what musical futures

will do for our program

MUE 2040
12/10/13
Brenda Contreras
Andrew Lujan
Alexa Marsellos
Matthew Warner

Table of Contents
Letter to administration3-4
Objectives.4-5
Methods & Process...5-6
Lesson Plans & Song Diagrams....7-14
Resources..15

Dear Members of the School Board in Miami-Dade County:

Wethe teachers of Steven J. Smith Middle Schoolwould like to propose a reformation of our music program in favor of the principles of Musical Futures. This organization that
was originally founded in the United Kingdom is a philosophy in education based on two principals: non-formal teaching and informal learning. Revolutionizing the role of teacher and students in the classroom, it calls for students to take charge of their educational experience, and
allows teachers to teach their students what they want to learn.
In 2012 the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) released a report assessing
the presence of arts education in school from 1999-2010. According to this study, 94% of elementary schools and 90% secondary schools across our nation have some form of music instruction offered in their curriculum. However, with schools having to deal with drastic budget cuts
in the past few years, music and other arts programs are some of the first to be cut. Dee Hansen
(2012) believes that No Child Left Behind has encouraged school boards to view music education as a frivolity due to increased testing in academic subjects. Incidentally, the federal government completely eliminated funding for the Arts in Education program in 2011, thus taking
funding away from countless music programs.
This new program aims to make music more relatable and available to our students, thus
instilling music back into our students lives as well as imbue them with valuable skills to reach
other areas of the lives. Using instruments already familiar to our students such as guitar, drums,
piano, and voice, we can build a program that students can engage in hands on learning much
sooner than others; not only are these instruments generally easier to obtain, but they appeal to
students due to their prevalence in popular music. Using todays technology, students can YouTube private lessons to learn to play a guitar quickly from the privacy of their bedroom.

Consequently there can be less time in class spent on teaching students how to play,
and more time fine tuning and expanding upon their skills andmost importantlygetting
students to make music. Furthermore, this method of student centered learning allows students
to develop important life skills such as discipline, creativity, problem solving, and social skills.

Objectives
As music educators, we want to create unique and innovative ways to teach our students in the classroom. Through Musical Futures, our students will experience both nonformal teaching and informal learning; these sorts of newfangled methods will help to create
genuine experiences for both the teacher and students.
This new curriculum that we will implement throughout our music community and
classrooms will bring more students into our music programs, as well as encourage other nonmusic teachers to partner up with the music educators in their schools to create one universal
environment that promotes an original way of learning. We want these ideas to encompass our
schooling community as a whole, to revitalize and invigorate the mind of our teachers with
different ways to approach teaching in their classrooms. We strongly believe that widespread
advocacy of these new learning and teaching styles will essentially set a new standard for music education throughout our community, which could lead to a re-energized interest in students for music.
The integration of this policy will also affect our students in a personal manner.
Through music, students are able to earn achievements and feel success throughout their
music career, which affects their self-worth and self-confidence. We want out students to
come into the classroom and feel confident enough to give their best efforts towards their performance.

It is important that we think about how our students feel and think in the classroom. With
this new curriculum, our students will grow strong and confident mentalities about their schoolwork. We will create activities that help grow their personal skills so that they will be prepared to
mentally handle the many environments they will encounter throughout their lives. Sharing these
new class experiences with their peers can also help to build their social skills. Many students can
be shy and may not want to participate in classroom activities,. As teachers, we need to encourage them to be positive about these sorts of experiences. For many students, this new policy can
also provide a great creative outlet for them.
Methods & Process
With this new program, we intend to facilitate musical learning by integrating musicianship,
improvisation, and composition by using aural listening, and performances. By choosing to use a
non-formal teaching approach, the students have more influence in the classroom and in turn
their learning process. The majority of the repertoire used in class will popular music selected by
the students, allowing them to have influence in class.
The classroom will generally be structured using a three veined process:

Stage 1: Diagnose students current musical skills and interests as developing artists.

Establishes a central focus and state of mind for the class

Stage 2: Plan projects according to identied needs. Enlist the help of community musicians,
student leaders, and other partners.

Gives students the opportunity to work with different people and personalities, as
well as experience different styles of music

Stage 3: Assess projects effect & student achievement

Gives opportunity to adjust current goals and set new ones.

By using these strategies, we hope to get students engaged in the classroom and making music
sooner, and having them grow as musicians by helping them develop new skills or expanding those
they already have.

How would this be organized in the classroom?

The first few days of class, students will have time to explore guitar/bass, piano/keyboard,
drums, and vocals. By the end of the first week of meetings, each student in the class will have had
the opportunity to experiment with each of the instruments and select the one that they favor.
The weeks following this discovery period, the curriculum is separated into units, where
there would be a central focus on themes and musical skills. The week would begin with the students learning a piece as a whole class, and then the subject would be introduced. For instance, the
teacher decides to teach the principles of voice leading. The process for structuring lessons would
be as follows:

The teacher would select a song that exemplifies the overall concept of voice leading

The first class session for this unit would be dedicated to the students learning the song aurally.

Students would form small ensembles, and they would learn covers and present them to
the class

Then, the teacher would begin a series of mini lessons where he or she would ask the students to
analyze the song; identify the chords used, what the tonality is, how the chords are built
(components vary upon students existing skill level).

When the students have grasped the central focus of the lesson (identifying voice leading in a
piece), their ensembles can elect songs to arrange where they identify the voice leading, and
perform them and explain these concepts to the class

At the end of the year, the students will then program a concert where they select pieces to perform
as a class or as their small ensembles that they learned throughout the year.

Key Goal:
Students will learn to identify chords and how they lend themselves to
voice leading in a song

Students will be able to identify the chords in a song

Students will understand the correlation between how chords are built
and voice leading

Things students must be familiar with before starting this lesson:

Basic knowledge about playing their instrument

Basic knowledge about key signatures, scales, and scale degrees
Resources:

Song video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPRonG87eKw

Cover video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcmYOAkLREM
Process:

Students will listen to the Beach Boys Barbara Ann recording, and discuss characteristics they heard amongst one another
Next, students will listen to an a capella cover of Barbara Ann.
Student will then form small groups of four or five and arrange a cover of the song
aurally.
Song may be in any key and have any instrumentation students choose to
use.
At the end of class, each group will perform their cover of the song for the class,
and peers will give feedback, state observations, and ask questions.

Lesson Expansions
Scenario #1:

Pass out sheet music

For homework, students can write in a
chord analysis or identify scale degrees
for the song in the original key

Scenario #2

Next class:

Students get into their groups and compare analysis

ensembles can then write chord progressions for their arrangement
Class comes back together and discusses activity and asks questions
Teacher would segue into a lesson on
the principles of voice leading

For homework, students notate the

arrangement their group did in class
(doesnt have to be traditional notation)
Identify how the chords are built
throughout the song, and where they
change
Next Class:

Students get into groups and compare

notation assignments
Class comes back together to discuss
problems they encountered.
Class could create a notation activity
together.
Teacher would segue into a lesson on
the principles of voice leading

BARBARA ANN
Ba-ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann
Ba-ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann
F#
B
Barbara Ann, take my hand
F#
Barbara Ann
C#
You got me rockin' and a-rollin'
C#7
F#
Rockin' and a-reelin', Barbara Ann, Ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann
F#
Went to a dance lookin' for romance
Saw Barbara Ann, so I thought I'd take a chance
B
F#
Barbara Ann, come take my hand
C#
You got me rockin' and a-rollin'
C#7
F#
Rockin' and a-reelin', Barbara Ann, Ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann
Ba-ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann
Ba-ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann
F#
B
Barbara Ann, take my hand
F#
Barbara Ann
C#
You got me rockin' and a-rollin'
C#7
F#
Rockin' and a-reelin', Barbara Ann, Ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann

10

F#
Tried Peggy Sue, tried Peggy Sue
Tried Peggy Sue, but I knew she wouldn't do
B
F#
Barbara Ann, come take my hand
C#
You got me rockin' and a-rollin'
C#7
F#
Rockin' and a-reelin', Barbara Ann, Ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann
F#
Barbara Ann, Barbara Ann
Barbara Ann, Barbara Ann
Barbara Ann, Barbara Ann
(Fade out)

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Key Goal:
Students will learn to distinguish and feel complex rhythms

Students will be able to identify time meters

Students will understand time is the same, the feel changes.

Things students must be familiar with before starting this lesson:

Basic knowledge about playing their instrument

Basic knowledge about key signatures, scales, and scale degrees
Basic knowledge about time signatures
Resources:

Song video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-pFAFsTFTI

Cover video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYvBV7rgrsk
Process:

Students will listen to the Beatles All You Need is Love recording, and discuss
time changes amongst each other.
Next, students will listen to a cover of All You Need is Love.
Student will then form small groups of four or five and arrange a cover of the song
aurally, making sure they indicate when the time changes from 4/4 to 7/8 and so on.
Song may be in any key and have any instrumentation students choose to
use.
At the end of class, each group will perform their cover of the song for the class,
and peers will give feedback, state observations, and ask questions.

12

Lesson Expansions
Scenario #1:

Pass out music with different meters

For homework, students can identify
how different time signatures should be
felt. For example: 7/8 can be felt 2-2-3
or 3-2-2 or 3-+-3-+ etc.

Scenario #2

Next class:

Students get into their groups and compare analyses, demonstrating how to
count and feel the different meters they
identified
Class comes back together and discusses activity and asks questions
Teacher would segue into a lesson on
the importance of complex meters

For homework, students analyze

complex and additive meters.
Use examples of cultural music with
different meters.

Next Class:

Students get into groups and compare

assignments
Class comes back together to ask any
questions they may have.
Teacher would segue into a lesson on
the importance of complex meters

13

Intro:
G D Em
Love Love Love
G
D Em
Love Love Love
Am G D D x 2
Love Love Love

D7 x 2

Gx2

Dx1

Verse:
G
D
Em
There's nothing you can do that can't be done
G
D
Em
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Am
G
D
Nothing you can say but you can learn to play the game,
D x 2 D7 x 2 G x 2 D x 1
It's easy
G
D
Em
There's nothing you can make that can't be made
G
D
Em
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Am
G
D
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time,
D x 2 D7 x 2 G x 2 D x 1 D7 x 1
It's easy
[ Tab from: http://www.guitaretab.com/b/beatles/199281.html ]
Chorus:
G
A
D D7
All you need is love
G
A
D D7
All you need is love
G
B
Em G C
D
G
All you need is love love love. Love is all you need.
Instrumental break (same chords as verse):
G D Em
G D Em
Am G D
D D7 G D
G
A
D D7
All you need is love
G
A
D D7
All you need is love
G
B
Em G C
All you need is love, love.

D
G
Love is all you need.

14

G
D
Em
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
G
D
Em
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Am
G
D
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be,
D x 2 D7 x 2 G x 2 D x 1
It's easy
All you need is love,
All you need is love,
All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)
All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love. Love is all you need.
G
Love is all you need
G
Love is all you need (repeat till end)

15

Resources

For more information on musical futures, visit: https://www.musicalfutures.org/

To see our presentation material, visit: http://prezi.com/jmjdzqzatdqw/musical-futures

-and-our-classrooms/

To see our official presentation, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=a_C_OkgW5DU&feature=youtu.be