Before doing this project, I knew music had a big impact on a lot of people, but I did not know the extent of the role that music plays for people. I love to listen to music, but for a lot people it gives them purpose and meaning and identity. I also learned more about the artists and musicians that my family listens to because I did more research on them. For example, I did not know that black singers did not really sing popular music until Sam Cooke helped pave the way into that genre. I also did not know that Dave Matthews Band is considered a jam band, and that they play their songs differently almost every time they perform them live.
I think this book making project could be one that high school students would really enjoy and connect to. Teenagers are forming their thoughts and opinions about the music they love and connect to, just as they are forming their own thought and opinions about everything in their lives. But they also draw influences from the music their parents or siblings listened to as well. For this project, I would have students list music that they grew up listening to, as well as the music that is important to them today. From there, they would use this same book folding method of the exploding circle and watercolor paper to make their books. I would want my students to make a mix CD/tape/vinyl of the 12 songs that they think define who they are. This is the same technique I used to make the CD that represents me. This book then becomes a time capsule for them to look back at to see what music was important to them when they were in high school.
References
About. (2020, January 17). Steve Miller Band. https://www.stevemillerband.com/bio
Ford, C. (2020, May 11). 10 ways music is intrinsically linked to our cultural identity. Six-Two by Contiki. https://www.contiki.com/six-two/10-ways-music-helps-cultural-identity/
Identity Through the Eyes of Music. (2017, November 9). Diggit Magazine. https://www.diggitmagazine.com/blog/identity-through-eyes-music#:%7E:text=Music%20seems%20to%20be%20a,both%20self%20and%20the%20collective.&text=Music%20constructs%20our%20sense%20of,ourselves%20in%20imaginable%20cultural%20narratives.
Ritz, D. (2021, February 17). Sam Cooke. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sam-Cooke
Team, M. U. (2017, February 14). Intro to Rock Music. Musical U. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/intro-rock-music/#:%7E:text=As%20the%201960s%20and%201970s,common%20in%20rock%20song%20lyrics.
Wikipedia contributors. (2021, April 18). Dave Matthews Band. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Matthews_Band#:%7E:text=The%20band%20won%20the%201996,shows%20since%20the%20early%201990s.
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