@The Arts Unit Creative Classes
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Explore the song, 'Listen With Your Heart'
Explore the song, 'Listen With Your Heart'
Student music resource developed by The Arts Unit
Years 7 and 8 music
What will I learn?
What will I learn?
Welcome to this @The Arts Unit Creative Class.
In this interactive music lesson, you will meet Australian performing artist Casey Donovan and learn about her inspirations for performing.
You will:
watch and listen to Casey Donovan perform with the NSW Public Schools Combined Secondary Schools Choir and the NSW Public Schools Symphony Orchestra
compare this performance with a performance of the same arrangement of the song by a different singer at the 2019 Schools Spectacular
sing along with the choir and Casey by reading the score and learning one of the parts
listen to an interview with Casey Donovan and reflect on how her childhood and experiences as a teenager influenced her performing career.
Before you begin
Before you begin
You will need:
a device with good audio
pen and paper or a word processing program for written responses
to download the Listen With Your Heart score. You will need this score throughout the activities.
The concepts of music definitions are available in the collapsible text box below to assist you form your responses.
Listen With Your Heart – Score (PDF 174KB)
Listen WIth Your Heart - Piano Vocal.pdfThe concepts of music
The concepts of music
Duration refers to the lengths of sounds and silences in music and includes the aspects of beat, rhythm, metre, tempo, pulse rates and absence of pulse.
Pitch refers to the relative highness and lowness of sounds. Important aspects include high, low, higher and lower pitches, direction of pitch movement, melody, harmony, indefinite and definite pitch.
Dynamics refers to the volume of sound. Important aspects include the relative softness and loudness of sound, change of loudness (contrast), and the emphasis on individual sounds (accent).
Expressive techniques refers to the musical detail that articulates a style or interpretation of a style.
Tone colour refers to that aspect of sound that allows the listener to identify the sound source or combinations of sound sources.
Texture results from the way voices and/or instruments are combined in music.
Structure refers to the idea of design or form in music. In organising sound, the concepts of duration, dynamics, pitch and tone colour are combined in some way for a particular purpose. Structure relates to the ways in which music sounds the same (or similar) and/or different.
- Listen With Your Heart
Watch and listen to the performance from In Concert 2019 of Listen With Your Heart featuring Casey Donovan performing with the NSW Public Schools Combined Secondary Schools Choir and the NSW Public Schools Symphony Orchestra.
In Concert 2019 – Listen With Your Heart featuring Casey Donovan
Duration: 04:14
Photo credit: Anna Warr
Re-watch the video, and this time, follow the score while they perform.
This song is a pop ballad. A pop ballad is a slow song with a traditional verse and chorus structure, usually dealing with love or heartbreak.
Examine the song, 'Listen With Your Heart' and answer the following questions:
What is the time signature according to the score? Can you feel the number of beats in each bar even though the song is slow?
What is the structure of the song? How many verses are there? How often do we hear the chorus and does the chorus change?
What do we call the section of music at bar 39 with the lyrics:
"We all lose our way sometimes
We all lose our faith sometimes
If you just believe and just be strong your heart will take you home"?
Where is the climax of the song? How is this achieved? Consider pitch, tone colour and dynamics.
What is the role of the choir in this song and how do they support the soloist?
2. What About Us
2. What About Us
Here is Casey singing another ballad from In Concert. This time the accompaniment is just piano.
Reflect on the differences between this and a fully orchestrated song with a large choir.
How does this scaled-down accompaniment change the relationship between the singer and the audience?
What effect, if any, does it have on the emotional impact of the song?
In Concert 2019 – What About Us featuring Casey Donovan
Duration: 04:54
Now go back and listen to 'Listen With Your Heart' again.
Listen out for the impact that particular instruments have during the song’s build-up.
Name 1 instrument or section you hear and describe the effect it has in the song.
What group of instruments is only featured in the final chorus and what effect does this have?
What is the impact of having a large choir singing with Casey compared to when Casey is singing alone in 'What About Us?
3. Compare
3. Compare
Photo credit: Anna Warr
Watch and listen to this performance of Listen With Your Heart by Kyra Pollard and the D’Arts dance ensemble from the 2019 Schools Spectacular.
Schools Spectacular 2019 – Listen With Your Heart
Duration: 04:06Compare this performance of 'Listen With Your Heart' to the version in Activity 1, performed by Casey Donovan.
How is the venue and performance context different?
What additional staging and performance elements are included in the Schools Spectacular version?
How does Kyra make her vocal performance different from Casey’s? Does she change or embellish the melody differently? What expressive techniques does she use? In what ways does she sound similar to or different from Casey?
The orchestra and the choir are using the same arrangement in both performances. What factors have created the different sound of the two performances (for example, recording quality, numbers of performers)?
Which performance do you prefer and why? (There is no right or wrong answer here – just personal preference!)
4. Perform
4. Perform
Now that you have heard the song a few times, it’s time to make it your own!
Select your favourite version of the song.
Using the score from Activity 1, sing along with Casey or Kyra and see what you can do with this inspiring ballad!
5. Reflect
5. Reflect
Listen to this interview with Casey Donovan and answer the questions
Listen to this interview with Casey Donovan and answer the questions
Casey Donovan interview
Duration: 14:58Questions:
How does Casey believe she got to where she is today?
What is the message Casey would like to give students?
What does Casey like so much about the music industry?
What things influence Casey’s songwriting?
What is Casey’s advice for looking after your voice and prepping for a performance?
Photo credit: Anna Warr
Extension activity
Extension activity
Being in the choir or a backup singer for this song can be even more challenging (and more fun) than singing the melody.
In this extension activity, you can learn to sing one of the choral parts to the song.
Follow your part in the score you downloaded in Activity 1.
Play or download your teaching track below to learn the part:
Listen With Your Heart – Alto (MP3 5.40MB)
Duration: 03:56Listen with your Heart - Alto.mp3Listen With Your Heart – Soprano (MP3 5.33MB)
Duration: 03:56Listen with your Heart - Soprano.mp3Listen With Your Heart – Bass (MP3 5.40MB)
Duration: 03:56Listen with your Heart - Bass.mp3Listen With Your Heart – Tenor (MP3 5.40MB)
Duration: 03:56Listen with your Heart - Tenor.mp3Once you have learnt the song, you can perform your part with the choir on this recording or with other members of your class.
Listen With Your Heart – Choir performance track (MP3 5.40MB)
Duration: 03:56Listen with Your Heart - Performance.mp3Try singing your choir part along with the performance in Activity 1 featured Casey Donovan and the Combined Schools Secondary choir.
Appreciate
Appreciate
You might also enjoy watching Casey's performance of The Villain and You're the Voice from In Concert 2019.
In Concert 2019 – The Villain
Duration: 04:11In Concert 2019 – You're the Voice
Duration: 05:37
Congratulations!
You have completed this
@The Arts Unit Creative Class.
Third-party content attributions
Third-party content attributions
Casey Donovan image supplied by Casey Donovan Management. © Casey Donovan, reproduced and communicated with permission.
2019 Schools Spectacular images photographed by Anna Warr.
2019 Schools Spectacular 'Listen With Your Heart' score © The Arts Unit, reproduced and communicated with permission.
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