Music pupils do better

A 16-year-old neighbour has dropped music from her school curriculum because it will not help toward the A-levels she needs to become a scientist.

This decision is based on the shortcomings of our education system. Music might have helped her become a scientist.

This is not special pleading on my part. In Hungary, where they are very keen on advanced education, they have found that youngsters who study music invariably do better in non-music subjects than those who don’t.

Music develops reasoning capacity, ear training helps with foreign languages, and memorising and emotional capacity is increased. In all exams, music pupils did from 5 per cent to 20.1 per cent better than nonmusic students.

TASK: SUM UP THE TEXT, EXPRESS YOUR ATTITUDE TO IT:

He Said a Song Inspired Him.

Nobody will argue that music is the most powerful element of youth culture. Teens name listening to music as their top non-school activity, consider musicians as heroes far more than even athletes.

Many people say that music helps to relax, to relieve the stress. And it really does. Doctors find that music actually enhances the healing process. No one can possibly believe that a medium with such positive power has no negative potential. Psychologists say that music can contribute to depression, suicide and homicide; music with destructive themes can be harmful for some young people. Destructive music makes teens more approving of violent behavior in others and in themselves. In this respect the so-called vandalism can be the consequence of live concerts – sources of aggression.

Sometimes music motivates to kill. The message it can convey can be very destructive. To prove it – some official information. The teenage murderer of Texas State Trooper – Bill Davidson defended himself by arguing that violent gangster rap motivated him to kill. Kip Kinkel, who murdered his parents in Springfield, consumed the violent nihilism of the rock-singer Marilyn Manson. So did Andrew Wurst, who killed a teacher at an 8^th-grade dance at Edinboro, and Luke Woodham, who murdered his parents and a classmate in Pearl. Christopher Golly from Los-Angeles, influenced by a rock song, in which the singer fantasizes about killing his father, killed his own parent. Last year 15-year-old Charles Williams was arrested for shooting up Santana High School in suburban San Diego, having killed 2 teens and wounded 13 others. He said a song inspired him. At school he was constantly bullied and was very angry. He himself smoked marijuana, went to parties where he got drunk. Can anyone possibly believe that a boy in this situation, who sought refuge in music full of anger and despair, would not see violence as a legitimate outlet?

The music industry now celebrates the awards of rapper Eminem, a sociopath, who describes how he choked and slashed the life out of his unfaithful wife and raped his annoying mother. That album has sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. alone.

All the scientists agree that the age of teenagers is very sensitive and young people can be influenced by many things, among which music is one of the main ones. That is why it is important for parents to monitor not only what their children watch on TV, but also restrict the kind of music they buy. Until then, teenagers can receive “messages, conveyed by music” with deadly consequences.

At the conference, which took place in this city some time ago, the following matter concerning music had been discussed. Can music be considered a kind of weapon? Of course it doesn’t destroy the person physically, but can bring damage to his psychical state. It is proved that music can cause hallucinations. Maybe this problem is exaggerated, but facts tell what they tell. On the other hand, who is responsible for turning such a source of beauty and perfection, praised by people during many centuries into a destructive force?

TASK: READ THE TEXT AND PREPARE A ROUND TABLE TV DISCUSSION ON ITS BASIS (REPRESENTATIVES OF ALL THE TRENDS)

Sub-cultures and Music

Like the rural dream of the majority, some of sub-cultures are based on nostalgia for a lost world, for example, an imagined traditional working-class culture for the Skinheads, or an idealised Africa for Rastafarians.

The single greatest influence for all these rebel sub-cultures has been Afro-Caribbean. Afro-Caribbean immigrants, and more particularly their children, have felt excluded from mainstream British society. Many feel they have exchanged one colonial situation for another, as a cheap labour force. As they were largely confined to depressed urban areas, many whites associated Afro-Caribbean youths with violence and disorder.

At a spiritual level many Afro-Caribbeans, like those still in the Caribbean, dreamed of a golden age in Africa before the slave traders came. Their text was the Bible, which had traditionally been used by a dominant white culture to tame them.

Rastafarians began to wear distinctive clothes, camouflage jackets, large hats in the red, gold and green colours of Ethiopia, and put their long, uncut hair in ‘dreadlocks’. They took to speaking in a special dialect. This was defiance and revolt, until Rastafarians became a recognised and legitimate minority group at the end of the 1980s.

Most important, however, for its cultural impact, has been the black music which came into Britain mainly through the Rastafarian movement. Two particular types, skai and reggae, envolved in the Caribbean and United States but were developed in Britain during the 1970s. ‘Break-dance’ music came direct from the United States as did ‘Hip-hop’. “Nowhere in the world”, according to the style writer Peter York, “is black American dancing music more cherished than in England”. At first the music spread through informal channels, and home-made tapes. By the mid 1980s there were over 100 different independent reggae companies making tapes and records of reggae music. These types of music were powerful expressions of dissidence.

Black dissident music was adopted by other rebel sub-cultures, even those which were openly hostile to the ethnic minorities. Indeed, it is through music that the black and white cultures have fused. The Skinheads, for example, who developed in the 1970s out of an older cult, the Mods, copied black mannerisms and fashions and danced to reggae.

They wear heavy boots, jeans and braces, and shave their hair or cut it very short.

As a movement the Skinheads are now in decline.

A broader movement, a reaction to the glamour of the pop star world of the 1960s, is that of the Punks. Punks, like the Skinheads, are reactionary, but they are passive and politically apathetic. Their real appeal to the young has been their ability to outrage middle-aged opinion, particularly among the guardians of social values, like the police and other civil authorities. They have done this by using foul language, dressing in torn clothes, wearing Union Jacks, swasticas, mutilating their bodies with safety pins, particularly reggae, to inspire its own Punk sound. Unlike Skinheads, however, many Punks openly identified with Black Britain. After almost twenty years, Punks too are in decline.

Who is attracted to such cults? Generally it has been young people with low self-esteem, who have done poorly at school. Joining a gang is a means of finding status, and of defying the conventional world in which they have been defined as failures.

‘Heavy metal’ is the music of failure, and the fact that it is widely despised by those who enjoy pop, reggae or soul, is its appeal. The capital of heavy metal is Birmingham, one Britain’s least loved cities.

At the end of the 1980s the fashionable sub-culture was Acid House, which attracted thousands of adolescents. Acid House promised fun and all-night dancing. It came ready-made with its own music, another variation on black music from America (‘House’ music). By 1990, this too was in decline.

Such sub-cultures follow a cycle. They create initial shock and provoke a strong response, particularly from the police. It attracts youth in search of a rebel identity (often merely to irratate their parents). Many, perhaps most, adopt it for fun, conforming to the requirements of conventional society during working hours, and playing at rebellion in their leisure time. Meanwhile the fashion designers commercialise the look and sell it in the clothes shops.

In the end, of course, the sub-culture becomes another accepted and colourful part of urban culture.

TASK: Which of the groups or performers do you consider the most socially dangerous? Your reaction as parent/ teacher upon discovering your kid’s infatuation with one of the given list?

ZEMFIRA LENINGRAD CIVIL DEFENCE

KING AND CLOWN LIMP BIZKIT LINKIN PARK

HIM BUSTU RHYMES CYPRESS HILL D-12

EMINEM

Music in usa; american composers

TASK: PREPARE A REPORT ON ONE OF THE GROUPS, REPRESENTING THE TRENDS

American Music	Unique forms and styles of music have developed in America. Ragtime, blues, jazz, country-western, rock ‘n’ roll, and the musical are all American-born.
Ragtime	The black American music tradition has produced and influenced a variety of genres. Ragtime was the first black American music to gain wide popularity. Composer Scott Joplin (1868-1917) helped develop ragtime from simple parlor piano music into a serious genre. Ragtime is most important for its association with the blues, which then inspired jazz, America’s most original music form.
Blues	The blues evolved from African folk songs and church music. Sung by soloists or featuring solo instruments, blues music often expresses disappointment or regret.
Jazz	Jazz, now recognized as a world-wide art form, originated around the turn of the century among black musicians in the American South. The music was inspired by African culture but evolved directly from spirituals, ragtime, and blues. Jazz is characterized by improvisation and a lively attention to rhythm, something famous jazz musician Duke Ellington (1899-1974) called “swing”. By 1920, jazz had spread from the South, and in the 1930s, it reached its heyday of mass popularity as big band music. Louis Armstrong, (1900-71) a trumpeter and soloist, was one of the first well-known jazz singers. Other early jazz leaders were Duke Ellington, “Dizy” Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Although the improvisational style of early jazz still survives today, jazz has moved on to new frontiers. In the 1960s and 70s, jazz musicians began combining the rhythms of rock ‘n’ roll and electronic instruments with traditional elements of jazz to form a blend of music called “fusion”. Today, jazz is extremely popular in America and abroad. Jazz concerts draw thousands of listeners every year. The influence of jazz is found in many types of American music. The music of George Gershwin (1898-37), one of America’s most popular song writers and composers, was strongly influenced by jazz. The concerto “Rhapsody in Blue” and the opera “Porgy and Bess” were two of his works which incorporated jazz. Dixieland – a kind of jazz originating in New Orleans, Lousiana, in the early 20th century. The rhythms of Dixieland are usually rapid, and it generally includes many improvised sections for individual instruments. Trad (also trad jazz) – a style of jazz originally played in New Orleans about 1920, marked by free expression within a set instrumental structure.
Country-western Music	Another popular type of music which came of the American South is country-western. However, its cultural origin and musical sounds are totally different from jazz. The style of country western music has its roots in the folk songs and ballads of the early Scottish and English settlers in the southern colonies. The music developed over a long period with melodies and lyrics reflecting rural life in the Southeast and Southwest. The distinctive sound of country music depends on the guitar, banjo and fiddle. Lyrics generally focus on the sorrows of love or the economic hardships of poor whites. In the 1940s, the appeal of country music extended beyond the rural South, and the music began to attract nationwide attention. Weekly music ratings indicate the continuing popularity of this of music.
The Musical	In the 1930s another native American-born art form emerged. The musical was a new form of entertainment which combined acting, music, and ballet. The musical was inspired by the Anglo-Irish musical theatre, the central European operetta, and the American vaudeville minstrel show. Basically entertaining in character, most early screen musicals were lavish and glamorous escapist fantasies. Dreams of success came true for characters who overcame hardships by faith and hard work, with some spectacular singing and dancing along the way. Later musicals, such as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma” and Sondheim and Bernstein’s “West Side Story”, included serious themes and social criticism. “A Chorus Line”, first performed in 1975, is still one of the most popular musicals today.
Rock Music	Rock music has dominated the popular music scene ever since America was inundated with the new sound in the 1950s. Rock ‘n’ roll developed as a mixture of black blues and white country-western. The music quickly won intense and sustained appeal with young people not only in America, but all over the world. Early rock musicians such as Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan were idolized by millions of teenagers. In the 1970s and 80s, rock ‘n’ roll became heavily commercialized. Hundreds of bands copied the formula of success and went into recording studious to make money rather than innovative music. Some rock musicians, however, have emerged from the studio with unique sounds and messages in their music. Among these artists are guitarist-songwriter Bruce Springsteen and singer Stevie Wonder.
Folk Music	A kind of music originating from the ordinary people of a region or nation, and continued by oral tradition. The ballad is a typical form of folk music. Music is also called “folk” when it is made by artists and composers who are inspired by, or imitate, true folk music. Composers like Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie are folk musicians of the second kind.
Gospel Music	Intense, joyful music that is associated with Evangelists in the South, especially among blacks. Gospel music had a strong influence on many rock’n’roll singers. Well-known gospel artists include Mahalia Jackson and the Dixie Hummingbirds.
Gregorian Chant	The traditional music for Latin texts in the worship of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant is marked by performance in unison, and by free-flowing rhythms that follow the phrasing of the text. The chants often call for one syllable to be sung across several notes
Pop Music	Modern popular music of a simple kind with a strong beat and not usually of lasting interest, liked especially by younger people

TASK: 1/ REPRODUCE THE TEXTS;

2/ ADAPT THE TEXTS FOR 8-9 FORMERS (SCHOOL LEVEL)