Recipes for Jamming

Overview (and objectives) The objective of this ten minute piece of a lesson activity is to go into the differences and similarities between volume and density. Why? When playing in a band for example, it is good to know the impact of volume and density on the sound of both your own instrument and the ensemble. It is also good to practice how to listen for these concepts when making music together. Listening is an important skill for music making.

Image/video/ example

Activities/tips: Let the student listen to this example: (link to a good example between volume and density, for example scene x, instrument y, volume up and down and density up and down). Look at the screen, have a discussion about the  differences and the use of differences. The task for the student or group of students is to create and record a jam where they try to clearly show how either volume or density can be expressed in a jam. Upload to the website.

Task for next lesson: Each student makes a comment on the website, stating what they think the jammer wanted to express (volume or density). Optional. Same activity can be repeated with other musical concepts like ritardando, crescendo, diminuendo, forte, piano.

Resources/links: Minimum one computer, internet. Optional: Data projector, one computer per group/student

Evaluation/assessment: Peer evaluation (built into the activity)