William Grant Still: "Afro-American Symphony"

Music Lesson Plans: Twelve Bar Blues and Rhythmic Notation Lesson Plans
Go there: K-1 | 2-3 | 4-5 | 6-8

What is a Bar? Counting in sets of fours
Objective: Students will be able to put objects in sets of fours and use them to count measures.

What is a measure? Horizontal reading
Objective: Students will be able to read the measures and do the movements that coordinate with the twelve bar blues pattern.

Orffin' the Blues
Objective: Students will play along with the Twelve Bar Blues while improvising on the Orff instruments.

Listening for the blues
Objective: Students will be able to identify the twelve bar blues in a recording of William Grant Still's Afro-American Symphony.

Music Around Us
Objective: Students will discuss the influences around WG Still and will compare their own musical influences to his.

Music Lesson Plans: Improvisation Outline
Go there: K-1 | 2-3 | 4-5

Improvisation in a basic four beat pattern using movement
Objective: Students will learn basic improvisation of a four beat measure through a game using a four quarter note pattern.

Improvisation in basic four beat patterns using basic rhythms
Objective: Students will learn basic improvisation of a four beat measure through a game of rhythms.

Improvisation in basic four beat patterns using basic rhythms - found instruments
Objective: Students will learn basic improvisation of a four beat measure through a game of rhythms.

Improvisation in basic four beat patterns using basic rhythms - Orff instruments
Objective: Students will learn basic improvisation of a four beat measure through a game of rhythms using Orff instruments

Improvisation in basic four beat patterns using basic rhythms - Recorders
Objective: Students will learn basic improvisation of a four beat measure through a game of rhythms using recorders.

Cross-Disciplinary Lesson Plans
Go there: K-1 | 2-3 | 4-5

Mathematics and Music
Patterns, Relations, and Functions - 4th and 6th grades
Objective: Students learn the basic twelve Bar Blues lesson and learn the relationship between the chords and their function in the music.

Mathematics and Music
Data Analysis and Probability
Objective: Students will study the 12 bar blues pattern and listen to various Blues artists and their rendition of the 12 bar blues pattern. They will then be able to predict the probability of the pattern.

Reading, History and Music
Identify and interpret vocabulary (words, phrases, or expressions) critical to the meaning of the text.
Objectives: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the vocabulary involved in the biography by discussing the researching definitions and/or meanings as a class.

Reading, History and Music
Identify and interpret vocabulary (words, phrases, or expressions) critical to the meaning of the text.
Objectives: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the vocabulary involved in the biography by completing the crosswords worksheet.

Science and Music: The Victrola
Identify the positive and / or Negative impact of technology on human activity.
Objective: The students will learn about the Victrola and how the invention of this recording device changed how music was perceived. Specifically, the students will discuss how the introduction of a victrola and opera cylinders influenced young William Grant Still's life.

Timelines
Citizenship and American Heritage
Demonstrate knowledge of and ability to think about the relationship among events by:
Identifying sequence of events in history. (Students could be asked to examine a time line to locate needed information, or they could be asked to place historical development on a time line.)
Objective: Students will be able to create a timeline that combines ten events from American History and five events from William Grant Still's life.

Citizenship and American Heritage
Identify and use sources of information about a given topic in the history of Ohio and the United States.
Objective: Students will research and write a report about the underground railway in Ohio.

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities:

• Differentiate between statements of fact and opinion found in information about public issues and policies.
  
• Identify and assess the possibilities of group decision making, cooperative activity, and personal involvement in the community.
  
• Identify the elements of rules relating to fair play

Reading and Music
Language Arts and Music: Summarize the text.
Objective: Students will read the biography of William Grant Still and then complete the worksheet on the musical influences around him.

Reading and Music
Constructing Meaning with Nonfiction Selections
Demonstrate an understanding of text by retelling the information, in writing, in own words;
Objective: Students will write a biography on William Grant Still based on the information they have learned from the Biography and other lessons.

Other Links for Teachers and Parents

1. More on Composers of African Descent
2. More on Paul Laurence Dunbar
3. Classics for Kids Activity Page
4. Music Dictionary
5. Ohio Proficiency Standards
6. National Standards for the Arts
7. Multiple Intelligence Information

William Grant Still Links