MUSC 486-20

18970

Social, Political, and Protest Songs: 

Music with a Message

Instructor:  Dr. Vicky V. Johnson

Email: vjohnson@tarleton.edu

Phone: Ext 9238

Week 1

Jan 17 - 20

Tuesday:  Inventory

• Syllabus

• Semester plans

• Short list of possible issues

• Use of technology

Why was this song created? 

What were the conditions that lead to the creation of the song?

Who were the "we" and who were the "them" (if applicable)?

What effect did the song have?

Music as a vehicle must carry the message

to the intended audience

to achieve the intended purpose

If that is the prime concern, it governs the word flow

the style of music

the acceptability to the venue

You want the song to be heard

Remembered

Repeated

Reflected upon

Assignments due:

Week 2

Jan 23 - 27

Discussion of collaborative technology tools to be used in the course.

Assignments due:

Week 3

Jan 30 - Feb 3

Public domain protest songs

Assignments due:

Week 4

Feb 6 - 10

Synthesis and Choices

Serious, humorous, innuendo, sarcastic, hidden meaning

Pop, rock, country, folk, rap (and subgenres)

Added visuals (art, video, costume, body language)

Imitative or original

Target audience

Self-absorbed or effective (or both)

No class on Thursday because of TMEA

Assignments due:

Week 5

Feb 13 - 17

We have 3 categories of resources to use:

1. student

2. professor

3. technology

Assignments due:

ePortfolio Guide

Week 6

Feb 20 - 24

February 27 is Anthology deadline

http://www.tarleton.edu/anthology

How do you compose?  What is the process?

1.  New

2.  Revision

3.  Finished (Performable)

4.  Notated

Assignments due:

Week 7

Feb 27 - Mar 2

Choose prompts for mid-term reflection

PJ:  Finale notation for Song 1 (Song #1 complete)

Justin

Amanda

Waylon

Corey

Kevin

Direct message/hidden message

Assignments due:

Week 8

Mar 5 - 9

Mid-term reflection

How has the class helped you grow?

What effect has it had on your awareness?

How would you define a protest song?

Describe the context that leads you to protest through song.

Double spaced, 12-pt Times New Roman in a Word document, 3-5 pages

Submit in Blackboard by class on Tuesday.

Assignments due:

  HAPPY SPRING BREAK! 

Week 9

Mar 19 - 23

Song rubric assignment:

Fill in the rubric with appropriate performance indicators

Upload Anthology poem into Blackboard

Upload Finale files into Blackboard  Song #1 must go in before next class meets

Assignments due:

Week 10

Mar 25 - Mar 29

Revisions of Song #2

Score for Song #2 due

Upload to Blackboard

1.  One Wordle (your choice; pick the one you like the best) - see Note below

2.  Score #1 in Finale format

3.  The poem that you submitted to Anthology

4.  Your midterm reflection in Word format

5.  The PowerPoint that you did at the beginning of the semester (13 slides)

Note:  The easiest way I have found to pull off the Wordles is to download Jing (it's free).  It is a capture software that saves whatever you select on the screen as a .png.  Then just attach upload it in the submission as an attachment.  I need the Wordles to be in some graphic format (.png, .jpg, .tif, etc.)

Assignments due:

Week 11

Apr 2 - 6

Revisions of Song #3

Tuesday, we will meet with Doug Hanna for Chalk & Wire training.

Assignments due:

Week 12

Apr 9 - 13

Score for Song #3 due

Assignments due:

Week 13

Apr 16 - 20

Final rehearsals

Assignments due:

Week 14

Apr 23 - 26

Performances

Assignments due:

	Fri	Literary Lion 7:00pm
	Mon	(TSU) 12:00pm, Beans & Franks 6:00pm
	Tue	Barefoot Market 7:00pm
	Wed	The Pub 8:00pm
	Thu	The Aardvark (FW) 7:00pm

Week 15

Apr 30 - May 2

Last day of classes is Wed., May 2

Assignments due:

Final Exam

Tuesday, May 8 9am

Note:  You can take back notated assignments for revision until your final exam

Final Reflection

Due by Tuesday, May 8 at 9am

Include in your Final Reflection the following:

• Students will analyze how this applied learning experience enabled them to apply what they learned from their courses, both in major and core curriculum areas, and from their extracurricular experiences to the real world.

• Students will evaluate how the applied learning experience expanded their views of academic, political, social, cultural, and/or economic environments and prepared them to contribute more meaningfully to a global society.

Also include your own personal thoughts, opinions regarding anything else you found to be significant about the experience.

Requirements:  Double spaced, 12-pt Times New Roman in a Word document, 3-5 pages

Upload to ePorfolio the following:

1. Final Reflection
2. One video link of your choosing
3. One score (different song from your video link)

Song Rubric

Performance indicators will be completed by students as an individual assignment and then revised as a group activity.

Reflection Rubric

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LINKS

DATABASES:

Use the following databases to search for information about a particular song, the composer of the song, or the condition(s) described in the song .

	Academic Search Complete A comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,400 full-text periodicals, including more than 4,500 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,300 journals and a total of 9,850 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The PDF content goes back to 1865.
	America: History and Life Indexes articles, reviews, and dissertations for U.S. and Canadian history.
	Historical New York Times The Historical New York Times offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue. Coverage begins September 18, 1851.
	JSTOR Contains fulltext backfiles of more than 1,000 core scholarly journals, many dating from the 19th century. Articles for most topics on Islam can be found in JSTOR.
	Project Muse Full text of 100+ scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics from Johns Hopkins University Press and nine other academic presses.

WEBSITES:

The following is a list of websites on various protest songs. While some of the information from these websites is considered legitimate for academic purposes, the content should be thoroughly evaluated by the reader to detect inaccuracies, irrelevance, currency, and bias.

	50 Greatest Protest Songs This blog lists 50 of the "greatest" protest songs from the world.  A brief description of what is being protested is included.
	10 Best Protest Songs of All Time  http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/readers-poll-the-10-best-protest-songs-of-all-time-20141203/bob-dylan-masters-of-war-20141203
	American Memory "American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning."
	American Protest Songs 1928-1953 This record available on Amazon.com offers a list of protest songs.
	Classic Protest Songs from Smithsonian Folkways Provides a list of 22 protest songs from the Folkways record.  The site includes the liner notes for the CD that provides background information on the song.
	Protest Songs (Songfacts) List of 68 protest songs (worldwide) with a statement of what is being protested.
	http://33revolutionsperminute.wordpress.com/

       Information on current event protest songs

Bibliography

Writing

Poetry assignment

One set of song lyrics (poetry form) will be submitted to the TSU Anthology

Background research on issues related to one song

5 pages, double spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman, with citations and bibliography

MidTerm reflection (free form)

Final reflection

From the syllabus: 

	Articulate how they have applied learning from music theory, political science, history, sociology, and writing in composing music with a message
	Evaluate how this applied learning experience has expanded their views of academic, political, social, cultural, and/or economic environments and prepared them to contribute more meaningfully to a global society.

Compositions

Compositions in progress may be in any written form:

	Finale files
	Lyrics with lead sheet symbols
	Hand-written notation on staff paper

The final product, however, must be scored in Finale and converted to PDF for inclusion in the ePortfolio.

Students will employ a constructivist approach in setting criteria by which their compositions will be judged.

Performances

	Each song-writer will put together and rehearse the performer/performers for his/her song.  The song-writer must participate in at least one performance of his/her compositions.
	Performances will be critiqued by the class and again, students will use a constructivist approach in setting criteria for evaluation.
	Videos are required for each composition performed to be included in the ePortfolio.  Videos do not have to be of the performance itself, but may be made 'in studio.'

ePortfolio

ePortfolio Guide