Inquiry Journals or Essays/Groups
Directions: Use the following questions (or make up one of your own) to write an analysis of the story we are reading in class. Please consider details from the story, your own experience, or other works of literature in developing your paragraphs. Remember to have topic sentences in each paragraph. Your thesis statement should be in the first paragraph of your essay.
Overall Theme: Beyond the Notes
1. What role does music play in my life?
2. Has my taste in music changed over the years? How and why?
3. How and why do people develop an appreciation for and love of music?
4. Choose to research a particular composer or composition and give a musical performance.
5. Compare and contrast 2+ musical compositions by the same composer.
6. Choose to investigate the differences in musical styles and traditions between various parts of the world and look for reasons why these differences occur.
7. Explore the differences between classical and popular music.
8. Looking at the early lives of famous musicians, evaluate the role of heredity and environment in musical talent.
9. Design a web to organize information about different musical cultures and subcultures.
10. Record information about musical instruments.
11. Make a diagram to show how an instrument works.
12. Respond to music by drawing.
13. Explore careers in music.
14. Record thoughts on the effects of music.
What is an Orchestra?
1. An orchestra is comprised of many different instruments playing together to produce sound.
2. Orchestras have existed for over 400 years, but they have evolved over time.
3. Make a Venn Diagram to compare 2 orchestral instruments.
4. Create a personal glossary of musical terms.
5. What is an orchestra?
6. What instruments are included in a modern orchestra?
7. Investigate and classify different types of instruments. Discuss the differences visually and auditorily. Write the classification of each instrument. Use reference sources to find out more about the instruments that belong in each category.
8. Why were there no conductors before the 19th century?
9. During what period did music become more expressive and emotional?
10. How do orchestras vary in different parts of the world?
11. The author provides the history of the orchestra. What other non-fiction selections have you read that provide historical facts and background.
12. Of the instruments mentioned in this selection, which have you seen or heard? Were they part of an orchestra? Did you hear them individually? Which instrument was your favorite? Why?
13. How does this story add to your knowledge about beyond the notes? Add items to the Concept/Question Board.
The Nightingale
1. Examine the power of music in the lives of individuals.
2. Conduct a survey and graph results.
3. Music has the power to move people emotionally.
4. Beautiful music comes from the soul of the music maker.
5. Great music requires technical perfection as well as the kind of inspiration and meaning that only a living creature can generate.
6. The power of music can outlast death.
7. Why did some of the Emperor’s subjects prefer the artificial nightingale’s music to the real Nightingale’s music?
8. How did the real Nightingale prove herself superior to the artificial nightingale?
9. Compare the music of the Nightingale to the music of the artificial nightingale.
10. The Nightingale takes place in ancient China. Put together a summary of important facts about ancient China. Some suggestions:
a. How large was ancient China and what were its borders?
b. What were some of the geographical features of ancient China?
c. What was the population of ancient China?
d. What kind of government did ancient China have?
e. What were some of the religions in ancient China?
f. What was life like for ancient Chinese people? How did they make a living?
11. Few birds are as celebrated in literature as the nightingale. Nightingales are not found in the Americas, but are found throughout Europe. The thrush is the closest relative to the nightingale that can be found in the Americas. Investigate more about the nightingale. Some suggestions:
a. What is the average size of the nightingale?
b. What color is the nightingale?
c. Do both male and female nightingales sing?
d. Do nightingales sing all year or only in certain seasons?
e. Are nightingales migratory birds? If so, where do they migrate?
f. What does a nightingale eat?
12. See question #11 and do the same investigation with the thrush.
13. Take #11 and #12 and combine information as a compare and contrast report.
14. Why did the Emperor send the Chamberlain to find the nightingale?
15. Why did the court women put water into their throats and make gurgling sounds?
16. In what ways did the Emperor and his court prefer the artificial nightingale to the real one?
17. The kitchen maid describe the nightingale’s music as “so beautiful that tears come to my eyes,” while the Chamberlain says, “It’s like tinkling of crystal bells.” With this in mind, go back and review, What is an Orchestra and decide which musical instrument might produce, in your opinion, a sound that is most like the nightingale’s. Explain.
18. How does this story add to your knowledge about beyond the notes? Add items to the Concept/Question Board.
Aida
1. Compare 2 versions of the same opera.
2. Music, such as an opera, can tell a story.
3. An opera can convey the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of characters.
4. How is love stronger than death?
5. Aida takes place in Ethiopia and Egypt. Egyptian soldiers crossed the south edge of the Nile River to gain access into Ethiopia. Investigate the early civilizations of Ancient Egypt and Ethiopia. How did the physical settings of Egypt and Ethiopia help support these civilizations?
6. Draw a map illustrating the major rivers and physical settings that helped support the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Ethiopia.
7. Investigate the climates of the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Ethiopia and how the climates shaped the lives of these ancient people.
8. Why was Aida made the personal handmaiden to the Pharaoh’s daughter?
9. What ruined Radame’s plan to return to Ethiopia and marry Aida?
10. Why did Amneris do nothing to save Radames when the priests came to take him away?
11. What is an Orchestra went beyond the notes by explaining the instruments that are behind the notes. Aida has gone beyond the notes by giving you the story behind the opera. Combine what you have learned in both selections and consider which instrument you would use if you were to set Aida to music. What kind of music would they play?
12. At the end of The Nightingale, the nightingale says she will sing for the emperor every day, but that she must remain free and not be kept in the palace. How is this insistence on freedom similar to Radame’s insistence that he loves Aida and not Amneris?
13. How does this story add to your knowledge about beyond the notes? Add items to the Concept/Question Board.
The Sound of Flutes
1. Complete a web to organize information about music.
2. Conduct a literature search to find myths and legends.
3. Music was significant to the traditions of Native American people.
4. Music can be used to communicate thoughts and feelings.
5. Why was the Siyotanka so important to the Native Americans?
6. How did the Native Americans use music to communicate their feelings?
7. Compare the practice of courting with music to the practice of courting by writing love poems.
8. Each culture has its own music and makes use of some instruments in particular. Investigate a specific culture. Research the music and musical instruments that are specific to the culture. Some suggestions:
a. find out the meaning of the music and in what situations specific musical instruments are used
b. discuss similarities and differences in music and musical instruments in different cultures
9. Research an oral tradition from another culture and tell the story. Think of mythologies.
10. Why would young Native American men sit up at night composing songs?
11. Where was the sound in the forest coming from?
12. What did the young man do in order to learn to make a flute himself?
13. How is The Sound of Flutes similar to What is an Orchestra? How is it different? Explain.
14. As in The Nightingale, music can have an uplifting effect on people. How did you see this kind of effect in The Sound of Flutes? How was this effect similar to the one in The Nightingale?
15. The narrator in this selection says that flute music has always been love music for Native Americans. Now consider your own experience. What types of music can you think of that are associated with particular emotions? Why do you think these associations exist?
16. How does this story add to your knowledge about beyond the notes? Add items to the Concept/Question Board.
Ray and Mr. Pit
1. Great musical talent is sometimes inspired by people at an early age.
2. Talented musicians can be inspired by other musicians.
3. How as Ray Charles inspired to become a musician by Mr. Pit?
4. Why did Ray Charles devote his life to music?
5. Ray Charles says that when he was a boy, Mr. Pit was his greatest musical influence. Why?
6. Why does Ray Charles think Mr. Pit took an interest in him?
7. Ray Charles says that his musical ability is simply part of who he is and likens it to an extra body part. How would you compare Ray Charles’s description of himself with the nightingale you read earlier? Would you say that what is true of Ray Charles is also true of the nightingale? Why?
8. In The Sound of Flutes, a young hunter was attracted to a sound he heard in the woods. How would you compare the reaction of the hunter to the reaction of Ray Charles on hearing Mr. Pit play the piano?
9. How does this story add to your knowledge about beyond the notes? Add items to the Concept/Question Board.
Beethoven Lives Upstairs
1. Perseverance and determination to overcome enormous obstacles enables great musicians to create music.
2. Beethoven’s peculiar ways helped him create great musical compositions.
3. How can music inspire people to overcome obstacles?
4. How did some musicians persevere and overcome obstacles in order to accomplish their goals?
5. Beethoven had a heart of joy and created beautiful music even though he couldn’t hear it.
6. What are your thoughts about Beethoven and his music?
7. Compare music and math. Investigate musical notes and what they mean. Investigate time signature of a piece of music. Find different pieces of sheet music. Explain the musical notes and time signatures.
8. Beethoven wrote music for all 4 sections of the orchestra in his 9th Symphony. Investigate and describe how instruments in each of the sections sound. Some suggestions:
a. 4-column chart with the 4 sections of the orchestra across paper
b. select instruments to research on printed material, Internet, and CD’s/tapes
c. write a report about their chosen instrument: how it is played, the kind of music it makes, and a mood that it can suggest
9. Why does Christoph write that he wishes Beethoven did not live upstairs?
10. Why did Beethoven remove the legs of the pianos and rest them on the floor?
11. According to Christoph’s uncle, when did Beethoven first notice he was going deaf?
12. Beethoven was a famous composer of the Romantic period of art and music. Go back to What is an Orchestra and review what you learned there about orchestras of Beethoven’s time. How big would an orchestra performing Beethoven’s music likely have been? What new and improved instruments might have helped them play his difficult music?
13. How does this story add to your knowledge about beyond the notes? Add items to the Concept/Question Board.
The Man Who Wrote Messiah
1. Handel’s drive to create music was so strong that it enabledhim to reaffirm his musical superiority.
2. Hard work and perseverance are necessary to a successful musical career.
3. How did Handel pursue his dream of creating music even when his operas were rejected by the public?
4. What circumstances led to Handel’s success as a composer? Why did his popularity fade?
5. How did music affect the lives of Handel and others who lived during his time?
6. What are your thoughts about Handel’s strong desire to create music?
7. Handel’s Te Deum was written and performed to celebrate the Treaty of Utrecht. Investigate what this treaty was all about and what did it mean. Why are peace treaties generally signed? Who do you think does the most celebrating when a peace treaty is signed? Why do you think music is written to commemorate a peace treaty?
8. Why did Handel pursue a career in music instead of law as his father wished?
9. Where did Handel get the idea to write Messiah?
10. In what ways did writing Messiah help Handel?
11. What similarities do y o see between Handel and the nightingale?
12. In Beethoven Lives Upstairs, you get an idea of what Beethoven was like as a person. Having read The Man Who Wrote: Messiah, what impressions do you have of Handel as a person? How would you compare Beethoven and Handel?
13. In The Man Who Wrote: Messiah, you read that Handel was inspired to write Messiah. Think of a time when you felt inspired to create something. What did you create? What inspired you to create it? Would your creation have been the same if you had created it without being inspired? What difference did your inspiration make?
14. How does this story add to your knowledge about beyond the notes? Add items to the Concept/Question Board.