COMPARISON OF TWO SONGS USING AFRO-BLUES IDIOM
Diane Whitney
For grades 4, 5, 6
1. Kar Kar Madison
Popularly and affectionately known as Kar Kar, Boubacar Traoré is Mali’s legendary blues guitarist. He has been in and out of the musical limelight a number of times in the last 40 years. His nickname came about because when he played soccer people called out ‘Kari, Kari’ meaning ‘dribble, dribble’. Kar Kar grew up in the 1940s in Kayes, part of the Bambara region of Mali. His musical influences at that time were kassonke, a local traditional style, and American blues.
2. Don’t Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down
Eric was born In New York into a musical family. Eric’s father, Leon Bibb, is a trained singer who sang in musical theatre and made a name for himself as part of the 1960’s New York folk scene. His uncle was the world famous jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Family friends included Pete Seeger, Odetta and actor/singer/activist Paul Robeson, Eric’s godfather.
Eric was given his first steel-string guitar aged seven. Growing up surrounded by talent, Eric recalls a childhood conversation with Bob Dylan, who, on the subject of guitar playing advised
the 11-year-old Eric to “Keep it simple, forget all that fancy stuff”.
IN PREVIOUS LESSONS, STUDENTS HAVE:
1) shared their knowledge of slavery in the United States, as gained from their Social Studies classes/home
2) learned about Olaudah Equiano and heard an excerpt from his writings (he purchased his own freedom and subsequently published his biography
3) listened to examples of African and Afro-Cuban music, paying special attention to the bell and clave patterns and finding similarities in their sounds and functions
4) played the patterns on the bells and claves, and traditional drum patterns in the drum circle ensemble
5) examined in small groups the JACKDAWS Blues in America primary source packet
6) listened to examples of the 12 bar blues pattern
7) using a large map, located Senegal and New York
9) listened to examples of Kar Kar Madison and Eric Bibb from the Putumayo CD: FROM MALI TO MEMPHIS, and identified the common bass riff used in both songs (E G A (3 quarter notes/quarter rest)
IN THIS 35 MINUTE LESSON, STUDENTS (seated on the floor in pairs at the Orff instruments), will demonstrate their understanding of two basic jazz components found in music from Mali and Memphis by creating an 8-bar duet, accompanied by the teacher on the timeline, using a bass riff and improvisation patterns found in music from Mali and Memphis. They will:
1) locate the bass riff pattern (E G A (3 quarter notes/quarter rest)and practice that pattern until secure
2) practice improvising on C pentatonic scale, emphasizing A until secure
3) practice with one student in each set on the bass, the other improvising, switching when ready
4) share results with the class one set at a time; partners will switch after all have played once,
pausing for evaluation by class, teacher.
5) ASSESSMENT: As teacher provides the timeline (on bell or claves), the bass riff (partner on left) with improvisation (partner on right) is played continuously around the class, with partners switching as smoothly as possible so the music cancontinue until all have improvised.