As we prepare for Christmas and the holidays, one major choral work that we will learn is "Hallelujah Chorus" from Messiah by Handel. This piece has various layers of musical writing to it--homophony, polyphony, accompanied music, etc. Listen to three different recordings of the work by three different choirs. As you listen, note the following: how the tempo changes from performance to performance, the sound of the various choirs, whether there is an orchestra or a piano, and any other musical element present. The following questions/responses need to be addressed in your two paragraph written response: 1) Does the performance sound better or worse when it is a full orchestra? Piano alone? 2) Is the choirs diction clear? (In other words, are the words clearly understood in each voice part?) If not, how can it be made better? 3) What is one thing that will make the performances better? Be specific and list one thing for each of the three videos you watch. 4) You must listen to at least one (1) video that that has piano accompaniment and no orchestra. You must also listen to a total of three (3) videos and include the YouTube link in order to receive credit for your listening. All listening is due by Friday, November 14, 2014, 11:59 pm. Below is a video example. This video cannot be used as one of your listening examples for this assignment.

Listening Week of October 27 -31, 2014 This week’s listening activity deals with Tibetan Throat Singing, sometimes referred to as overtone singing. In this type of singing, individuals are able to manipulate the overtones that are naturally present in the voice, producing two tones at one time. Look at the following YouTube links in addition to some of your own and make a post on the class blog (http://btwcmd.blogspot.com) responding to the videos you watch. In your response, answer the following questions: 1. What is Tibetan Throat Singing? 2. What are some dangers of this method of singing? Benefits? (you will have to do a little research to answer this question) 3. What does the singing sound like to you? 4. How is this type of singing achieved? Is this something that you can train yourself to do? Responses need to total at least two paragraphs in length. All responses need to be made on the class blog site. These are due by Friday, October 31 no later than 11:59 pm. Late posts will not be accepted.

Music Commercials

I watched the following commercial. It is about Beats Audio and the character is Ellen DeGeneres. In this commercial, she searches for the best music and best beats to listen to so that she can dance. Compare this to the story of Goldilocks. Music has an innate power to control and change how people do things. This is evident from the commercial. How can we use music in our classroom to change people and their behaviors? This will be a major goal and concept for us the remainder of the year.