Listening Journals

Listening Journal is assigned for Homework when a class comes to Music Class with Mr. Sabin. CHECK BELOW FOR YOUR CURRENT CLASS ASSIGNMENT Take the time to listen to the whole music example assigned. We encourage parents to share in the listening experience too,( often it is a video from Youtube, please skip the ads!). As always parents should monitor student online activities. The goal is for students to experience a wide variety of styles of music and learn to write their observations of instruments, styles and emotions. At the bottom of this page is a guide and word bank to help write your paragraph.

Write on loose leaf paper journal a long paragraph description of what you heard, use the guide below for music elements and vocabulary to include, and how you feel about that style of music. Keep your journal in your music folder and always bring to class to turn in ON DUE DATE. Collected for a grade.

AFTER 1 WEEK, LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR CREDIT

Journals for 3rd and 4th will be 10% of their grade

5th and 6th Journals will be 12.5% of their grade

7th and 8th journals will be 15% of their overall grade.

Current Assigned: Listening Journal

3rd, 4th and 5th grades will write ON the Listening Journal Organizer

3-H

4 D

4 C

6th, 7th & 8th grades will use Organizer, but then hand write their journal on a separate piece of loose leaf paper or typed and emailed to me at dsabin@holyinfantschool.org

Music Listening Journal Organizer

Your name____________________home room___________

Assignment (can be found on website)______________________________________________________________

Title of the piece of music __________________________________________________________________

Composer and/or Performer name____________________________________________________________

Genre/Style of music category________________________________________________________________

What is the Tempo (speed)? Does it change during the piece?_________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

What is the Dynamics (volume)? Does it increase or c decrease during the piece?__________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Tone Color /Timbre What Instruments and /or Voices do you hear? (list)______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is the Melody like? (main repeated theme/refrain) What voice or instrument performs the melody?____________

___________________________________________________________________________________ _____

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Does this piece have Harmony? (music that is not the melody but pairs with melody to create chords)___________________________________

What instruments or voices create the harmony ?__________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is the Rhythm/Beat like? (pattern of long and short notes/rests)______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is your overall feeling about this piece of music? Have you experienced this style of music before?

_________________________________________________________________________________________

What to Include in a Listening Journal:

Below are some of the categories that are important to include in a listening journal. With each section are questions the students could answer while listening.

Timbre/Tone Color: Refers to the “what” or “who” in music making

1. What kind of instruments do you hear?

2. What types of voices are there, if any?

3. What other sounds are in the music?

4. What type of group or ensemble or orchestra is playing?

5. What is the melody like (main tune), is there harmony? (unless there is only one part there is some kind of harmony)?

Dynamics: The intensity of the volume

1. What is the Dynamics/intensity of the volume /Dynamics (softness/loudness)?

2. Does the intensity ever change? (pianissimo, piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte, fortissimo)

3. Does it change often or infrequently? Does dynamics become softer or louder, or change back and forth? Crescendo / Decrescendo

Meter: How many beats per measure. For this category students may have to come up with a creative movement activity (clap, pat foot, dance) to feel the beat.

1. How is the beat divided throughout the piece?

2. Is it duple or compound? (Divided by 2’s or 4’s or 3’s, 6’s, 9’s etc.)

3. Does it stay the same for the entire piece?

Tempo: The pace of the music

1. How fast is the music moving? Does it change during the piece? (speed up or slow down?)

2. Students can say fast/ slow etc. , but eventually using music terms like Allegro (fast) Moderato (medium) Andante (walking pace) Largo (very slow), Vivace (very fast) would be expected.

Style: Students should be as specific as possible

1. What category does this piece best fit into? What genre ? (It may fit more than one.)

Time Period: This category is for advanced students.

1. When do you think it was composed?

2. What in the music makes you think this? (for more advanced students)

Intertextuality: Have the students make personal connections with the music.

1. What does the music make you feel?

2. What does the music remind you of?

Music Vocabulary Words for Listening Journal

Beat - the regular rhythmic pattern of a piece of music or a dance.

Chord - a combination of three or more tones played together at the same time.

Composer - a person who writes a piece of music.

contour - the melody of a piece of music as it turns upward or downward.

duration - the length of time that a note is sounded.

dynamics - an element of music - the loudness or softness of a piece of music (piano, mezzo piano, mezzo forte, forte)

elements - one of the simple, basic parts of something.

form - an element of music - the way the song is put together (AB, ABA, ABC, etc.)

forte - loud

harmony - an element of music - the simultaneous sounds or notes that result in a pleasing musical sound - more than one note played at a time.

measure - a unit of notes and rests in a piece of music, marked by a bar line on either side.

melody - an element of music - the shape, direction, and pitch (high vs. low notes) of a piece of music; also a tune or a song.

meter - the rhythmic pattern made by grouping together strong and weak beats.

mezzo forte - medium loud

mezzo piano - medium soft

notation - visual symbols for sound such as the treble and bass clefs

Performer- the person/group actually playing/singing the music

piano - soft (the piano is also a musical instrument)

pitch - the measure of how high or low a note, is, relative to other notes; pitch is determined by the frequency of vibrations per second.

range- A measure of the highest and lowest sounds used in a piece of music.

rhythm - an element of music - the meter, time signature, and rhythmic duration in a piece of music; also the regular beat in music, poetry, or dance. (eighth notes, quarter notes, half notes, dotted-half notes, whole notes)T

signature - signs at the beginning of a musical work indicating its key and tempo (key signature and time signature)

style - a particular type of music or dance (examples: blues, rock, pop, folk, spirituals, etc.)

tempo - an element of music - the speed of a piece of music.

timbre - an element of music - the way a particular instrument sounds.

unison - when people say, sing or do something at the same time. One single part in music.

Instrument families:

Woodwind family - examples: flute, oboe, saxophone, clarinet, bassoon, piccolo, recorder. On the flute, piccolo and the recorder, the sound is produced by blowing air into the blowhole. The air enters the column and vibrates on the inside, thus producing the sound. On the clarinet and the saxophone, a single reed is used. When air is blown into the instrument, the reed vibrates and produces the sound. On the oboe and bassoon, a double reed is needed. When the player blows into the double reed, the sound is produced.

Brass Family - example: trumpet, french horn, tuba, trombone, baritone. The sound is produced by the "buzzing" or vibrating or the players lips as he/she blows into the instrument. Without this "vibration", the sound will not be produced.

String Family - examples: violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, dulcimer, autoharp, banjo, guitar, mandolin, etc. Sound is produced on these instruments by making the strings vibrate by strumming, bowing, and plucking.

Percussion Family - examples: snare drum, timpani, triangle, cymbals, xylophone, bass drum, chimes, piano, vibraphone, metallophone, etc. The percussion family is divided into two types: pitched and unpitched. Pitched instruments can play a melody (or a song). Examples of pitched percussion instruments are the piano, xylophone, vibraphone. Unpitched percussion instruments can only play a rhythm such as the bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, etc. Sound is produced by shaking, striking, tapping, scraping the instruments.