence at the Music Center at Strathmore and was recognized by the 2013 Artist Fellowship Program of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. The film Blood Brothers, which won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize and U.S. Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, featured Wytold’s composition “Going For It.”

ARTIVATE 8455 COLESVILLE ROAD, SUITE 202, SILVER SPRING, MD 20910 • P: 301-588-7525 F: 301-588-1618 • WWW.GOARTIVATE.ORG Performance Program • Progressive Hip-Hop Beatboxing Intro TRANSITION: What is Remixing? • It's the Beatbox (Pachebel's Canon in D Major) • Human-Beatbox Orchestra (Teaching students to beatbox over Canon) TRANSITION: Foundation of Hip-Hop through sampling • Bach Remix (Bach's Cello Suite Prelude No. 1 in G Major) TRANSITION: What is Live-Looping? • Wytold Original Composition TRANSITION: How to re-imagine the use of a classical instrument • Christylez Bacon Original - Bowl Cut (SPARE PIECE) • Tired of Winter (Vivaldi's Spring from The Four Seasons) • Freestyle Olympics (using musical vocabulary & related ideas) • Humpty Dumpty (Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours)

Academic Standards: This program may be used to address Common Core State Standards in the following curriculum areas: English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening Standards for Students • SL1 – Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners [on appropriate grade level topics and texts], building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others. • SL2 –Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. • SL3—Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric. Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail. • Sl4—Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

Reading Standard for Literacy in History/Social Studies [adapted for performance rather than text] • RH.6-8.2—Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. • RH.6-8.3—Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a [program]. • RH.6-8.4—Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies. • RH.6-8.7—Integrate visual information with other information in print and digital texts. • RH.6-8.9—Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

ARTIVATE 8455 COLESVILLE ROAD, SUITE 202, SILVER SPRING, MD 20910 • P: 301-588-7525 F: 301-588-1618 • WWW.GOARTIVATE.ORG Discussion Questions, Prompts, and Activities: 1) Write a story as a class. Come up with sound effects (sound illustrations) to go along with the narrative. 2) Write a poem with rhythm and rhyme and add musical beats to it. 3) Research a type of music such as the ones on the suggested list. Where did it originate? Where did it travel? How has it changed since its beginnings? --Hip-Hop --Blues --Jazz --Classical 4) Brainstorm as a class: Why do we write/play music? How does music make you feel? 5) Think of your favorite kind of music or your favorite song. What could you add to it to make it new and different? 6) Make your own instruments. Bring them to class. Choose a song on a CD, then have each student improvise a little to the tune.

During the Performance: What to Look and Listen for: • Acoustic instruments—An instrument traditionally played without electronic enhancement. • Audio Engineering—The use of specialized equipment that records and mixes sounds in order to generate an acoustic effect or musical composition. • Beat—A basic rhythmic unit that measures the amount of time for which a note or a rest is held. • Beatbox/Oral percussion—A musical form in which the artist vocally generates rhythm and song by imitating musical instruments and the sound effects of DJ turntables. • Bow—A stick with fibers extending from end to end; when pressed with the fiber-side down and moved across the strings of the instrument, the bow generates vibrations in the strings that produce sound. • Classical Music – A Western musical genre that originated in medieval Europe and continues to develop through the present day. Its history can be roughly broken into the following periods: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Early Romantic, Romantic, and Post ‘Great War’ Years. Source: Naxos.com. Classical music ranges from orchestral music, chamber music, vocal music including opera and liturgical works. Acoustic instruments often associated with classical music (and originally intended for the performance of classical music) include string instruments such as violins, violas, and cellos; brass instruments such as trumpets and trombones; and wind instruments such as flutes, clarinets, and oboes. • Djembe drum—A drum that originated with the Manding people of West Africa. Carved from a single piece of wood and with a drumhead made of animal skin, the drum has spiritual significance as a vessel of three spirits: that of the tree form which it is carved, the animal that provided the drumhead, and the instrument-maker. The drum traditionally accompanies singing and dancing at public celebrations and rituals. • Electronic instrument—An instrument with sound qualities (volume amplification, tone, etc.) modified through the use of electronic equipment. • Hip-Hop History and Characteristics: o A cultural movement of dance, music, and visual art that originated in the African- American communities of 1970s New York City. Hip-Hop is now a global movement that is no longer uniquely an African-American cultural manifestation. • Improvisation—In-the-moment invention of music in live performance by a solo musician or group of musicians.

ARTIVATE 8455 COLESVILLE ROAD, SUITE 202, SILVER SPRING, MD 20910 • P: 301-588-7525 F: 301-588-1618 • WWW.GOARTIVATE.ORG • Jazz—A musical genre that originated in the United States, characterized by the use of complex rhythms and improvisation. • Lyrics—the words to a song; may rhyme or be narrative Pizzicato—A technique of using the fingers to pluck the strings to create single notes, a series of notes, or several notes at once. • Progressive Hip-Hop Characteristics: o Originated in the late 1980s on the East Coast of the United States, entered a brief declined in the early 1990s but regained popularity in the late 90s and early 2000. o Went beyond typical street music such as rap to explore pop, soul, folk, disco, jazz and other styles. • Rhythm—A repeated pattern of played sounds (notes) and breaks in sound (rests).

Further Exploration Publications Light, Alan (ed). The Vibe History of Hip Hop. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999. This Vibe Magazine publication covers the history of hip hop with photo illustrations and discographies. For teacher reference. Marsalis, Wynton. Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!: A Sonic Adventure. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2012. This picture book uses fun illustrations and onomatopoeia to explore musical sounds. Appropriate for students.

Listening/Video Adler, Bill. And You Don’t Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop (Bring the Noise LLC, Perry Films, and Reality Creations, 2004), television mini-series. This documentary covers the evolution of hip-hop culture. For teacher reference. Ice-T. Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap. (Vivendi Entertainment, 2012), DVD. This award-winning documentary directed by rap artist Ice-T covers the history of the hip-hop movement through interviews with other distinguished rap artists. Marsalis, Wynton. Marsalis on Music. (Devine Ent. Corp., 1995), DVD. This famous PBS program features acclaimed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis as he explains music fundamentals to middle school students. Appropriate for students.

On the Web http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize This website for a past Smithsonian exhibition provides photography, painting, graffiti, film and poetry relating to the hip hop movement. http://www.festival.si.edu/2012/progressive-hip-hop with christylez-bacon This site shows a video of Christylez Bacon at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as he explains the human beat-box. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/what-is-hip-hop.shtml This site provides a teacher guide for a lesson on the history of hip hop targeting grades 6-8 and 9-12. The guide includes resources, activities, and discussion questions. http://www.incredibox.com/en/#/application This site allows the user to create their “own” vocal composition by combining sound effects, beats, melodies, choruses and voices.

ARTIVATE 8455 COLESVILLE ROAD, SUITE 202, SILVER SPRING, MD 20910 • P: 301-588-7525 F: 301-588-1618 • WWW.GOARTIVATE.ORG