I barely knew this girl, but she talked to me about some of her most personal feelings.
As the musical director of the musical theater summer camp, my job was to turn the kid’s lyrics into songs and then to teach them the songs for their performance. I spent two weeks working with them. At first for an hour, four times a week and then longer during for the week of the show.
I didn’t really have time to hang out with the kids and the time I worked with the kids was really directed and focused. This was a 4th grade-6th grade workshop and I did this as part of the summer camp work I talked about in this previous post.
I’ve had a lot of kids open up to me about things in their persona lives. Sometimes they do this because they feel that they know you, so they trust you. Other times they don’t feel like they have anyone else to turn to so they talk to you because you are available.
What happed with Mary, a 4th grader, was something different. While we worked on the songs, she worked hard but didn’t really stand out. Mary didn’t laugh at my jokes like the other students and didn’t really hang around me during breaks.
On the day before the performance during a break she came up to me and handed me a picture of a hamster. It was worn on the sides from being in her pocket. She began to tell me about her hamster.
Her hamster had breast cancer and was dying. Through tears she told me about this hamster’s life, the baby hamsters that were a result of this hamster being in the same cage as another hamster and the medicine they were giving to try to make this hamster with cancer more comfortable before the inevitable.
Even though this 4th grader was crying she was very articulate as she explained the fact that her hamster was going to die and the reality of the situation. I didn’t really have a lot to say to her besides asking some follow-up questions.
When it was announced that break time was over, she wiped off her face, sniffed her nose and skipped off to join the rest of the campers.
I’m not sure why Mary felt like sharing with me what was going on with her hamster. Maybe I seemed approachable or maybe it had to do with the fact that she knew that after this week she would probably never see again. I could theorize something about childhood social development, but that those would just be speculations.
More likely than not it was just one of those things that happens at summer camp.
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Monday, July 15, 2013
Monday, July 1, 2013
Summer Camp: Week 1 – Mr. Kingsley
So why am I working at a summer camp? Well, the money is nice and also because as much as I enjoy not working during the summer, I do love kids and teaching is something that I really do enjoy.
I proposed to my school to do a summer music camp but it didn’t run because not enough people signed up. While I was working up proposals for this camp and hoping that people would sign-up, I was also talking to one of my friends about working at the camp at the school that she worked at during the school year.
This other school is also an independent private school that embraces the progressive teaching philosophy. When my friend connected me with the summer camp coordinator they were really excited about the school that I taught at and got me in to teach two forty-five minute morning sessions Monday through Thursday.
These sessions would have a variety of ages from students entering second grade to students entering sixth grade. This last week I taught as session of second graders as well as mixed group of fifth and sixth graders.
Now I’ve actually never taught summer camp, been a camp counselor or gone to camp. The closest I ever got to camp was going to band camp at college. I have plenty experiences as a teacher so I figured I’d be fine. All I’d have to do is extenuate the Barney and Friends part of what I do and I’d be set.
While the week went well, there was a lot of adjustments that I had to make. These were kids that I was only working with one week so it wasn’t possible for me to really get to know them well. I did some name stuff but moved on from that quickly since I had so little time to spend with them.
Classroom rules: I was sillier about them but I tried to make a point. The one rule was “don’t be a poo,” which did them laugh but also drove home the point about being nice to each other.
I ended up doing a lot of screaming. Not angry, aggressive screaming, more jokingly frustrated screaming. It shook some kids up but they understood quickly that I was partially joking and being silly as part of the shtick that I was creating.
I wasn’t Mr. Tang their music teacher. I introduced myself as Mr. Kingsley, their musical guide as we had fun with music.
We started each session with a camp song, and did activities that I regularly do with my kids but simplified them for the context and didn’t explain learning connections. I also wasn’t as concerned with teaching them long-term organization skills and how to behave in a classroom. We are in camp. While I needed order, the last thing I wanted was for my kids to feel like we were in a music class.
With the silly camp songs, screaming, random youtube.com clips and my manic energy, we had a lot of fun. Some kids left thinking I was really weird, which was fine since most of the kids left with smiles.
I got summer a full of camp coming up, so its going to be an interesting ride. Next week it’s a short week, but then I’m starting to work with the musical theater camp.
This is going to be interesting.
I proposed to my school to do a summer music camp but it didn’t run because not enough people signed up. While I was working up proposals for this camp and hoping that people would sign-up, I was also talking to one of my friends about working at the camp at the school that she worked at during the school year.
This other school is also an independent private school that embraces the progressive teaching philosophy. When my friend connected me with the summer camp coordinator they were really excited about the school that I taught at and got me in to teach two forty-five minute morning sessions Monday through Thursday.
These sessions would have a variety of ages from students entering second grade to students entering sixth grade. This last week I taught as session of second graders as well as mixed group of fifth and sixth graders.
Now I’ve actually never taught summer camp, been a camp counselor or gone to camp. The closest I ever got to camp was going to band camp at college. I have plenty experiences as a teacher so I figured I’d be fine. All I’d have to do is extenuate the Barney and Friends part of what I do and I’d be set.
While the week went well, there was a lot of adjustments that I had to make. These were kids that I was only working with one week so it wasn’t possible for me to really get to know them well. I did some name stuff but moved on from that quickly since I had so little time to spend with them.
Classroom rules: I was sillier about them but I tried to make a point. The one rule was “don’t be a poo,” which did them laugh but also drove home the point about being nice to each other.
I ended up doing a lot of screaming. Not angry, aggressive screaming, more jokingly frustrated screaming. It shook some kids up but they understood quickly that I was partially joking and being silly as part of the shtick that I was creating.
I wasn’t Mr. Tang their music teacher. I introduced myself as Mr. Kingsley, their musical guide as we had fun with music.
We started each session with a camp song, and did activities that I regularly do with my kids but simplified them for the context and didn’t explain learning connections. I also wasn’t as concerned with teaching them long-term organization skills and how to behave in a classroom. We are in camp. While I needed order, the last thing I wanted was for my kids to feel like we were in a music class.
With the silly camp songs, screaming, random youtube.com clips and my manic energy, we had a lot of fun. Some kids left thinking I was really weird, which was fine since most of the kids left with smiles.
I got summer a full of camp coming up, so its going to be an interesting ride. Next week it’s a short week, but then I’m starting to work with the musical theater camp.
This is going to be interesting.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
California Girls (Gurls) by The Beach Boys (Katy Perry)
“California Girls” by The Beach Boys is an important benchmark for the band providing a glimpse into the genius they would reveal the next year in 1966 with their album Pet Sounds. This song may not have featured the most progressive of lyrics but demonstrated a wide array of tone colors and a remarkable musical depth that inspired band like the Beatles to think outside of the box.
“California Gurls” is a song recorded by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg inspired by Jay-Z’s tribute to New York, “Empire State Of Mind.” Released in late May of this year, this song has gone on to become one of the most popular songs of this summer. Katy’s song is a throwback musically and lyrically with 1980s influenced synthesized sounds and cultural references (“Daisy-Dukes”?!? How old do you have to be to get that reference?). Oh, and the music video features Perry transforming her swim suit into a whip cream canon giving the illusions of lactating whip cream out of her mammary glands . . . yeah. . . not so hot.
One of my friends suggested I look at the Katy Perry song but I couldn't help but think about The Beach Boys song that basically has the same name. Does it make sense to compare songs that were recorded 44 years apart? They are from completely different times with completely different musical sensibilities but they do share a spiritual connection.
Both of these songs are tributes to the California from different perspectives. The Beach Boys claim they have traveled the world and while all these other girls they have met are great they don’t match California girls. Katy takes the perspective of an insider talking about how great her girls are and how they will “melt your Popsicle” (man, I don’t even know where to take this one).
What’s stands out to me after listening to these two songs is how progressive the Beach Boys were in their production of their song. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Katy Perry (one of my earlier posts was about “Hot N Cold”), but my God, really listen to what The Beach Boys were doing.
They open “California Girls” with a slow guitar sparkling like the reflection of a sunrise in the ocean. Through the first verse, the Beach Boys add layers of instruments but it’s the second verse where the music gets blown wide open. It’s like someone coming around a corner and suddenly seeing a beach full of people partying and surfing in the sun. The back-up singing, the saxophones, the shining vibraphone and the booming percussion create a Cathedral of soun.
Pointing this out is not a knock against Katy Perry. She has again demonstrated her ability to create catchy tunes, perfect to dance too, exuding her quirky and infectious personality through her vocal performance.
For me, "California Gurls" doesn't quite work for me, some of it is the weird imagery from the video, but most of it comes from comparing it The Beach Boys song which I can't help with song titles so similar.
If you love Katy's song, party on!! More power to you, every summer needs a song to dance to and Katy's given us a great one. I'll be here listening to music that's older than I am wondering how The Beach Boys captured the innocence and wonder of summer in music . . . disturbed by the imagery of a girl angrily shooting whip cream out of her bikini top.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
In 1967, radio stations banned “Brown Eyed Girl” from airplay on radio stations. Yes, one of the most beloved pop songs in our culture, a seemingly innocuous celebration of life and a quintessential “feel good” song was taken off the radio.
Why? Because the line “making love in the green grass” from the second verse was too explicit so it was overdubbed with a line from the first verse “laughin' and a-runnin', hey hey.”
As silly as that seems to us, it could have been a worse. When it was first being recorded Van Morrison sang this song as a “Brown Skinned Girl." In the 1960s there were many states that still had laws outlawing miscegenation (interracial marriage). That would have gone over REALLY well. Producers convinced Van Morrison to change it to “Brown Eyed Girl” inadvertently creating universal appeal to this song as most of the people on this planet have brown eyes.
What makes “Brown Eyed Girl” such a popular and meaningful song isn’t the once offensive reference in the second verse or even the fact that this song is about a girl that is characterized by a superficial feature. “Brown Eyed Girl” is a song that describes the great memory of sharing a song with someone that you love through a songs that we all can’t help but love.
The light and syncopated bass line creates a simple and relaxed groove. On top of this the guitar simply dances. After playing the opening, the guitar weaves and hops between the melody playfully outlining the chords expressing the feeling of freedom and joy that Van Morrison describes in the lyrics. If there were no singing in the song at all you would know exactly what this song was about.
It always gets to me when Van Morrison sings in the second verse “so hard to find my way, now that I’m on my own.” There’s a tint of frustration in his voice but he lets go when the chorus comes and he’s able to sing like he remembers in his memory.
The “Shalala” part is nonsensical but unapologetically joyful. When you sing along to this part you can’t help but smile allowing you to immediately understand what Van Morrison is singing about. Through this immediate connection to the music, we profoundly understand what is at the soul of this song.
Every time I listen to this song I can’t help but sing along. I know exactly what Van Morrison is singing about and because of his song reminds how great it is to share not only music but life with the people we love.
The only difference is I still have my brown eyed girl in my life.
Why? Because the line “making love in the green grass” from the second verse was too explicit so it was overdubbed with a line from the first verse “laughin' and a-runnin', hey hey.”
As silly as that seems to us, it could have been a worse. When it was first being recorded Van Morrison sang this song as a “Brown Skinned Girl." In the 1960s there were many states that still had laws outlawing miscegenation (interracial marriage). That would have gone over REALLY well. Producers convinced Van Morrison to change it to “Brown Eyed Girl” inadvertently creating universal appeal to this song as most of the people on this planet have brown eyes.
What makes “Brown Eyed Girl” such a popular and meaningful song isn’t the once offensive reference in the second verse or even the fact that this song is about a girl that is characterized by a superficial feature. “Brown Eyed Girl” is a song that describes the great memory of sharing a song with someone that you love through a songs that we all can’t help but love.
The light and syncopated bass line creates a simple and relaxed groove. On top of this the guitar simply dances. After playing the opening, the guitar weaves and hops between the melody playfully outlining the chords expressing the feeling of freedom and joy that Van Morrison describes in the lyrics. If there were no singing in the song at all you would know exactly what this song was about.
It always gets to me when Van Morrison sings in the second verse “so hard to find my way, now that I’m on my own.” There’s a tint of frustration in his voice but he lets go when the chorus comes and he’s able to sing like he remembers in his memory.
The “Shalala” part is nonsensical but unapologetically joyful. When you sing along to this part you can’t help but smile allowing you to immediately understand what Van Morrison is singing about. Through this immediate connection to the music, we profoundly understand what is at the soul of this song.
Every time I listen to this song I can’t help but sing along. I know exactly what Van Morrison is singing about and because of his song reminds how great it is to share not only music but life with the people we love.
The only difference is I still have my brown eyed girl in my life.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Soak Up The Sun by Sheryl Crow
Some songs just don’t work when they are arranged for marching band. There is a tradition in marching bands to play arrangements of pop songs in the stands and sometimes during halftime shows. Some songs like “Gimmie Some Lovin’” and “Hey Baby” are fantastic and some like “Who Let the Dogs Out" are simply painful.
One year when I was in the Northwestern Marching band, our director handed this arrangement of “Soak Up The Sun.” My instrument section really enjoyed playing the song because we had the melody the entire time but musically that was a horrible thing as my section was the alto saxophones. The purpose of alto saxophones in a marching band is to fill in harmony under the melody and provide counter-melodies, not the melody.
Now the alto section wasn’t exactly the most “mature” group so when we realized we had the melody we played it as loud as possible. So as we played the song, our director gave my section “the hand” (a gesture meant to tell us to play softer) throughout the entire song. After the song was done our director gave us a stern look and verbally reprimanded us for our unmusical playing and all I could think was “lighten up.”
After playing the song once we never played it ever again. Maybe it was because of the mediocrity of the arrangement or maybe it was because our director realized what a bad idea it was to give the alto saxophones the melody.
Sheryl Crow released "Soak Up The Sun" as the first single from her fourth studio album C'mon C'mon. Released in April 2002 "Soak Up The Sun" became one of the biggest hits of the summer becoming Crow's best-selling single since her 1993 breakout hit "All I Wanna Do."
"Soak Up The Sun" feels like everything that is great about summer. Musically Crow captures the feeling of sunshine using energetic synthesized sounds and relaxed guitar licks. The groove is punctuated by popping sounds that drive the songs while the main guitar line is laid back. The tension between these two parts creates a groove that makes the song rock.
Sheryl Crow's sings with a sense of ease and relaxation. She glides through the lyrics so smoothly that some of the stranger lyrics like "my friend the communist holds meetings in his RV" come off as matter of the fact observations. The attitude in her voice matches the lyrics of the song which are basically telling us to chill out.
As a lyricist Crow plays with figurative language while making interesting observations. In the first verse she talks about not having enough gas to go to a communist party. She doesn't have a television but she is ok with this as she concludes "it's not having what you want, it's having wanting what you got."
In the second verse, Crow reveals that she doesn't get paid enough to "win me some of your love." She describes that she it at odds with her love as she is looking up and he is looking down but she is not mad. When she wonders if something is wrong with him, she concludes that maybe she is crazy too.
The chorus is a declaration of optimism, a statement that she is going to enjoy life. She is going to relax and soak up the sun and tell everyone else to lighten up. The verse describes a life that isn't perfect and a relationship that is flawed but she is resolved to enjoy life and relax.
Sheryl Crow's sings with a sense of ease and relaxation. She glides through the lyrics so smoothly that some of the stranger lyrics like "my friend the communist holds meetings in his RV" come off as matter of the fact observations. The attitude in her voice matches the lyrics of the song which are basically telling us to chill out.
As a lyricist Crow plays with figurative language while making interesting observations. In the first verse she talks about not having enough gas to go to a communist party. She doesn't have a television but she is ok with this as she concludes "it's not having what you want, it's having wanting what you got."
In the second verse, Crow reveals that she doesn't get paid enough to "win me some of your love." She describes that she it at odds with her love as she is looking up and he is looking down but she is not mad. When she wonders if something is wrong with him, she concludes that maybe she is crazy too.
The chorus is a declaration of optimism, a statement that she is going to enjoy life. She is going to relax and soak up the sun and tell everyone else to lighten up. The verse describes a life that isn't perfect and a relationship that is flawed but she is resolved to enjoy life and relax.
What Crow is telling us is that enjoying life really is more about attitude than the actual situation. There are points in life when even a positive attitude can’t make a difference but more often than not it can.
When we played “Soak Up The Sun,” my section and I could have decided to just be annoyed that we were playing a mediocre arrangement of a song that has no business being arranged for marching band. Instead, we decided to have a little fun with it. Was it helpful to the rest of the band? No, was it a little annoying to our director and everyone else in the band? Oh yeah, but did we have a fantastic time doing it. Yes.
After giving us “the hand,” and giving us “the look,” our director did chuckle to himself a little. I think he understood that sometimes it’s just not worth getting that mad. I got to admit that over the four years I had him as a director he did in fact “lighten up.” Kind of . . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)