Tag Archives: music

The 8 Gregorian Church Modes

“Dorian * Hypodorian * Phrygian * Hypophrygian * Lydian * Hypolydian * Mixolydian * Hypomixolydian

The exact origins of this eightfold organization of modes that completely dominated the church music of medieval Christendom remains contentious. Most authorities accept that the Carolingian court borrowed them from ninth-century Byzantine liturgies, which themselves arose out of the ancient priestly chants of the Near East.

Just as in ancient Greece, generation after generation of writers sought to define the effects of their emotions. Dorian was considered to be serious and to tame the passions; Hypodorian tended towards the mournful and tearful; Phrygian incited passion and led towards mystical revelry; Hypophrygian was the mode of tender harmony that tempered anger; Lydian was the music of cheerful happiness; Hypolydian was the tone of devout and emotional piety; Mixolydian united pleasure and sadness; and Hypomixolydian aspired to a sense of perfection and secure, contented knowledge.”

Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.

Woodstock

I’ve tagged it as high-interest material, but as I write this, I’m not sure I can say that with absolute confidence; in my day as a high school student, it certainly would have been. In any case, here is a reading on the legendary Woodstock music festival and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Duke Ellington on Fate

“Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to famous too young.”

Duke Ellington

Quoted in N.Y. Times Magazine, 12 September 1965

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

The Weekly Text, February 21, 2020, Black History Month 2020 Week III: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Muddy Waters

For the end of Week III of Black History Month 2020, here is a short reading on the late, great Muddy Waters along with the vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet that attends it.

[Addendum: first, here is a very cool image of Muddy Waters by the great illustrator Drew Friedman; if it weren’t sold out, I would definitely buy it–I’ve already collected a few of Mr. Friedman’s prints. Second, here is Muddy Waters’ appearance at the farewell concert of The Band in 1976, “The Last Waltz.”]

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Condone (vt)

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb condone, which is only used transitively–a direct object must follow it. You must condone something. I cannot think of single reason why students, upon their high school graduation, shouldn’t know this oft-used English word.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Duke Ellington (Presumably Facetiously) on Jazz and Your Daughter’s Disreputable Boyfriend

“Jazz was like the kind of man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.”

Duke Ellington

Quoted in NY Times Magazine, 12 September 1965

Excerpted from: Schapiro, Fred, ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006.

Everyday Edit: African-American Music

Here is an Everyday Edit worksheet on African-American music. This is the last Everyday Edit worksheet I have that’s appropriate to post for Black History Month. However, if you’d like more of these worksheets, you can find them at Education World, where the generous proprietors of that site give away a yearlong supply of them.

If you find typos in this document, your students should fix them! That’s the point of this exercise….

Johnny Cash

For a student with certain interests, e.g. the kid I had in mind when I put this together, this reading on the late, great Johnny Cash and its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet are high-interest materials.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

A Lesson Plan on the Crime and Puzzlement Case “Stradegy”

One way to introduce students to Antonio Stradivari and his prized musical instruments would be by way of this lesson plan on the Crime and Puzzlement case “Stradegy.”

I open this lesson with this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the idiom “Hit Below the Belt.” Here is the PDF of the illustration and questions that drive the investigation. Finally, here is the typescript of the answer key.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof: A stage musical (1964) and film (1971), with a book by Joseph Stein, score by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Set in pre-revolutionary Russia, and culminating in a pogrom, it relates the story of Tevye, a Jewish father (memorably played by Topol in the film), and his disapproval of the matrimonial choices made by his daughters. The musical is based on the Yiddish short story collection Tevye and His Daughters by the Russian-born US writer Sholom Aleichem (1859-1916). The significance of the title is obscure: it may be based on the proverbial expression meaning to ‘eat, drink and be merry,’ but it may be taken generally to signify a person who cheerfully makes the best of things, whatever the circumstances.”

Excerpted from: Crofton, Ian, ed. Brewer’s Curious Titles. London: Cassell, 2002.