Can music change the world ?

Music Part 1

MUSIC - PART ONE

MUSIC - Can Music Change the World?

Music has always affected man’s life in different aspects. Studies show its undeniable influence on our physical and mental status. Music has also been used as a powerful means of expression to reveal our emotions as well as our opinions on social, cultural, political or ethical issues. In this three-week learning path we are going to deal with what we may call “protest songs / “committed” music and songs (musique et chanson engagée)”

1) Instructions

The following steps should be taken:

Part one

- Make a group of two or three students under the supervision of the teacher or the assistant (moniteur) and fill in an information sheet for your teacher with the names of your team members.

- With the help of the assistant, choose two or three songs from the list at the bottom of the page and write the titles on the information sheet. (The titles in red have to be studied by all of you - and you will have to choose two or three more titles)

To make the following workshops more enjoyable and productive, each group should choose different songs from the ones already chosen by other students. (Consult your teacher or the assistant (moniteur) in Room 5208)

- Here are some tips to start your work on the songs: 2) Guidelines

The questions below have to be used as guidelines to your study of the songs and should therefore be answered as completely as possible. You will surely come up with additional thoughts and material...

*** Find out as much as you can about the songs

• When it was made  
• Its style : funny, peaceful, violent, subversive, pacifist, desperate, .......  
• To what extent the lyrics are explicit or implicit  
• What current events it was connected to  
• If it was associated with a specific social, political, cultural movement  
• Whether it was famous or little known by only a few people belonging to a specific  milieu, or...  
• How people or governments reacted to it  
• What made it so famous (the singer, the band, the music, the lyrics, the cover of the  record/ tape, or posters that promoted the song )  
• Which means were used then to broadcast the songs  

*** Do you know

[pic 1]

• any other artistic production (example: movies, paintings, etc.) related to the same theme as the one treated in the song?

• if the song has been used in other domains than the one it was initially sung for?

*** Briefly talk about

• The event or the movement the song is related to  
• Its impact on the world (due to the singer or the band, the style of music and the style  of broadcasting, etc.)  
• Your feelings about the song (What is your opinion about the song, the band, the way  the idea was expressed, etc?)  

In the next workshop each group of students should be ready to give as much information as possible about the songs they have worked on in a concise, well- organized and clear manner. All students in class will then get a chance to share their information and points of view!

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