music elements can be processed at a variety of levels, students can work to their ability while having
room to stretch the complexity of their description and widen their vocabulary.
Next, students are presented with a problem. Have you ever been listening to a “station” you created
when a song come on that seems completely out of place? Why does this happen? Most likely, there
is a characteristic that matches something you like but it's buried in other traits that don't match your
usual playlist. From this problem I created "Pandora's Challenge.” The challenge is to find the common
link between at least three very different pieces of music. We listen to three pieces and complete the
same listening matrix that guides students through describing the elements or traits of the music.
When we are done students work in groups to figure out the one common trait - or hidden link.
TRY THE CHALLENGE USING THIS EXAMPLE:
Beethoven, Symphony no. 7, mvt. 2: https://youtu.be/J12zprD7V1k
Ray Charles, Georgia On My Mind: https://youtu.be/yZceOIAh1i0
Train, Drops of Jupiter: https://youtu.be/7Xf-Lesrkuc
In the case of this example, each piece of music uses string instruments. It’s possible someone could
hear all these selections on a channel for string instruments. A challenge like this can serve as an
assessment of students’ ability to describe what they hear and find similarities/differences.
As a final product, students create their own Pandora’s Challenge - a playlist of at least three pieces of
music that are as diverse as possible but have one trait in common. Groups of two or three students
decide on the common trait. Some students find music that has the same meter, the same dynamic
contrasts, or even a repeating rhythm. Most groups start with a song they know and then find branch
out to find unfamiliar music. Students use chromebooks for research on youTube and Google. They
complete the listening matrix for each song and highlight the common trait between all the selections.
They present their challenge to the class in a playlist or slideshow and see if the class can identify the
common link.
STEAMed Magazine
9
July 2016 Edition