7369 old music 2402 - KET

Ideas for the
Classroom
Here are some activities that can be
used in conjunction with any Old Music
program. Select one or two to conduct
with your students before or after you
watch a program. If you need some
expert help or additional ideas, contact
your school’s music teacher or a
community or student musician.
What Music Do You Like?
Have students create and conduct a
survey of classmates’ personal music
preferences. In the follow-up discussion,
ask your students whether they
listen to more than one kind of music.
What is it they like about the music
they listen to? Does it make them want
to sing? To move or dance? Does it say
something to them? Do their parents,
grandparents, and older brothers and
sisters listen to the same kind of music
or different kinds? What kind of music
do they expect to hear on a show called
Old Music for New Ears?
Continuing the Tradition
Most of the songs featured in Old
Music for New Ears are traditional
songs, handed down from one generation
to the next. No one knows exactly
who composed many of them. Many of
the performers tell how they learned the
songs they sing or where the songs
probably came from. For example,
Mike Seeger says that “Derby Ram”
(Program 5) is an old English-American
song “reputed to be one of George
Washington’s favorites.” Mike learned
the version he sings in the program
when he was about 12.
Traditional songs such as “Derby
Ram” may be new to students, but
some of the songs they will have heard
before. Students may find a tune
familiar but not the words, or they may
know different words or additional
verses. Ask students to let the class
know when they hear a song or tune
they know and to share any different
versions.
A Class “Old Music” Songbook
What songs have been passed down
in your students’ families? Maybe they
sing songs when their families get
together for holiday celebrations or
other family events. Perhaps they begin
impromptu sing-alongs in the car to
pass the time as they are driving to a
vacation spot. Ask students to talk with
their parents and grandparents about
favorite family songs and to teach a
favorite family song to the class. Point
out that they are continuing the
tradition of passing along and preserving
this music. Have your students
collect the songs, with the stories that
accompany them, and organize this
material into your own “old music”
songbook.
Adding Verses
Traditional songs often change as
they are passed down. “Some singers
tried to sing them exactly as they
learned them,” says Mike Seeger, “and
others would change the melody a little
and add or subtract a verse to suit
themselves.” Select a song such as
“Cluck Old Hen” (Program 5), “Go
Rabbit” (Program 13), or “I Had a
Bird” (Program 16) and ask students,
individually or in groups, to add their
own made-up verses.
Malcolm Dalglish shows you
another way to do this in Program 16
when he performs a verse he added to a
nursery rhyme. Adding verses to
common nursery rhymes is an easy way
to get started.
Add the new verses to your class
songbook.
Traditional Instruments
The Old Music performers play a
variety of traditional instruments, some
of which may be unfamiliar to students.
Malcolm introduces them to the
hammer dulcimer in the first program.
Who else plays the hammer dulcimer in
the series? What is this instrument’s
“story”; i.e., where did it come from?
What other instruments are similar?
What does it look like? How is it
played?
Some of the musicians tell students
about their instruments. For other
instruments, students may be curious
enough about them to research their
origins and history. Keep an ongoing
KET, The Kentucky Network 9