Listening to a piece of music and analyzing it.

?7th-8th Grade Messiah ProjectThanks for making this a successful project. I know this assignment is often not one of students' favorite projects, but it is important for them to do. I decided to do a basic outline below of what the benefits were of this project, in case there were any questions regarding it. This is something I have the middle-school students do every two years so they have it at least once during their 7th-8th grade time in music class. As a college student finishing up her Bachelor's Degree and starting on her Master's, I understand how frustrating it can be to complete assignments that seem to have no purpose. That is why I am writing this, so that the purposes of this assignment can be clear. Listening to a piece of music and analyzing it.This is an important step in music education, because students are learning to evaluate musical pieces and decide if they like or don't like them (and the reasons why or why not). They are starting to listen for vocal qualities, instruments being used, and other complexities such as pitch, tempo, dynamics.... I realize that many students will not "like" the style of singing that is used within The Messiah (which is okay), but it is important, nonetheless, for them to be able to appreciate what goes into an extensive classical piece such as this. Researching and learning history.This assignment was full of historical application and ways that events still shape current day. If you get a chance, there are some really interesting facts about Handel and The Messiah at and . The amount of time that the songs were written in is remarkable! "Handel wrote the original version of Messiah in three to four weeks. Most historic accounts estimate the composer spent only 24 days writing the oratorio. What makes this even more astounding is the sheer scale of the 259-page score. Richard Luckett, author of Handel’s Messiah: A Celebration, writes that there are some uncorrected errors or blotted out notes but remarkably few mistakes given the speed of Handel’s writing. NPR music commentator Miles Hoffman estimates there are roughly a quarter of a million notes in Messiah. At a little more than three weeks of 10-hour days, Hoffman said that means Handel would have had to keep a continuous pace writing 15 notes a minute" (). Although Handel's personal character would not be one we would want to model ourselves after, his musical talents and God-given genius are definitely worth learning about and worthy of our appreciation. Profits from The Messiah were also used to help orphans and debtors, which was a radical and important move in the 1700s. Completing a written assignment based upon certain standards.I always try to allow a month's time for students to work on this project. At college-level, this assignment would need to be completed in a day or two, and at high-school level, it would be done in one to two weeks, so a month's time frame usually works out pretty well for middle school. I had also provided listening links and/or cd's, as well as research books and articles for those who needed access to the music and historical facts. The rubric is included at the end of this paper, and is pretty self-explanatory. The grades were based upon normal report guidelines- if the requirements were met, all four questions were answered, and the word count satisfied. Looking at a piece of music that has stood the test of time, is considered a classic, and is known by people around the world.It is good for the students to be familiar with The Messiah, because they will hear songs and references from it throughout their lives. "In the 2014-2015 season alone, 13 out of the 22 largest American orchestras will perform the piece 38 times" (). "It’s one of the most famous and widely shared pieces of music in history. Handel intended his oratorio 'Messiah' for Lent, and it was first performed just after Easter 1742. But over the centuries, public performances of the masterwork became a rite of Christmas. It is 270 years since Handel composed the classic, yet crowds continue to gather and listen, once again, for hours" (). Listening to a piece of music from a different genre, time period, and country.It is excellent for students to step out of their culture and time period to look and examine classical works (that align with Biblical standards) from other countries and eras. This helps to develop a wider historical and Biblical perspective. It also helps students learn to appreciate differences and things that may not be their preferred taste. It gives them a basis for decision-making and examples from the past that can teach lessons and motivate.Fueling brain development.Music, in fact, makes a person smarter! “[D]uring passive listening to Mozart music, firing patterns within the brain are similar to those related to higher-order cognitive functions. Indeed, functional magnetic imaging studies concur and have demonstrated that exposure to the Mozart Sonata or other musical pieces with similar qualities … can give rise to activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, occipital cortex, and cerebellum. Similarly, parietal areas (e.g., bilateral superior parietal lobules) are activated during music exposure with these putatively being involved in selective attention processes … [M]usic has the ability to influence, prime, facilitate, or transfer to nonmusic domains and brain functioning. This is hardly surprising given that music (including passive listening to music) involves the engagement of numerous cognitive functions.”—Leigh M. Riby, “The Joys of Spring: Changes in Mental Alertness and Brain Function.” Experimental Psychology: Volume 60, Number 2 / 2013.Meeting National Core Music Standards.Although private-school music educators do not need to meet National Core Music Standards, I have made the decision to meet those standards in my teaching and assignments so that I can provide students with a quality music education. This project met the National Standards of Creating, Responding, and Connecting through Anchor Points #1-3 and #7-11.Listening to songs that form the sequence of the prophecies and Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection.I saved the greatest reason for last! Although public schools would not deem this as important, I think the greatest reasons for music comes through our Christian worldview. "The well-aged insights of great works of art, literature and music help us sift today’s culture, as Arnold explained, to identify what will 'cultivate what is best and noblest' in us as human beings. Plenty of entertainment will lose its popularity long before the end of the century – if not the decade. But great works endure because they appeal to universal longings of the human spirit. Nearly three centuries since its debut, crowds continue to gather for Handel’s 'Messiah' because the stunning crescendos and familiar choruses draw us toward answers to 'the hopes and fears of all the years' ().Songs not only encourage others, but they also speak truths to our own hearts. The Messiah clearly outlines the plan of salvation, which is why, I believe, this great piece of music still endures today and deserves our appreciation! ................
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