Everyday is The Star-Spangled Banner Day!
A project of the American Music Institute
A part of the University of Michigan
In conjunction with the Star-Spangled Music Foundation
Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created at the University of Maryland, College Park
by
Kaii Lee
Introduction
Every teacher can use "The Star-Spangled Banner" as a teaching tool to teach music in elementary school classes. The purpose of this 12-unit project is to introduce various rhythmic and melodic patterns to students, by using the standardized version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” (prepared for the U.S. Bureau of Education in 1918) and other patriotic songs. As a secondary activity, composing parodies with lyrics and/or melody, with their own experience, students could bring “The Star-Spangled Banner” and other songs closer to their hearts. The project culminates on a Patriotic Concert, with or without other songs.
Goals and Objectives
Materials Needed
Standards
These exercises will address the following California State Standards according
to the Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools:
| Strands | Grades | California Content Standards |
| 1.1 | 4 | Read, write, and perform simple melodic notation in major keys, using solfege. |
| 1.3 | 4 | Read, write, and perform rhythmic notation, including 16th notes, dotted notes, and syncopation. |
| 2.1 | 5 | Sing a varied repertoire of music, including rounds, descants, and songs with ostinatos and songs in two-part harmony, by oneself and with others. |
| 2.3 | 5 | Compose, improvise, and perform basic rhythmic, melodic, and chordal patterns independently on classroom instruments. |
| 2.4 | 6 | Compose short pieces in duple and triple meters. |
| 3.1 | 5 | Describe the social functions of a variety of musical forms from various cultures and time periods (e.g., folk songs, dances). |
| 4.2 | 5 | Develop and apply appropriate criteria to support personal preferences for specific musical works. |
| 4.2 | 4 | Describe the characteristics that make a performance a work of art. |
| 5.1 | 5/6 | Explain the role of music in community events.Describe how knowledge of music connects to learning in other subject areas. |
Duration
The time required for these activities will be as followed:
1. Studying rhythmic patterns and intonations: 40 minutes (one lesson)
2. Practicing rhythmic patterns and intonations: 120 minutes (3 lessons)
3. Rewriting lyrics and melody: one week (assigned as homework)
4. Singing original spiritual and new version/adapted lyrics: 10 weeks
5. Performing complete work at a school concert
Collaborative Components
Language art and social study teachers can participate in this
project and use the lessons as a cross-curriculum activity. While studying rhythmic patterns, a
math component of division could be included as well.
Daily Time line
| Steps | Sequence | Time/Minutes |
1 |
Start with physical stretching exercises | 2 |
2 |
Go through vocal warm-ups | 3 |
3 |
Do rhythmic patterns exercises | 5 |
4 |
Debrief certain daily topics | 5 |
5 |
Practice solfege singing | 5 |
6 |
Rehearse concert songs | 20 |
Resources--PowerPoint Presentations
Procedure
A step-by-step process for each of the twelve lessons can be found as a Word document here, or just continue reading the following sections.
For each of the twelve lessons, preview the PowerPoint slides first to:
• Determine how much time is needed to complete the specific lesson
• Print out all necessary rhythm/melody samples for students
• Listen and view the audio/video samples to add markers or time stamps
• Lessons 6 through 11 can be taught in any order
• When in doubt, contact Kaii
Lesson One-Introduction/Duration
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 4)
2. Present the background story of "To Anacreon in Heaven"
3. Play the audio sample of "An Anacreontic Song", dated 1775 (Slide 5)
4. Have a discussion regarding the rhythm and melodic line and explain how rhythmic patterns are simply made with manipulated long and short silence and sound
5. Explain rhythm is made with long and short silence and sound, by using quarter note as the basic unit and eighth notes are the sub-divisions (Slide 6) and clap the two patterns on the slide
6. Compare and count all kinds of notes, practice basic rhythmic pulse by clapping each quarter note once and sub-division evenly by clapping twice within the duration of one quarter note (Slide 7)
7. Use body movements, clap, snap, stump, etc. to practice rhythmic patterns (Slides 8-10)
8. Play the Rhythm Memory Game (Slide 11)
9. Have a silent comparison between patterns 1-4 and 5-8 for 30 seconds (Slide 12)
10. Discuss the differences (Slide 13)
11. Present the early history of the American flag (Slide 14)
12. Play the audio sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", 1814 version, and compare to "An Anacreontic Song"
13. Reflect on lesson one (Slide 15)
Lesson Two-Rhythm Study
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 2)
2. Explain the function of time signature/meter and review all kinds of notes (Slide 3)
3. Preview the Dotted Rhythm and Syncopation and demonstrate “tie” with various patterns (Slide 4)
4. Play the audio samples of "An Anacreontic Song", from 1775 (Left button) and a three-part "An Anacreontick Song" from 1799 (Right button)
5. Have a discussion on the differences of the two songs
6. Explain and practice the Dotted Rhythm and Syncopation, the use of dotted rhythm and clap dotted half note follow by a quarter rest or a quarter note, clap syncopation--a rhythmic technique in music which the accent is shifted to a weak beat of the measure (Slides 5-7)
7. Select individuals or small group of students to clap for the class to check for understanding and accuracy. This may serve as an on-going formative assessment
8. Exam "The Star-Spangled Banner", published in 1814, and check time signature (Slide 8)
9. Play the audio sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", 1814 version, and compare to "An Anacreontick Song"
10. Exam the flute part and explain the key signature (Slide 9)
11. Study the six rhythmic patterns (Slide 10), play the audio sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", 1814 version, and check for the "Answer"
12. Present background story of the War of 1812 (Slides 11-15)
13. Play the audio sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", 1814 version, Sung by a chorus (Slide 16)
14. Reflect on lesson two (Slide 17)
Lesson Three-Late 18th Century Parodies/War of 1812
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 2)
2. Present main events in America 1775-1799 (Slide 3)
3. Exam "Let Happy Lovers Fly", from 1774 (Slide 4)
4. Explain "Catch" and compare to "Canon" (Slide 5)
5. Present background story of the signing of Declaration of Independence (Slides 6)
6. Exam "Praise the Lord, O My Soul", from 1776 and explain Canon (Slide 7)
7. Present the Independence War with "Drums and Fife for Independence" (Slide 8)
8. Exam and play the audio sample of "Jack Oakum in the Suds", from 1790 (Slide 9)
9. Exam and play the audio sample of "An Anacreontic Song", from 1790 (Slide 10)
10. Exam and play the audio sample of "The Social Club", from 1792 (Slide 11)
11. Exam and play the audio sample of "To Genêt in New York", from 1793 (Slide 12)
12. Exam and play the audio sample of "Song for Washington's Birthday", from 1798 (Slide 13)
13. Exam and play the audio sample of "Adam and Liberty", from 1798 (Slide 14)
14. Exam and play the audio sample of "Hail Columbia!", from 1798 (Slide 15)
15. Reflect on lesson three (Slide 16)
Lesson Four-19th Century Parodies/Rhyme/"America"
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 2)
2. Present main events in America 1800-1850 (Slide 3)
3. Exam and play the audio sample of "When the Warrior Return", from 1805, tenor solo (Slide 4)
4. Exam and play the audio sample of "For the Fourth of July", from 1813, men's chorus (Slide 5)
5. Exam and play the audio sample of "The Battle of Baltimore", from 1814, baritone solo, use "Yankee Doodle" melody (Slides 6)
6. Present Fort McHenry (Slide 7)
7. Exam and play the audio sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", from 1814, tenor solo (Slide 8)
8. Present Francis Scott Key (Slide 9)
9. Exam and play the audio sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", from 1814, tenor solo, and exam the 9 rhyming words (Slide 10)
10. Exam and play the audio sample of "Ode for the Fourth of July", from 1826, Women's chorus (Slide 11)
11. Exam and compare "America", from 1831 (Slide 12)
12. Play the video sample of "America", sung by Washington National Cathedral Choir w/orchestra (Slide 13)
13. Exam the rhymes in "America" (Slide 14)
14. Play the video sample of "America", sung by Kelly Clarkson on Inauguration Day 2013 (Slide 15)
15. Exam and play the audio sample of "Harrison and Liberty", from 1840, baritone solo (Slide 16)
16. Exam and play the audio sample of "Oh! Who Has Not Seen", from 1843, soprano solo (Slide 17)
17. Present main events in America 1850-1872 (Slide 18)
18. Exam and play the audio sample of "Our Country’s Free Flag", from 1861, tenor solo (Slide 19)
19. Exam and play the audio sample of "The Flag of Secession", from 1861, tenor solo (Slide 20)
20. Present main events in America 1875-1896 (Slide 21)
21. Exam and play the audio sample of “Farewell to the Star-Spangled Banner", from 1862, baritone solo (Slide 22)
22. Reflect on lesson four (Slide 23)
Lesson Five-20th Century Performances/Concepts of Melody
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 2)
2. Explain the diatonic scale, Solfege, Kodály hand signs, and the melodic system involves intonations that repeat, ascend or descend in any direction, the tones can be arranged in unison (a single tone only repetition), step-wise (neighboring tones, such as major and minor scales), or skip (two tones with one or more other tones in between them), and analyze intervals (Slides 3-4)
3. Explain Solfege Do-Re-Mi with one horizontal line (Slide 5)
4. Explain Solfege Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So with two horizontal lines (Slide 6)
5. Explain Solfege Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do with five horizontal lines-staff lines (Slide 7)
6. Exam and practice Melody Exercises 1 (Slide 8)
7. Exam and practice Melody Exercises 2 (Slide 9)
8. Exam and practice Melody Exercises 3 (Slide 10)
9. Select individuals or small group of students to clap and/or sing for the class to check for understanding and accuracy. This may serve as an on-going formative assessment
10. Play the Melody Memory Game (Slide 11)
11. Exam the melodic phrases and play "The Star-Spangled Banner", from 1814 (Slide 12)
12. Exam and play "The Star-Spangled Banner", from 1814 (Slide 13)
13. Play the audio sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", from 1915 performance by Margaret Woodrow Wilson (Slide 14)
14. Play the video sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", from 1991 performance by Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV (Slide 15)
15. Play the video sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", from 8/18/1969 performance by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock (Slide 16)
16. Reflect on lesson five (Slide 17)
Lesson Six-"God Bless America"
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 2)
2. Explain intervals of major and minor seconds and beyond (Slide 3)
3. Exam and practice dotted rhythm with sixteenth notes in Rhythm Exercises 1 (Slide 4)
4. Exam and practice dotted rhythm with sixteenth notes in Rhythm Exercises 2 (Slide 5)
5. Exam and practice Melody Exercises 1 (Slide 6)
6. Exam and practice Melody Exercises 2 (Slide 7)
7. Present background story of Irving Berlin and the lyrics of "God Bless America" (Slide 8)
8. Play the video sample of "God Bless America", from 1938 performance by Kate Smith (Slide 9)
9. Exam the rhyming phrases (Slide 10)
10. Play the video sample of "God Bless America" with American Sign Language, in 2007 performance by Shannon McMullen (Slide 11)
11. Exam and practice the introduction section of "God Bless America" (Slide 12)
12. Exam and practice the verse section of "God Bless America" (Slide 13)
13. Demonstrate and practice "God Bless America" with American Sign Language
14. Select individuals or small group of students to clap and/or sing for the class to check for understanding and accuracy. This may serve as an on-going formative assessment
15. Exam the commercialism of the American flag (Slide 14)
16. Reflect on lesson six (Slide 15)
Lesson Seven-"America, the Beautiful"
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 2)
2. Exam and play audio sample of "America, the Beautiful", performed by U.S. Navy Band (Slide 3)
3. Exam rhyming phrases of verse one in "America, the Beautiful" (Slide 4)
4. Exam rhyming phrases of verse four in "America, the Beautiful" (Slide 5)
5. Exam and practice dotted rhythm exercise 1 (Slide 6)
6. Exam and practice dotted rhythm exercise 2 (Slide 7)
7. Select individuals or small group of students to clap and/or sing for the class to check for understanding and accuracy. This may serve as an on-going formative assessment
8. Play the video sample of "America, the Beautiful", performed by Faith Hill at Super Bowl LXIII-43 (Slide 8)
9. Present background story of Katherine Lee Bates and Samuel A. Ward
10. Exam images from the 19th Century (Slide 9)
11. Present background story of American folk songs composer, Stephen Foster (Slide 10)
12. Compare different arrangements of "Old Folks at Home" (Slides 10-11)
13. Present Stephen Foster's "Oh! Susanna" (Slide 12)
14. Present background story of American Spirituals, "Deep River" and "We Shall Overcome-piano solo" (Slide 13)
15. Play the video sample of "America, the Beautiful", performed by Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Jefferson Memorial, Washington D.C. in 2010 (Slide 14)
16. Reflect on lesson seven (Slide 15)
Lesson Eight-"Lift Every Voice and Sing"
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 2)
2. Exam simple and compound time signatures/meters (Slides 3-4)
3. Compare the simple and compound time signatures/meters (Slide 5)
4. Exam the simple and compound time signatures/meters with different ideas (Slide 6)
5. Play the video sample of "Lift Every Voice and Sing", from the Balm in Gilead.org (Slide 7)
6. Exam the lyrics of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (Slide 8)
7. Exam the rhymes in both verses and chorus sections (Slides 8-10)
8. Play the video sample of "Lift Every Voice and Sing", performed by Ray Charles and five back-up singers (Slide 11)
9. Present main events in America in the early 1900s (Slide 12)
10. Play the video sample of "Lift Every Voice and Sing", performed by HBCU, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 105 voice choir (Slide 13)
11. Take another look at the American folk songs, "Old Folks at Home", "Oh! Susanna", "Gwine to Run All Night", "Old Kentucky Home, Good-night" (Slide 14)
12. Take a look at American Spirituals, "Swing Low", "Nobody Knows the Trouble", and "Oh Shenandoah" (Slide 15)
13. Explain composition project with the suggested songs and assign lyrics writing (with limited numbers of possible syllable change) as a weeklong homework, have students put more verses on another sheet of paper if necessary, and when students return with the new versions, sing each new verse in class (Slide 16)
14. Reflect on lesson eight (Slide 17)
Lesson Nine-"You're a Grand Old Flag"
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 2)
2. Present the first edition of published "You're a Grand Old Flag" (Slide 3)
3. Play the video sample of "You're a Grand Old Flag", performed on a player piano (Slide 4)
4. Exam the lyrics and rhyme in "You're a Grand Old Flag" (Slide 5)
5. Exam the melodic line in "You're a Grand Old Flag" and add body movement to the melody (Slide 6)
6. Select individuals or small group of students to clap and/or sing for the class to check for understanding and accuracy. This may serve as an on-going formative assessment
7. Play a game to match the rhythm to measures of "You're a Grand Old Flag" (Slide 7)
8. Play the video sample of "You're a Grand Old Flag", performed by a children's choir and marching band, with images of the U.S. flag (Slide 8)
9. Exam the melodic line of "You're a Grand Old Flag" (Slides 9-10)
10. Compare the use of intervals and rhythm in "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "You're a Grand Old Flag" (Slide 11)
11. Exam the use of the U.S. Flag in early American history (Slide 12)
12. Reflect on lesson nine (Slide 13)
Lesson Ten-"This Land is Your Land"
1. Go over the vocabularies and exam Woody Guthrie's art work (Slide 2)
2. Present the chorus section of "This Land is Your Land" (Slide 3)
3. Exam rhymes in the verses (Slides 4-6)
4. Present the Dust Storms in 1930s that inspired "This Land is Your Land" (Slide 7)
5. Exam the melodic line and rhythm in "This Land is Your Land" (Slide 8)
6. Exam the rhythm of "This Land is Your Land" (Slides 9-10)
7. Exam the melodic line in "This Land is Your Land" and demonstrate in American Sign Language (Slide 11)
8. Select individuals or small group of students to clap and/or sing for the class to check for understanding and accuracy. This may serve as an on-going formative assessment
9. Assign melody writing, including extended range of tones and possible rhythm changes, and the new melody could be written on the staff lines under the original melody. When students return with the new versions, sing each new composition in class
10. Play the video sample of "This Land is Your Land", performed by Woody Guthrie, Emmylou Harris, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Little Richard, John Melloncamp, and Taj Mahal (Slide 12)
11. Reflect on lesson ten (Slide 13)
Lesson Eleven-The Battle Hymn of the Republic
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 2)
2. Exam dotted rhythm in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Slides 3-4)
3. Present images of Civil War in the video sample of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", performed by Reinald Werrenrath in 1917 (Slide 5)
4. Exam the melodic line in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Slides 6-7)
5. Exam the melodic line and rhythm in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Slide 8)
6. Select individuals or small group of students to clap and/or sing for the class to check for understanding and accuracy. This may serve as an on-going formative assessment
7. Play the video sample of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", performed by Iowa All State Choir and Orchestra, with guest conductor, Maestro Joseph Guinta, 11/22/2012 (Slide 9)
8. Exam the Lyrics in verses 2-5 of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Slide 10)
9. Exam the Lyrics in "John Brown's Song", using the same melody as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Slide 11)
10. Exam the Lyrics in "The Battle Hymn of Cooperation", using the same melody as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Slides 12-13)
11. Play the video sample of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", performed by GloryStar Children's Choir of Los Angeles Concert in Vienna, 8/8/2013 (Slide 14)
12. Reflect on lesson eleven (Slide 15)
Lesson Twelve-Compositions and Concert Time!
1. Go over the vocabularies (Slide 2)
2. Present "The Star-Spangled Banner" in instrumental versions arranged by John Philip Sousa, Igor Stravinsky, and Sergei Rachmaninoff (Slides 3-5)
3. Present images of Cilvil War in the video sample of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", performed by Reinald Werrenrath in 1917 (Slide 5)
4. Have a discussion regarding the composition projects (Slide 6)
5. Have a discussion regarding the concert performance skills (Slide 7)
6. Have a discussion regarding the concert etiquette (Slide 8)
7. Play the video sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", 1814 version, arrabged by Theodore Carr, performed by Justin Berkowitz (Slide 9)
8. Play the video sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", performed by jazz singer, René Marie, during Bridgestone Music Festival, at Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 5/15/09 (Slide 10)
9. Play the video sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", performed by Beyoncé on the Inauguation Day 2013 (Slide 11)
10. Play the video sample of "The Star-Spangled Banner", performed by Sebastian de la Cruz (Slide 12)
11. Have another look at the patriotic songs, "America, the Beautiful", "This Land is Your Land", "America", "Lift Your Voice and Sing", "You're a Grand Old Flag", "God Bless America", "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", and "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Slides 13-20)
12. Play "The Great Word Scramble" for further song memorization (Slide 21)
13. Select several new verses of students' work to add to the originals and perform them in the school concert. Now, arrange (by teacher, if possible, or contact Kaii for assistance) for two-part singing and rehearse them for the school concerts!
14. Reflect on lesson twelve (Slide 22)
Composition Homework Song List
| Patriotic Songs | Spirituals | Folk Songs |
| The Star-Spangled Banner | Deep River | Old Folks At Home |
| America (My Country 'tis of Thee) | Every Time I Feel the Spirit | She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain |
| God Bless America | My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord | Ching a Ring Chaw (Minstrel-1833) |
| America, the Beautiful | Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho | How Can I Keep From Singing? (Quaker) |
| Lift Every Voice and Sing | Follow the Drinking Gourd | Clementine |
| You're a Grand Old Flag | Music Down In My Soul | Cindy |
| This Land is Your Land | My Lord, What a Mornin’ | Simple Gifts |
| The Battle Hymn of the Republic | Oh, Freedom | Turkey In the Straw |
Possible Concert Program
The Star-Spangled Banner............................................Every Singer
She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain
Et Exultavit (J.S. Bach)
If I Could Catch a Rainbow
This Land is Your Land w/American Sign Language…..….4th
Grade
Simple Gifts, cello solo…...............................................Emily Chung
Every Time I Feel the Spirit
Embrace the Music
America, the Beautiful……………………………..…….5th
Grade
American Suite, Op.98, No. 4………….............….Howard Chang
Away From the Roll of the Sea
God Bless America
Con Te Partiro…………………….................…………6th
Grade
For We Wish You Music………….................…………All
Grades
Assessment
The Star-Spangled Banner Quiz
Links
The American Spiritual Ensemble
California Content Standards for Music
Hampsong Foundation
IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
National Association for Music Education
National Museum of American History
Negro Spirituals
Newspapers.com
Popular Songs in American History
Song of America
Voices Across Time
USA Flag Site
