GEO-MUSIC
"There are places I remember  ......."  a sense of place through music
A lesson in Geo-music by Rosalie Sokol, Tantasqua Regional, Sturbridge
Overview
   Music is an essential element of culture; it mirrors the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of people who live there. In addition to these obvious aspects of life music often describes the landscape of the composer or lyricist.

  In this lesson, students will listen to a song with a geographic ear to discover the unique character of a place or region. After a little practice, perhaps they will be able to look at their own environment and be able to describe "places they'll remember..."

Connection to the curriculum
   Geography, history, social studies, music, language arts, art, communication skills.
 

Grade range
   Grades 5-12

Time required
   1-3 class periods

Geography National Standards
    1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 17, 18

Objectives

  1. to acquire a sense of place through music and lyrics
  2. to create a mental map of your street, neighborhood, town, or city that could be
      highlighted in the lyrics of a song.
  3. translate the mental map of your place into lyrics of a song or poem.
  4. illustrate your lyrics with sketches, pictures, or video.
 

Specific geographic skills
 * acquire geographic information
 * ask geographic questions
 * organize geographic information
 * analyze geographic information
 * prioritize geographic information

Background

  Most people enjoy listening to music for entertainment and relaxation, but rarely do they realize how much geography or history they learning about a place while they are listening to the lyrics of a song.  Teachers can capitalize on this interest by using songs to teach about places, past and present. The songs a teacher chooses to use will depend on the place being studied as well as the interest level and the available age-appropriate material. Respect for the environment could certainly be taught with the song "Colors of the wind", by Vanessa Williams. Another example, this one teaching American history would be Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire".

  Based on my visit to England, and to Liverpool in particular, I chose to use songs of the Beatles and Elton John's "Made in England" to share my travel experiences with my students as well as to teach them about mental mapping comparing these places with their own neighborhoods.

Materials

 1. tape recorder or CD player and recorded music
 2. songsheets of lyrics written out
 3. overhead projector, acetate sheets, and markers
 4. pictures, postcards, (slides optional)
 5. larger paper and thin markers or pencils for creating a cultural map
 6. videotape (optional)

Procedures

1. For motivation, if you have a geoshirt with a song on it or a concert tour t-shirt that would be age-appropriate, bring it in or wear it. Tell students the significance of it as an introduction to the lesson.

2. Play the song of your choice; mine is Elton John's "Made in England".

3. Discuss in groups what you can learn about a place through a song's lyrics. Have the students generate a list of characteristics that would best give an idea of a location. List these on the blackboard.

4. Distribute the lyrics to "Penny Lane" by the Beatles (or any others song that you choose).
    (Lyrics are attached at the end of this lesson).

5. Play the tape as students follow on the songsheet (you could let them sing it).

6. Using the songsheet for reference, students can write a paragraph or two describing the Penny Lane neighborhood. In groups they can analyze and discuss mental maps created by  the song.

7. Other songs can reinforce the concept of place  (I play "Strawberry Fields").

8. Assign a "Cultural Fieldwork Exploration" of their street or neighborhood. Remind them to look at their street with critically observing eyes. Have them acquire geographic information of the landscape - its people and places.

9. In the next class meeting, have students organize geographic information by analyzing which information paints the pictures best.

10. Play more examples for the students to experience more audio-landscapes (I use "Ferry across the Mersey").

11. Students need to do independent work creating lyrics to describe their neighborhoods. Sketches, pictures,, or student-oriented videos would enhance the lesson.

12. A presentation to the class entitled "There are places I'll remember..." could serve as the evaluation of the lesson.

13. As a finale, I play "In my life" by the Beatles.

Evaluation

 The student presentations will serve to demonstrate the geographic skills acquired in learning about the landscape.

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Penny Lane
 In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs
Of every head he's had the pleasure to know.
And all the people that come and go
Stop and say hello.
On the corner is a banker with a motorcar,
The little children laugh at him behind his back
And the banker never wears a mac
In the pouring rain  -- very Strange.
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes,
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile back
In Penny Lane there is s fireman with an hourglass
And in his pocket is a portrait of the Queen
He like to keep his fire engine clean,
Its a clean machine.
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes
A four of fish and finger pies
In summer meanwhile back.
Behind the shelter in the middle of the roundabout
The pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray.
And though she feels as if she's in a play
She is anyway.
In Penny Lane, the barber shaves another customer,
We see the banker sitting waiting for a trim
And then the fireman rushes in
From the pouring rain - very Strange.
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes,
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit, and meanwhile
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes,
There beneath the blue suburban skies .....
Penny Lane!
The Beatles