Third-Stream Music Education

Drumbone

November 30th, 2008

As we approach winter break, the pace of school life speeds up while the pace of class drops. More middle school students forget their instruments at home while the high schoolers struggle under the weight of last-minute projects. With the Fall Concert out of the way, I find this to be a helpful and appropriate time to ease up on the performance expectations of Band class. The week or two between the concert and winter break are a great time to address content standards which have been left by the wayside in the two-month buildup to the big concert. It is a time for reflections, self-evaluation, and goal-setting for the coming semester, as well as lessons in improvisation, composition, and relating music to the arts and other subjects.

One of my favorite lesson plans (no doubt because it is one of my students’ favorite lessons) is based on track two of The Complex Rock Tour live DVD by the Blue Man Group. In this video, the Blue Men play an instrument made of…well, you’ll just have to buy the DVD and find out! Be sure to follow copyright law as you expose your students to this excellent educational moment.

These reflection questions are an excellent start to the conversation. Question 1 and 3 are great tie-ins to science curriculum, while question 2 is a great starter for the Communication Area of Interaction in the IB-MYP program and may also address standards in your school’s social studies curriculum. All of these questions will need to be reworded to greater or lesser degree for younger (grade 6-7) students. The premise which forms the connective tissues of The Complex as a show and as an album is a parody of the cliches surrounding rock concerts and the rock music industry, and could ignite a thoughtful conversation among your older students (if copyright law allowed showing large segments of the disc).

1. What is the instrument the blue men played? How does it make vibrations (sound)? How do the blue men operate it? Of what family of instruments is it a member? If you gave it a name, what would you call it?

2. Playing the instrument requires teamwork, and playing in a band requires teamwork. Tell how the blue men communicate with each other and with the rest of the band. If the blue men do not speak, how do they communicate? How do musicians communicate during a piece in concert band?

3. The blue men have no ears. How can they “hear” music? Using what you know about the physics (sound is vibration) and anatomy (the human body is composed of organs, while organs are composed of tissues), hypothesize about how the blue men are able perceive sound. That is, how do you think vibrations go from the air into the auditory cortex of their brains?

Entry Filed under: Music Curriculum, Genres and Stylistic Elements