William Grant Still: "Afro-American Symphony"

Cross-Disciplinary Lesson Plans: 4-5

Lesson 1.

Mathematics and Music: Patterns, Relations, and Functions

Objective
Students learn the basic twelve Bar Blues lesson and learn the relationship between the chords and their function in the music.

Materials
Music Lessons - Twelve Bar Blues

Lesson 2. Mathematics and Music

Data Analysis and Probability

Objectives
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.

*This lesson is to be an extension of the 12 Bar Blues Lessons. It is important that the students understand the pattern before studying prediction of the pattern.

Materials
Basic 12 Bar Blues Worksheet
Aebersold series Volume 44, "Blues in all Keys" or another recording of standard 12 bar blues.
Recordings of other Blues artists.

There are MANY artists who sing and play the blues. Here are a few that were involved with the PBS series "River of Song.": Oliver Sain; Robert Lockwood, Jr.; Levon Helm, Jack Johnson, Johnnie Billington, and Little Milton.

1. Students have learned about the 12 bar blues pattern in music. They are now given the 12 bar blues worksheet and listen to several of the "Blues in all Keys" recordings. This is to help them listen to the pattern more easily.

2. Discuss the roots of blues:

Blues has its roots in traditional field songs/hollers from slavery days. The original blues were as much speech as song. A slave would "sing" his/her blues away while working on the riverboats, fields or in the kitchen. The theme of the songs were usually secular - songs that were about their work or about love.

As Blues became more popular, the 12 bar blues pattern of today became established. Blues is an early forerunner to what later became Jazz. Blues also had a strong influence on Rock-n-roll. As Blues continued to become popular, along with Jazz and its many styles, the blues styles continued to evolve. Today there are 14 different styles called "Blues".

British Blues, Chicago Blues, Country Blues, Delta Blues, Female Blues, General Blues, Guitar Blues, Harmonica Maters, Jump Blues, Modern Urban Blues, Piano Blues, Regional Blues, Swamp Blues, and Texas Blues

1. Assign students into small groups or pairs. Have them check out several different recordings of blues music. They will need to have different artists.
2. Have the class, or small group, predict the number of songs that will stay with the traditional 12 bar blues pattern as the main theme in the blues song.
3. Have the students listen to several tracks on each CD and chart the number of times the artist stayed with the traditional 12 bar blues pattern.
4. Show the data to prove or disprove their original prediction.

Lesson 3. Language Arts 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.

Materials
William Grant Still Word List
William Grant Still Young Reader Biography
William Grant Still Older Reader Biography
Crosswords Worksheet for Biography.

1. You will need to determine which version of the biography you would like to use with your students.

Lesson 4. Language Arts 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 researching the definitions.

Materials
William Grant Still Word List
William Grant Still Young Reader Biography
William Grant Still Older Reader Biography

1. Have the students look up the word list for William Grant Still. (Overnight Assignment)
2. Read the biography to the students and have them take notes on your reading. You may also want to give a copy of the biography to your students to use for self-reading.
3. Have them rewrite their word list with definitions in light of the biography. They will need to interpret their vocabulary words according to the text.

Lesson 5. Science and Music

Identify the positive and / or Negative impact of technology on human activity. (6th)

Objectives
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.

Materials
Teacher access to Internet if needed
The History of the Victrola Web Page
Great Moments in Multimedia History Web Page
William Grant Still Biography

1. Students are given the assignment to write a report on one of the given subjects:
1. The effect of the Victrola on William Grant Still and his musical life.
2. The effect the invention of the Victrola had on popular music.
3. The history of recording devices from Edison to Victor Recording Company.
2. Students share their reports so they can learn from each other.
3. Use this area of interest as a writing prompt in the future.

Lesson 6. Timelines

Citizenship and Music: 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.

Materials
Internet Access
"Still Going On" Celebrating the life and times of William Grant Still (*Specifically the Chronology of Cultural Connections)
The History Channel (*Search by timeline for 1900-1999)
Classics for Kids® Timeline
Timeline Pages

1. Students are given the assignment of creating a timeline that combines ten events from American History and five events from William Grant Still's life. The students will need access to Internet connection for the research.
2. Because students are working individually or on teams, each timeline will be different.
3. Timelines can then be shared with the class at large. Timelines could also be displayed in the room or hallway of the school.

Lesson 7

American History and Music: The Underground Railroad
Identify and use sources of information about a given topic in the history of Ohio and the United States.

Objective
Students will research the underground railroad in Ohio.

Materials
Internet Access
National Geographic
The Underground Railroad of Erie County, Ohio
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
PBS Africans in America

1. Students are given the assignment to use the Internet to research information on the Underground Railroad in Ohio. This ties into the study with William Grant Still because his grandmother was a slave. She told him stories about how she and the other slaves were treated and taught him the spirituals she sang on the plantation.
2. Give the students the choice of how they want to write their reports:
• Act out a drama they write based on the research they find on the Internet.
• Write a song based on the information they find on the Internet.
• Create a series of drawings or paintings that depict various aspects of life as a slave, life on the underground railroad, and life as a "free" slave.
• Write an informative Non-fiction report based on the information from their research.
• Write a Fictional account of a slave who traveled through Ohio on the Underground Railroad.

Lesson 8. Citizenship and Music

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.

Objective
Students will listen to the taped interview with William Grant Still's daughter. Students will discuss the effect the critics had on WG Still's career.

Materials
Judith Still's interview on William Grant Still
William Grant Still Young Readers Biography
William Grant Still Older Readers Biography

Excerpt from WG Still's Biography:

Troubled Island, Still's ballet based on the life of Haitian liberator Jean Jacques Dessalines, was produced by the New York City Center Opera Company in 1949 (yet another Still first). Still began the opera in 1937 and news of its creation interested VIPs like Leopold Stokowski and Eleanor Roosevelt. When it was finally debuted, the audience in attendance loved it; but the critics found a way to cast negativity on the opera. "A conspiracy developed," Judith Still says. "Howard Taubmann (a critic and friend of Still) came to my father and said 'Billy, because I'm your friend I think that I should tell you this - the critics have had a meeting to decide what to do about your opera. They think the colored boy has gone far enough and they have voted to pan your opera.' And that was it. In those days, critics had that kind of influence."

Troubled Island did not get another performance and Still's reputation suffered. Though he continued to write classical music, mostly in the smaller chamber setting, he found it almost impossible to get any of his works performed. To make ends meet Still wrote for radio, television and film. Radio's popular Deep River Hour, films such as Stormy Weather and Lost Horizon and numerous television programs including Perry Mason and Gunsmoke are just a few of his credits.

Still encountered a good deal of racism in these endeavors as well, but it didn't bother him as much as one might think. "My parents had many, many friends - in fact the neighbors used to complain that the Still's friends parked up the street," Judith Still says. "I guess my father didn't have too hard a time putting up with it all because he was always off in a cloud. He was a dreamer. He was always just wrapped up in writing music and didn't concentrate on what people said about him."

1. Discuss: How could one group of people have such a great effect on a nation's opinion? Can you think of any other time when the critics or the media have affected public opinion?

2. Extension Ideas:

1. The Music Critic
1. Have the class vote on their favorite music.
2. Divide the students into two groups. They are now to be music critics. Half of the class is to write a positive review of the music. The other half is to write a negative review.
3. Discuss how a good music critic listens to the music and gives both positive and negative insights into the music. However, the music critic does decide if he or she likes or dislikes the music.
2. Music Critic as a Career
1. Have the students' looks in the local newspaper and read music critic reviews. Have them discuss what they think about the music the writer is reviewing.
2. Invite a music critic into your classroom to discuss their job.
3. Criticism
1. What is criticism? Are we ever critical? When is criticism good and when can it be hurtful? Role-play situations where students may choose to display helpful criticism or hurtful criticism.

Lesson 9. Language Arts and Music

Constructing Meaning with Nonfiction Selections: Summarize the text.

Objective
Students will read the biography of William Grant Still and then complete the worksheet on the musical influences around him.

Materials
Biography of William Grant Still
Worksheet on the influences on William Grant Still | Answer Key
Worksheet on Influences on Student

1. Have students read the biography of William Grant Still. Have them complete the worksheet on the influences around William Grant Still | Answer Key.
2. Discuss the students' answers. Discuss how music influences everyone.
3. Have students complete their own musical influences worksheet.

Lesson 10. Language Arts 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 resources.

Materials
Biography of William Grant Still
Still Going On: Celebrating the Life and Times of William Grant Still, a project of The Digital Scriptorium, Special Collections Library, Duke University, September 1995

1. Students should write a retelling of the biography using their own words as a writing prompt.

William Grant Still Links