Our top seller this past school year has been "Music Composition for Teens - a Graded First Course" Available on amazon. Get yours now for the new school year. Enjoy!
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Introduce the topic: “We are going to compose cellphone ringtones”. Listen to some well-known ringtones (select a few from your cellphone). Below I selected a few from my iPhone. Listen and discuss, e.g.: Play the ringtone, have students identify the instrument, pattern, rhythm, melody and/or any other descriptors: Ascending: ascending major scale on xylophone Bell Tower: classic bell/chime melody Marimba: short, catchy pattern on marimba Piano riff: five melody notes on piano Timba: drumming pattern, no melody Xylophone: short melody, catchy rhythm on xylophone
 Students compose a piece of music directed by a set of graphic notation sound tiles which they will use to write a short narrative or poem and perform as multimedia orchestrated work for narration, sound effects, instrumental parts and/or images.
Step 1 Introduce the tile. Discuss how symbols on the tile may be interpreted. E.g.
What is a Leitmotif?
For example: explore, look and listen to the following contemporary style leitmotifs:
For example: Listen to the leitmotif associated with Jaws
Compose Short 2-8 note motifs similar to the "Jaws" leitmotif. - Choose a character from a book, text, play or movie. - Identify his/her/its characteristics - Compose a rhythm only or melodic leitmotif. Perform _ Project the image of your character - Perform the matching leitmotif I spent a lovely week in Spartanburg, South Carolina earlier this month working with teachers at an elementary school: two full days of professional development with the focus on integrating music and literacy followed by classroom demonstrations. Amazing team, well-organized, very receptive faculty - thank you for the invite! I trust I left you all with some ideas, a broader scope for integrating creative activities into the curriculum and a renewed enthusiasm for arts integration. Music Composition for Teens and Pre-Teens Now available on amazon.com, $24.99
 Interesting idea to spark some composition ideas for our high schoolers:
The Virtual Choir is a global phenomenon, creating a user-generated choir that brings together singers from around the world and their love of music in a new way through the use of technology. Singers record and upload their videos from locations all over the world. Each one of the videos is then synchronised and combined into one single performance to create the Virtual Choir. Singers record and upload their videos from locations all over the world. Each one of the videos is then synchronised and combined into one single performance to create the Virtual Choir. It began in 2009 as a simple experiment in social media. The Virtual Choir has been like a drop of water on the surface of a still lake, rippling the musical and online landscape to reach millions. Now with more than fifteen million views, the VC phenomenon has reached all corners of the world, inspiring more and more singers to join each year. The VC has grown from 185 singers in VC1 to an amazing 8,409 videos for VC4 from 101 countries. The VC videos have featured on worldwide TV (ABC in the US and BBC in the UK) and as installations across the globe including the Millennium Bridge, London as part of the 2012 Olympics, the opening of the Titanic Belfast 100-year anniversary exhibition as well as at the closing plenary of Davos World Economic Forum at 2013. The VC has also been seen on the main stage of the revered TED conference, the Paley Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC at events for Google, UNICEF and the United Nations amongst others. At TED 2013, Eric conducted a real-time Live Virtual Choir, performing live from 28 countries around the globe, alongside a 100 person-strong choir on stage, streamed live through Skype. Later in 2013, Eric teamed-up with Disney to produce a song, “Glow”, written especially for World of Color – Winter Dreams show which premiered at Disney California Adventure® Park, California. 1473 singers, representing all 50 American States, submitted recordings, most of which were chosen, to be part of the World of Color Honor Choir. The first-ever Virtual Youth Choir launched in 2014 featuring 2,292 young singers from 80 countries across the world. The film, in partnership with UNICEF, the world’s leading children’s organisation, premiered at the opening ceremony of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. https://ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir/about Sound maps are digital geographical maps that emphasize the acoustic/sonic representation of a specific location. Sound maps associate or link landmarks (e.g. streets, building, parks, etc.) and soundscapes. The purpose is to represent a specific place in sound rather that visuals. Great music composition project for your high schoolers! Compose a Digital Sound Map with your students The most straightforward method is mapping and embedding sound files on an existing map program e.g. Google Maps or Mapme. Try https://mapme.com/ Note: I found mapme.com the simplest online mapmaker and very user friendly. You are able to upload images and video on the free version. Audio requires a subscription. Record your sound as video with black screen to circumvent the subscription. New, fun piano solos for intermediate students now available at www.sheetmusicplus.com  |
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