Welcome to the 2020 Moment for Music Online Guide You can download a PDF of this guide here For access to the full clips, you will need access to YouTube.com Clips may be shown on screen or played over announcements/speakers only. Please let us know if you experience technical issues by emailing [email protected] nd March 2 – Read Across America Day Seussical the Musical, “Green Eggs and Ham" Arr. Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty nd I bet you already knew that Read Across America Day is celebrated on or around March 2 , which is the author Dr. Seuss’s birthday. If he were alive today, he’d be 116 years old. What you may not know is that there is a musical based on the many books by Dr. Seuss called Seussical the Musical. It debuted on Broadway in the year 2000 and is still a very popular play at schools and small theatres. Major characters include The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant and, of course, The Grinch. Listen to the lyrics of “Green Eggs and Ham” from Seussical the Musical. Do you hear rhyming words that sound familiar? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scbRRYzo9WU Other Activities: • Pick another book by Dr. Seuss and make up your own tune for the words in the book. • Choose other characters you remember from Dr. Seuss books – would they be good characters in the musical? Why or why not? March 3rd - National Anthem Day "The Star Spangled Banner" Lyrics: Francis Scott Key, Tune: British Folk Song Recorded by: Jimi Hendrix The United States will celebrate its 244th birthday this July, but it didn't have an official national anthem until 1931. On March 3rd, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a law saying "The Star Spangled Banner" was the official anthem of the United States. The words to the song come from a poem written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, during a battle between American and British troops. In the morning, Francis Scott Key saw that the large American flag was flying over the fort, signaling an American victory! He was so inspired that he wrote a poem on the back of a letter he had in his pocket. Many people have played or sung the National Anthem. One of the most famous versions is by Jimi Hendrix, and it is played entirely on electric guitar. He uses special effects to help represent lyrics such as “bombs bursting in air” and “rockets red glare”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKAwPA14Ni4 Other Activities: • Visit the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's website about the National Anthem • Research National Anthems from one country from each inhabited continent. How are they like ours? March 4th – Marching Music Day "Rocky Top" Felice and Boudleaux Bryant Performed by: Pride of the Southland Band, University of Tennessee Knoxville March forth to the rhythm of life on Marching Music Day every March 4. In honor of dedicated musicians and performers of many diverse styles and backgrounds, Marching Music Day celebrates all varieties of the art forms bringing us “music on the move.” Many highs schools, colleges and universities have marching bands! One marching band song that we hear a lot in Tennessee is the song “Rocky Top” which the University of Tennessee in Knoxville uses at their games. “Rocky Top” was first a country song that has three verses which talk about how great living in Tennessee is and how much the singer wishes they could go back to living an easy life on Rocky Top. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPytxRpPgGY Other activities • There are many other songs written about cities in and the state of Tennessee, including ten that are the state’s official state songs. Listen to and learn about other songs about the state of Tennessee and its cities. To see the lyrics to our state songs, visit the Tennessee state website at http://www.tn.gov/state-songs.shtml March 6th – March is International Black Women in Jazz Month “Pow!” Arr: Ray Bryant, Slide Hampton Performed by: Melba Liston March was named International Women in Jazz Month to create awareness by honoring the many contributions of black female artists to Jazz. One such woman is Melba Liston, the subject of the 2020 Music in Our Schools Month book Little Melba and Her Big Trombone. Melba was a true pioneer; she was one of the first women of any race to become a world-class trombone player, composer, and arranger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THmGtExlVLs Other activities • Melba Liston was a trombone player, composer, and arranger. Research to discover: what are the responsibilities of each of these roles in a jazz band? Compare the roles of the composer, arranger, vocalist, and instrumentalist. • Students can research a musician from their city or state. What type of music and instrument does/did the musician play? Create a timeline of major events in the musician’s life and career. Using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast this musician’s life and career with the life and career of Melba Liston. March 9th – March is Optimism Month "Happy" Pharell Williams Optimism is the belief or hope that something will be positive, not negative. Positive thinking students show their optimism in many ways. For example, if they can’t work a math problem they don’t just give up on it. Instead they re-work it or ask for help. In their mind they believe they can find the right answer, it just may require time. They see failure as a learning opportunity. In the song “Happy” by Pharell Williams, he writes the lyrics “Bring me down, Can’t nuthin bring me down” which is an excellent example of optimism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7dPqrmDWxs Other activities • Write about it: would your friends say you are an optimist? Why or why not? March 10th – International Bagpipe Day "Danny Boy" Frederick Weatherly Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. They are traditionally associated with Scotland, but have actually been used for centuries in many parts of Europe and in western Asia and northern Africa. Materials used for the bags vary widely, but the most common are the skins of local animals such as goats, dogs, sheep, and cows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHJ3DEKlz8A Other activities •The bagpipe and the flute are two of the oldest instruments in the world. Create a Venn Diagram that shows the similarities and differences between the flute and the bagpipe. March 11th - Chants Kyrie Gregorian Chant Recorded by: OCP Session Choir Historical | Vocal/Choral People have been singing for a very long time. One of the earliest types of singing was a special kind of music that was used during religious services called “chant”. A chant is usually slow and the people singing sing the same notes – there is no harmony. Chants became especially popular in Medieval times and a man named Pope Gregory I made a set of rules about chants so many people could read the music and sing. Some types of chant were called “Gregorian chant” after him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjSGNAhIiuM Other activities • Take a sentence from your favorite book and write a chant melody to go with it. • Gregorian chant music looks different than our music looks today. Compare and contrast written Gregorian chant music and a piece of music from today. March 12th – Music by Handel "Hallelujah Chorus” from The Messiah George Frederic Handel Recorded by: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir George Fredric Handel was born in 1685 in Germany, but lived most of his life in England. He wrote music during the Baroque period of music and invented a new type of music called the oratorio. An oratorio tells a story through music like an opera or a musical, but there are no sets or action. Handel’s most famous oratorio is The Messiah, which has a piece called “Hallelujah Chorus”. It is sometimes heard in Christian churches, but you might hear it on commercials or television shows when someone is very excited! One fun tradition of the “Hallelujah Chorus” is that many people stand when it is played. When it was first played in London, the King of England was so excited by the beginning that he stood up. Since everyone was required to stand up when the king did, the whole audience stood up, too! People have been standing up for the “Hallelujah Chorus” for more than 200 years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI6dsMeABpU Other activities • Handel wrote the music so that each time someone sings “Hallelujah” it is the same rhythm as if they had said it. Choose one of your favorite words and write the musical rhythm of it. March 13th – March is Deaf History Month Symphony No 5 Ludwig van Beethoven Performance from: Disney’s Fantasia 2000 March is Deaf History Month; one of the most famous musicians in the world lost his hearing while in the middle of his composing career. Beethoven was born in Germany in 1770 and learned to play the piano very well. When he was 13, he began to compose music and to conduct orchestras. He moved to Austria and met Mozart, who said “You will someday make a big noise in the world!” Beethoven started to lose his hearing and eventually, he couldn’t hear anything. But he figured out a way that he could still write music and he only heard the music in his head.