Popular Music Listening Collage Lesson

 

 

 

 

 

Lesson Sequence

1st Listen - Ask students to listen with eyes closed and think about all the pictures/images/moods/emotions the

  music evokes

2nd Listen - Ask students to write words describing the pictures/images/moods/emotions in an image bank

3rd Listen - Play music quietly in the background. Ask students to confer with a partner and compare words in their

   image banks to see which are similar and which are different

4th Listen (play quietly in the background) - Ask students to confer with a different partner and compare words in

   their image banks

Whole Class Discussion
    a. Ask students if their partner(s) had similar words in their banks.

    b. Share image bank words with class
    c. Compare student images to Dr. VW's collage
    d. Discuss reasons why Dr. VW might have used those images
    e. Read "Why Dr. VW Chose This Piece" below to class
    f. Did her reasons for using certain images make sense?

    g. How do others visually see this piece? (show YouTube clip below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. VW's Popular Music Listening Collage Materials

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why did Dr. VW choose this piece?

 

Ramalama Bang Bang is from the album Ruby Blue (released in 2005) by Roisin Murphy, an Irish singer/songwriter.  The song is unique... What images come to mind when you listen to it?

 

The first time I heard this piece I was totally intrigued.  Not because it was beautiful or uplifting, at least not in the traditional sense, but because it was strangely interesting.  In my mind I saw ugly things when I listed to it... things that were twisted or mangled.  And that drum!  It just kept pounding away, which made the piece, at first, uglier.  

 

HOWEVER, as I kept listening to the music I realized the images I had in my mind weren't super horrible - just slightly off.  And the drum... well, that was creating a sense of urgency within me.

 

So when I sat down to do this collage, I came up with beautiful images that were all slightly off in some way - lots of weird hearts etc. I also tried to show the drum beat by using an image of blood, since the heart pumps this through your body, and lots of hearts, because mine started beating a little faster when I listened to the piece (that sense of urgency).  I also wanted to stomp around, hence the footprints.

 

So, enjoy my Listening Collage for Ramalama Bang Bang.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assignment 

 

 

1.  Pick a popular piece of music that is school appropriate (be mindful of the lyrics).

         

2.  Find clipart or create images that illustrates the piece. You may choose to illustrate the instrumentation, lyrics,

     mood, melody etc., or a combination of all things.  

 

3.  Create a collage of the images on a single sheet of paper.  Make sure the name of the piece and the artist is on

     your paper.

 

4.  Once completed, save as a pdf and email it to Dr. VW – including the YouTube link for the piece of music.

 

5.  You will present your collage in class after Dr. VW has ok'd the content.  

 

6.  When you present:

a.  a copy of your map will be placed on the SmartBoard so all classmates can see it,

b.  you will briefly explain what the images mean in terms of the music,

c.  the class will listen to the music while looking at your collage