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The Life and Music of William ‘Count’ Basie
Lessons 029 - 030
DATES Apr. 2. – Apr. 13, 2012 (2 classes)
(Math Derby, Beta Programs, SAT/ARMT testing will affect classes participating in music lessons over the next couple of weeks.)
Lessons © www.musictechteacher.com
Each Music Technology student in the 2nd - 5th grades will receive one 30-45 minute lesson per week. The class structure is ‘work-at-your-own-pace’ because students are not required to have any materials or music equipment to participate.
April is Jazz Appreciation Month – We will continue to look at the lives and music of famous jazz musicians along with completing
our other assignments.
Essential Questions / Ideas:
* Who taught Basie to play the piano?
* What kind of jazz piano form did he play?
* Who were some of Basie’s teachers?
* What influence did Basie have on members of his orchestra?
* What is a riff?
Objectives:
* Students will study the life of a famous jazz musician (Count Basie).
* Selected students may begin working on the melody of ‘Cute’ by Neal Hefti for Count Basie.
* Students will complete a quiz about Count Basie on our website.
* Selected students will practice I’ll Be There / We Shall Overcome / Tuxedo Junction on the keyboard for All City practice.
* Students will complete pages in the Alfred Basic Piano Library Level 1A (based on student level) or work on their Noteflight accounts in music composition.
Materials:
* Alfred 1A Piano Books, keyboards and related equipment
* Computers with our website posted
* Meet the Great Jazz Legends Book and handouts
* Recording of a composition and / or video by Count Basie viewed from the teacher’s laptop and a projector (video saved from YouTube with a performance by Count Basie and his orchestra from the 1930’s to the 1980’s)
* I’ll Be There / We Shall Overcome / Tuxedo Junction (arrangements for keyboard by Ms. Garrett, from MusicNotes.com)
* Cute music by Neal Hefti for Count Basie (melody only – from MusicNotes.com)
Standards:
National MENC Standards:
(2) Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
(6) Listening to, analyzing and describing music.
(9) Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
TI:ME Technology Strategies:
(4) Technology-Assisted Learning
(5) Multimedia and Digitized media
Procedures:
1) The teacher will introduce Unit 4 – Count Basie (1904-1984) from Meet the Great Jazz Legends. Students should read aloud the story of the life of Count Basie. The teacher will play a selection of music from Count Basie (One O’Clock Jump – MP4 - iTunes) or students will watch a brief video of Count Basie. (Basie in younger and older years - Video from YouTube saved to the teacher’s computer. All YouTube advertising is removed from the video.)
2) The students will complete the ‘Basics on Basie’ quiz on our website. Record the grade for each student or have the student print the score if a printer is available. (Count Basie Quiz).
3) - Younger and selected students may begin working on the melody of ‘Cute’ by Neal Hefti for Count Basie.
- Older students can continue to work on the song, I’ll Be There from an arrangement by Ms. Garrett for elementary music students. The song may be learned in sections over the next month. We will use this song as one of our selections in programs next year. Measures 5-12 are the main melody that is recognized by students. This will be one of the songs for our All City Evaluation in the older grades.
Older students - continue practicing Tuxedo Junction / We Shall Overcome for the All City Band Evaluation in early May. This is the equivalent of our S.A.T. / A.R.M.T. exam for music for the year. Approximately 12 students will perform for our evaluation, held in the music lab. Focus on phrasing in We Shall Overcome and accidental notes in Tuxedo Junction.
4) Younger students will complete various pages in the Alfred Basic Piano Library Book 1 based on individual student progress. Video (digital camera) some of the students and post it using the projector for review and feedback. They also may choose to play songs from our website (Flash piano practice pages) or songs in their Noteflight accounts on the Internet.
Ask students to notice.......
* From reading the story about Count Basie, did you find that his music and orchestra are still popular today? (Yes)
* Name some of Basie’s famous compositions – (One O'Clock Jump, Jumpin' at the Woodside, Good Morning Blues, Swingin' the Blues, April in Paris).
* Do you think that it takes a lot of (hard) work to be in a band or orchestra today? (Yes! Musicians have to work together and practice their instruments or singing alone and with group practice for many hours to be able to perform the music in concerts.)
Essential Questions / Ideas
* Who taught Basie to play the piano? (His mother)
* What kind of jazz piano form did he play? (Stride, Kansas City Riff)
* Who were some of Basie’s teachers? (James P. Johnson and Fats Waller at the Harlem ‘stride school’ in New York)
* What influence did Basie have on members of his orchestra? (In every configuration or grouping of his orchestra, at least 2 members went on to make great contributions to the world of jazz music, such as Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Thad Foster, Frank Foster and others.)
* What is a riff? (A short repeated musical idea or phrase)
Evaluation
* Younger students will complete one to two pages from the Alfred Basic Library Book on the keyboard.
* Younger students will understand what a riff is and try to complete a few notes of the riff from Cute (Neal Hefti forCount Basie).
* Students will successfully complete a quiz on Count Basie from our website.
* Older Students will be able to play at least two lines from I’ll Be There. (Especially measures 5 – 12).
* Older students will be able to play the All City Music selections with accuracy, showing better use of phrasing in We Shall Overcome and improving accidental notes in Tuxedo Junction. (I’ll Be There / We Shall Overcome / Tuxedo Junction)
