June 18th, 2013

6/18/13

In Class:

Welcome!

Distributed small notebooks and discussed the purpose.

Each student answered the following questions reflecting on goals, background, and expectations for the class:

     1)What experience have you had with writing—in school and outside of school?
     2) What sort of experiences have you had with songwriting and music? Do you sing and/or play an instrument?
     3) Who is your favorite musician/artist?
     4) What are your expectations of this class over the next six weeks? What do you want to get out of it?
     5) What are your expectations of yourself over the next six weeks? What do you want from yourself? 

Reviewed course syllabus (see separate post).

Identified and discussed the three dimensions used to analyze songwriting: lyrical, musical, and affective.

                                        The Dimensions of Songwriting

      Lyrical                                         Musical                                     Affective

- Well-written song               - Well-written music can             - "Beyond explanation"--

lyrics can stand alone           stand alone as instrumental.       sort of.

as poetry.                             - Intricate, but not necessarily    - Songs that are successful

- Using a variety of               complex.                                    in this dimension arouse

strategies and approaches,    - Deliberately constructed to      our sympathy, past life

lyrics reflect some                create a certain 'space' for the    experiences, and personal

particular truth about           song.                                          tastes.

life, culture, or humanity.              

Songs that are all-around "well-written" are those that occupy the intersectional space of these dimensions--"The Plectrum":

Students began working on the first assignment-- Identify fifteen "well-written" songs, and compile the following information for each:

1) Title of song

2) Performing artist

3) Writer

4) Year of publication

5) Lyrics

6) YouTube link

7) A rating of 0-10 for

     a) lyrical,

     b) musical, and

     c) affective dimensions.

Exit ticket: Choose one song as the soundtrack or theme song to your most recent summer vacation.

Homework:
Finish 15-song identification assignment.

Write!