 Listening can often become a rather passive activity. That is not entirely a bad thing in the scope of life. Sometimes having music playing and just being is great. However, in the structure of a music class, it is rare that we want listening to be a completely passive activity. Expecting students, especially the youngest learners, to sit completely still and silent for several minutes while they listen to a piece of music can be unreasonable. Instead, there are degrees of active things that students can do while listening.  One idea that a lot of different companies have published are called listening maps. Often, they go with classical pieces, but the idea can be easily developed for other styles of music as well. The listening maps have a visual for students to focus on that usually traces the form, instrumentation, and texture of a piece. When the sound changes, the visual changes. A variation on this idea is to have students raise their hand, hold up fingers, or another physical sign when they hear a specific thing happen in the music. I like to use this when the piece we are listening to has some type of repeated melody like a fugue. Every time the students hear the theme start again they raise their hand. Keep in mind that fugues do not simply have to be from the Baroque era of Bach and Handel. A couple that I have found work well is “The Shark Cage Fugue” from the Jaws soundtrack and “Going The Distance” from the Rocky soundtrack. Continuing with the visual element. For some pieces, watching a video performance of an orchestra, choir, or band may help to add a concrete, human element to something that is abstract. Listening activities like this can easily be connected to a unit on vocal range or instrument families.  The next category of active listening is different movements that can help with listening activities. To start simply, students can pat or tap the beat that they hear. This is especially good when the piece has tempo that gets faster or slower over time or stops suddenly. To add some variety to this, handheld rhythm instruments can be used. If you have a good enough sound system, students can use rhythm sticks, maracas, hand drums and still be able to hear the recording. For exploring melodic contour or dynamic shape, having students trace the shape in the air with their hands can be useful. For slightly older students, basic conducting patterns can be used in much the same way. When older students get confident with simpler conducting patterns, it can actually help them to feel the organization of beats within a piece. The most complex level of movement while listening can be full dances. Dancing is a natural activity that all young students seem to enjoy. When they get older, some get self-conscious, so modifying dance activities can help all students to feel comfortable. I like to do a balance of “free dancing”- meaning that students decide how they move based on what they hear and “structured dancing” in which students follow a set of steps like a line dance, circle dance, or ballroom patterns.  Like with any activity, I make sure to establish procedures for safe dancing from the beginning. The basic expectations that I use all have to do with safety: stay in your own space (so not moving all around the room; occasionally we will plan a conga line); keep all body parts to yourself, and keep feet on the floor (it is amazing how many students want to lay on the floor during dancing time and this is just asking for fingers to get stepped on). Once you establish the procedures and review them several times, dancing time comes with the expectations automatically.
One game that students of many ages love is freeze dance. This is a good way to guide students to listen to patterns if you pause the music at specific points. The students freeze when the music is paused and dance when the music plays. It is also interesting to pause the music at unexpected times like in the middle of a phrase and discuss why pauses during a phrase sound wrong. A variation on freeze dance is hot potato, which works well for long pieces. I usually have a soft object that students pass from one to the next. Just like with the dancing expectations, we review procedures of not throwing the object before ever doing it. When using simple modifications like ones I have mentioned, students are still listening to music (and may listen to pieces that last 5-10 minutes long), but feel like they are not just listening as their minds and bodies are active the entire time. I have found these activities are very successful and often, students look forward to them.
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12/21/2020 1 Comment Film- Jaws Jaws is quite possibly my favorite movie. The plot is so simple and has been imitated hundreds of times, but no imitation has ever come close to the original. In terms of film history, it is probably the second blockbuster after the Godfather three years earlier and the breakthrough first success for director Steven Speilberg. Speilberg is probably still the best known director in the world 50 years after he started. Speilberg comes from the generation of filmmakers that trained via film school. Earlier generations of filmmakers worked their way up to director and producer often through the apprentice model. An eager filmmaker would begin as an assistant, and learn the trade. Of course, the older generation of filmmakers that had “put in their time” did not immediately embrace the new, university-trained filmmakers. One thing that the older and younger generation of filmmakers and viewers could all agree on was that Jaws is a great film. The structure of Jaws is basically two parts. The first takes place on the island with a series of shark attacks. The second part takes place on the boat with the three protagonists trying to find and kill the shark. The part that audiences seem to remember best and the majority of the marketing hype comes from the first part, yet it is the second part that has more character interactions and subjective, or character-driven drama.  While Amity is not a real island, the film was made at Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Cape Cod. My grandparents lived on the southern coast of Cape Cod for about 20 years and growing up, I would spend a lot of time there in the summer. I do not know for certain, but I can imagine that the filmmakers did not have to change or exaggerate much to get the Cape Cod feel of a small, tourism dependent town and the chaos of tourists coming off ferries. When I was about 15, I got to travel to Martha’s Vineyard and see the original movie locations, which was quite an exciting trip for me. One of the aspects of the film that still makes it hold up today is the fact that the shark is not seen for most of the film. What today is acknowledged as brilliant withholding of the shark in the spirit of sustaining suspense, was actually done due to technical difficulties. A large mechanical shark was built for the production, which the crew dubbed “Bruce”. The shark would work brilliantly out of water, but when it would be placed in the water, it broke down so many times that Speilberg was starting to worry if the film could be made at all. That’s when the idea came to barely show the shark. But this detail was not enough to make the film the classic that it became. The music of John Williams is as much to credit in the building of suspense as what we see on the screen. The basis of the Jaws theme is so simple, just two alternating notes a half step apart with a third lower note to provide accents. Williams has said that his inspiration for the simplicity of the theme was the primitive hunting instincts of the shark. While the rhythm of the theme is inspired by heartbeats with a pulse that gets faster and faster. For the first few attacks, the viewer never sees any part of the shark. The only way the viewer knows that the shark is present is the music and the reactions of characters. It is about an hour into the film before the viewer even sees the shark fin. Arguably, the part of the film that breaks the illusion of realism is at the very end, when the shark climbs onto the back of the boat and its movements are more mechanical than they are organic. Even so, the textured look of the mechanical shark still holds up much better than computer generated sharks of even high-quality imitations like Deep Blue Sea.  Although the characters of police chief Brody, marine biologist Hooper, and fisherman Quint are introduced before they board the boat together, it is when it is only the three on the boat that we get to know the characters best. The contrast between them is what makes it so believable when they have to work together. The educated Hooper acts on logic and scientific reasoning. He sees the shark as something to be studied. The working class Quint acts on instinct and personal experience. He sees the shark as a bounty or a job. Brody, who is afraid of water, and insists they get a bigger boat, is the balance between the two extremes. The function between them works as if they are different aspects of the same character.
In the years and decades that followed, the legacy of Jaws has been spoiled by three poor sequels and almost infinite imitators that feature not only sharks, but orcas, squid, piranhas, alligators, and sharknados… It is difficult for modern viewers to watch the original Jaws without the backstory of all the ripoffs lingering. If you can let go of the poor shark movies that you have seen, Jaws is a thrilling and moving experience. I still am not crazy about swimming in the ocean. That effect is fine filmmaking at its best.  The origins of film comedy began with the birth of humankind. Comedy appeared the first time someone tripped over a log, the first time one person performed an impression of another, or the first time someone did something foolish and looked around to make sure that no one had seen it. Freud had explained how comedy is an alternative to repression of thoughts and actions that are taboo. Instead of holding back, comedy rewards an outward display of forbidden subjects through the safe expression of laughter. The comic character as an outsider—one that exists within society, but is not necessarily a part of it, is a common theme that recurs throughout the different eras of comedy. Perhaps the human tendency to seek heroes and role models is what draws people to many non-comic presentations. Throughout history the same comic characters, as well as similar situations and themes recur in notable comedies and across art forms—as some of the common threads that I have already mentioned that appear to be constant across many subgenres of comedy. Film reviewers and scholars form opinions about what makes a good film and what does not—often on the basis of critics and scholars of the past who have researched other forms of comedy. As I guide the reader through the various eras of comic presentation and comic theory, it will become apparent that critical views of particular comic works change over time, from favorable to unfavorable and vice versa. The section headings that I have chosen are a general way of demarcating different eras and distinct forms. For some sections, terms within the heading may pertain to different cultures or different artistic media in different ways, which the subheadings should clarify. Classical Comedy (Greece: 600~250 BC; Rome: 250 BC~100 AD) The first records of comedy and theories of comedy come from about 2,500 years ago. From the earliest examples of comic plays, one can see the foundations for contemporary film comedy. Since its birth, comedy has been the enjoyable, yet less praised sibling of Tragedy. One important thing to understand about the first comedies is that they began as private exhibitions for the wealthy, much like Classical music of the Eighteenth Century. Only later did playwrights present comedies for the public, a change that critically marks a shift in favor of comedy, recontextualized for the masses. We will see this difference once again when we examine film comedy specifically, for some films seem to appeal only to critics while some capture audiences and disappoint critics. Certainly, presentations of comedy occurred across the world before the first records in ancient Greece, but unfortunately, it is impossible to analyze directly the ancient comedies that have continued through oral tradition. Traditionally, we separate the styles of Classical comedy into Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. Old Comedy During this period, intellectuals began to write about comedy. Already, different styles of comic characters appear. One is the clumsy buffoon that does not fit within the society—a pariah. It is important to realize, however, that in Ancient Greece, it would have been more respectable to exist in society as someone to be mocked than to face exile from the society. Another is the more refined character that relies on verbal rather than physical comedy. The reader may note that the comic character did not exist for its own purpose, but rather as an obstacle to test the hero—an almost proto-taboo figure. In addition to these two distinct comic types, we also find the first examples of the “straight-man”. The straightman serves to contrast with the comic characters so that the audience may have a point of reference by which to judge how funny the comic characters are. Aristophanes (ca. 446-386 BC) was the most prolific comic writer from this time period. However, his works did not find universal acceptance. His social criticism of Greek society actually caused him trouble. Scholars praise Aristophanes for the sentimental qualities of his comedies that he is able to elicit, much in the same way that they praise Chaplin. Both artists show that touching moments need not be removed from comedy. Aristophanes was one of the first playwrights to explore the potential of parody. Parody finds a source of comedy in mocking an original serious idea, instead of creating an original idea. Aristophanes assumes his audience has prior knowledge of the original work that he parodies. Middle Comedy After Aristophanes, Greek Comedy entered its second stage, now known as Middle Comedy. No major comic works of this period that will later influence film comedy vary from the conventions previously established in Old Comedy. However, during this time period, philosophers began to theorize about comedy and to create philosophies of comedy. By far the leading philosopher of this time period when it comes to many things, Aristotle never actually created a theory of comedy as he did for tragedy. New Comedy The New Comedy works present us with something drastically different from the Old and Middle Comedy. While plays hearkening back to the style of Old Comedy still existed, just as films in that style still exist, New Comedy presented a formula that clearly demarcated it from the qualities of the other styles of comedy. It is important for the reader to realize that this style of New Comedy did not end with Ancient Greece. Many scholars would argue that New Comedy never really died. It certainly can be found in many of the comedies of Shakespeare, the operas of Mozart, the films of Lubitsch and Cukor, and in the Screwball Comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. Litterateurs credit Menander (ca. 341-290 BC), the most prolific comedy writer of Greek New Comedy, with giving women a higher place in comedy. Throughout history, especially in the works of Shakespeare and Jane Austen, as well as in the Screwball Comedies, we find comedies in which a female character is no longer the object of comedy, but rather the instigator of comedy. The role of a female protagonist as a controller of the comedy is another theme that recurs across eras and subgenres of comedy. The fact that comedy allows for strong female characters also reminds us that comedy allows for what may be seditious topics at the time, such as women holding positions of authority in the Ancient World. Comedy only truly works when the audience expects to encounter a comedy. However, a joke can only work if the punch line is unexpected. As Menander’s Misanthrope teaches us, and so many film comedies echo, one must understand the conventions of comedy in order to appreciate comedy fully.  Roman Comedy Plautus was the first great Roman comedian. The key to understanding the negative attitude towards Plautus has to do with the fact that he wrote many of his plays for the purpose of receiving income, instead of for strictly artistic reasons. The commercial appeal/ aesthetic appeal debate is as old as art criticism itself and is most definitely still a factor for films. Plautus was extremely popular with audiences of the time. Time and again we see comedy as a way to safely criticize one’s own society.
Succeeding Plautus, Terence (Anglicized from Terentius) was highly influenced by the Greek comedies and became one of the most prolific Roman writers of comedy. One can see that ancient critics recognized the merits of comedy. Of the two Roman playwrights profiled here, Terence is closest in style to Menander. Throughout the different eras, we see how multiple styles of comedy enrich one another in any given era. For example, one could never confuse the comic style of Groucho Marx with that of Cary Grant. Regardless of which writer one may favor personally, scholars concede that both men created a style that succeeded and went on to influence later styles and eventually film comedies. The different comic approaches used by Plautus and Terence, helped to lay the foundations of the different subgenres of film comedy that exist today. Many scholars credit the writers of New Comedy in creating the conventions of romantic comedies, or what became the Screwball Comedies in the mid-1930s. Even in Ancient Rome, the comedy of manners became something distinctly different from the physical comedy, now known as slapstick. The zany situations and fast-paced banter define the former style, just as the pratfalls characterize the latter. While the contrast between these comic styles becomes even more apparent with the films of the early sound era, it began in ancient times. In every art form, one finds that innovation occurs in two ways: an artist choosing to expand upon the foundations set down by another, or an artist reacting against the foundations set down by another, instead deciding to travel in a new direction. In this way, Classical comedy has influenced the comedies of every subsequent era, whether writers wished to follow in the Classical model or wished to avoid it. Comedy draws from real life—one reason why the same or similar gag can elicit laughter for a millennium. Gags seen in nearly every film comedy have their roots in earlier eras.  I have written this article to serve two purposes, either to get you more confident with understanding standard notation, if you are not yet confident, or as a way in which notation can be taught to others. I will start with very broad concepts and then address more specifics or exceptions to rules. Two of the most basic elements of music that can be represented through notation are pitch --how high and low the notes are; which can also be thought of as letter names, keys on a keyboard, finger position on a string instrument, etc-- and rhythm-- the organization of sound through time. We will start with pitch. Pitch In our Western system of music, there are only 12 letter names. Each of these 12 notes is the same amount of space apart (we call this a half step). Since the letter names are only A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, the other notes in between would have the same letter name with a half step higher called a sharp (#) and a half step lower called a flat (b). These 12 pitches can be read on the music staff, a background of 5 lines and 4 spaces. On a typical note, when the circle part of the note moves higher up on the page, the pitch goes higher, and the next letter name up would move forward in alphabetical order. From line to the next space and space to the next line, we move up by one letter. So if our bottom line is E, the rest of the spaces and lines would be F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F at the top line. It is exactly the opposite situation moving down the page, the lower the circle, the lower the pitch and we go in reverse alphabetical order. The nice thing is that the names of the lines of the spaces stay the same no matter where the notes move.  That is the basics of pitches! Knowing this, you can follow the up and down contour of a melody even if you do not know the exact letter name in the moment, you can see whether each note is higher or lower than the note before it. Now, on to rhythm. Rhythm As I said above, rhythm is the way we organize sound through time. No matter how high or low the circle part of the note is, that does not affect how the rhythm is written. You have probably noticed that when looking at music, some notes have circles that are colored in, some have a single line attached, some appear to be two notes attached together, and there are even notes with no lines. That’s a lot to remember. Over time, you will be able to recognize and remember how each note looks, but there is another way to figure out the basic rhythm of a phrase. When you look at a piece of music you will notice that there are lines that go down through the staff and seem to separate groups of notes. This is no accident. Depending on how many beats are in a measure of music (the space between two lines), every group of beats will be separated by one of these barlines.  But how do we know how many beats are supposed to be in a measure? Look at the very beginning of the music, the top left. You will see two numbers, that look like a fraction. For now, we will just worry about the top number. If you see a 4 on the top, it means that the quarter note gets the one beat.  If you see 4 of these in a measure, it means the counting is simply 1 2 3 4 and the next measure begins again with 1. In this way, it doesn’t matter how many notes are in the piece total, each measure starts again with 1.
Without memorizing the names of eighth notes, half notes, whole notes and more, for well formatted music we can think of the amount of space that each note or group of notes takes up. If you see two notes in the space of one quarter note, it means they are each half the value of the quarter note (1 2 and 3 4). If you see a note that seems to be taking up more of the measure than one quarter note, it could be a 2 beat note (1 2 3 -) or if there is only 1 other quarter note left in the measure of 4, then it would be a 3 beat note (1 - - 4). You don’t have to know the exact definition of each rhythm symbol, just see how many beats should be in a measure and how many notes are written in a measure. If there are very few notes in a measure, the music will sound slower. If there are quite a lot of notes in a measure, the music will sound faster. You do not have to know everything about pitch and rhythm to be able to follow the basic structure of written notation. Hopefully these few tips can help. Please let me know if you have questions! |
