作文5/5th writing assignment

Hello!

How are you? Here is a short post reminding all of you about our 5th writing assignment (作文5) - writing about your piece of music. 

You have already written what you have about each piece of music I played for you in class, and that you heard again from my blogpost. 

Task 

Edit and if you need to, add some more to your writing about the piece of music you chose. Please remember that it must be 2-4 paragraphs long - the longer the better - with characters and a scenario. 3-4 paragraphs is even better!

Then, on a separate document, write a short comparison (比較) between the piece of music you chose and another of the pieces of music you heard. Here, you can write about the music itself - what you thought of the sounds, the tempo, even a little about the artists themselves. 

Which was the most interesting? Which was the strangest? Which gave you the most unique impression (感想)?  

Please remember: For your story, build on it and make it as imaginative as you can. Listen to the music you selected again if you have to or want to.

If you want to listen to the pieces of music I played for you, go to this link with the video files here.

I will look for the paragraphs to be typewritten in 12-point size, with correct formatting. Please look at my handout on correct formatting and style!

Good luck - and enjoy finishing up your stories and comparing which pieces of music you liked or thought were the most interesting! Have fun with them! 

See you next time!

Image: "Gondolier's Sonata" (courtesy of sattva)/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

音楽について/about music

Hello!

How are you? Today I will show you again the four pieces of music I played for you in class last time before the festival break. Listen to these as many times as you want or need.

We are going to think about what we wrote to this music - and select one piece of music you particularly liked and add more to your writing about it!

Here is the first one - Erik Satie's "Ragtime Parade":

Here's the second one - "Dog Trot," by Moondog:

Here is the third one: Frank Zappa's "Little Umbrellas":

Now here is the last one - "Green Onions," by Booker T. & the MGs:

What did you think of these pieces of music? 

Activity/homework

Now look at your writing about this music from the first time you heard each one last week. Choose one (1) piece of music you felt was the most interesting to you and add another paragraph about it. Write more about the characters and scenario you had about it, and make it into a little story. 

Have fun with this! I'll look forward to seeing what you wrote about the music you chose to write more about.

See you next time!

Image: personal photograph. All rights reserved.
Videos uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the videos or the musical compositions. Uploaded for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement intended. All rights reserved to the copyright owner(s). 

特別ポスト: 隠喩/metaphor

Hello!

How are you? These are the videos to go with the worksheets for today's special lesson.

Here is the first video - "Blank Space," by Taylor Swift:



Here is the second video - "Torn," by Natalie Imbruglia:



Here is the third video -  "Clarity," by Zedd featuring Foxes. (I could not upload the video from YouTube directly to this post, so click on this link and go directly to YouTube.) 

So please listen to these, and do the worksheets!

See you next time!

Image: personal photograph. All rights reserved.

Videos uploaded from YouTube. Uploaded for classroom purposes only. I do not own the rights to the videos or the musical compositions. All rights reserved to the copyright holders.

音楽を書いている (Part 2)/writing about music (Part 2)

Hello!

How are you? Here is Part 2 on writing about music.

Here's more on the other two pieces of music I played for you in class. First, here's a video file for the third piece of music I played for you - "Stop," by Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield:

If you would like to learn more about these artists, click here and here. 

Now, here's a video file for the last piece of music for you - Frank Zappa's "Little Umbrellas":

If you want to learn more about Frank Zappa, click on this link to read the Wikipedia article (in Japanese) about him.

This may be very different music for you, but I hope you enjoyed these.

See you next time!

Image: "Electric Guitar" (courtesy of dan)/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Videos uploaded from YouTube. Videos uploaded strictly for classroom use. I do not own the rights to the musical compositions or videos. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). 

音楽を書いてる (Part 1)/writing about music (Part 1)

Hello,

How are you? Do you remember the four pieces of music I played for you in class? We'll do something more with them now! This is a Part 1 post - Part 2 will follow.

I would like you to go through your paragraphs about those pieces of music, and listen to the first two pieces of music again - and this time to click on some videos of the first two artists whose pieces of music I played. I also have information links you can click on about these artists. 

Would these video images, and reading about these musicians, change your ideas about what you wrote? 

First - below is a video sound file of the first piece of music you heard - Jacques Loussier and his version of J.S. Bach's "Siciliano in G Minor."  

If you want to know more about Jacques Loussier, click here for a Wikipedia article (in Japanese) about him. 

Next - here is the second piece of music you heard - Moondog's "Dog Trot."

Here is a video file of this piece of music:

If you would like to learn more about Moondog, click here for the Wikipedia article (日本語) about him. 

What do you think of these artists? Does seeing the artists' pictures or some image connected to the music, or reading about them on Wikipedia, change your own images of the music? Write comments on this blog post about what you think!

Hope you enjoyed listening to them again.

See you next time!

Image: "Old Piano Keyboard" (courtesy of Sura Nualpradid)/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Words on Music (Part 2): your writing

Hello again!

How are you? Here is more of your great writing on music! Click on these links for the pieces of music here, here, here, and here. 

Here's the first piece of writing. What do you think of it? 

There was a man in somewhere. He was gentle and funny. One day, he went to one town. The town was fantastic and wonderful. And the man came across a woman. The woman is very beautiful. He fell in love, then he told to her. So they went to a café and they became friendly. But he loved her. When he came home, he thought “I have to say my mind to her.” And he said “I love you.” She was very surprised, but she said “Me too.” After nine months, they were married.

The woman lived 40 more years. He was very sad every day. The woman was very important person for him. He and she didn’t have a child. But they were very happy. So, he became alone.

One day, he had a dream. The dream was very happy. This was that they meet first. They were young and brilliant. He was crying and smiling during dreaming. When he waked up, he felt happiness. And he looked theirs album. All of pictures were full with happiness. He couldn’t stop tears. But he heard her voice “Sorry. But I want you to live a long time. Please, please.” Then he decided to live as much as possible. So after 10 years, he died silently and his face was very gentle and happy.

Wow! An incredible and moving ending. Here's another:

One day, there was a man of one. He is office worker in near big enterprise. He has worry and anxiety. He walking round the office, and he found the bar. There is the bar in near office. He went into the bar. The bar had a lot of people. For example, smoking man, woman drinking liquor, man to make a drink, and man playing the piano.

He sat in closer from the door, and he asked liquor. He heard the sound of the piano while drinking. He was moved by sound of the piano. His sound healed his heart. He was quiet listening to the worries and troubles. He went to this bar every day, and he heard the sound of the piano. He was overworked. So, he lost sight of own. But, he wanted to enjoy the life by his sound of the piano.

He has changed. He left the job, and he traveled. He went to a lot of country, and he met many people. He heard their experience. He lived for me until now. But, he is going to live for other people. He founded the company of volunteers, and he was success. He began to a new life by his sound of the piano.

Another incredible story! Let's read another:

A beautiful girl was in a beautiful place. There were a beautiful river, beautiful flowers, beautiful fruits, and a beautiful lake. It was the most wonderful and beautiful place in the world. However, there was nobody but her, and she had thought she had been all alone until she would be dead.

One day, a boy came into the place. He was an adventurer, so he had wanted to walk around the world. When he looked around the place, he was surprised. “What a beautiful view!” he said. As soon as the girl heard the voice, she ran to him, and they met each other for the first time. “What a beautiful girl.” he said. They looked at each other, and they fell in love. After that, they spent each loving day.

When they had their first kiss, an accident happened. Actually, she had a secret. If she would kiss someone, the one would be dead. They had never known the secret, so they kissed each other. Soon, he fell down right there, and she was into a panic. “What’s happened!” she screamed, but his eyes kept closing. She became all alone again.  

Now that was great! Let's see one more! 

When I came to I was in the silent forest. I don't know what brought me here. The big and tall trees surround me and they don't allow me to see the sky. I started walking to find the other creatures, but nothing was found by me. 

I wandered in the forest, but I don’t know how long I wandered. I felt I may get tired, so I decided to take a break. When I sat down on the ground, I heard any sound. I tried to find where the sound come from. It was a bird. It flied around me as if he invite me to somewhere. Therefore, I followed him. I think I walked so long distance, but I didn’t get tired. He brought me to the small space where is not surrounded by the trees.

When I came to I was in noisy station where I used to use to go to the university. I was surrounded by a lot of people. They were interested in nothing except themselves and they continued their walking. Then, I understood there are no change between the silent forest and the noisy station.

Another interesting story! Click on the page link to read more:

Words on Music (Part 1): your writing

Hello to all of you!

How are you? I know the university is finished until April, but I wanted to upload some more of your great writing on the music I played for you in class. 

First, here are the selections of music I played for you. Here is The Bad Plus, with "Big Eater":

Next, is Weather Report with "Teen Town":

After that, we have Jeff Beck's "The Final Peace": 

Finally, here is Jason Moran and "Gentle Shifts South":

After the page break, let's read your great writing about these different pieces of music! Can you guess which writing is about which music? Take your guess!

Writing about music/音楽を書いて (Part 2)

Hello!

How are you? Here is the third video to this piece of music I played for you in class - Jeff Beck's "The Final Peace." 

Here is the music again:

To learn more about Jeff Beck, click on this link here to a Wikipedia article in Japanese about him. 

Now here is the fourth video to this piece of music I played for you - Jason Moran's "Gentle Shifts South."

Here is the music again. There is a voice that comes over the music sometimes - sorry, I can't edit that out!:

To learn more about Jason Moran, click on this link here to a Wikipedia article about him. There is no article in Japanese about him, so the article is in English, and it's long - so you don't have to read the whole article! Only the beginning part about him, if you like. 

Does listening to this music again and knowing more about these musicians change what you wrote about the music? It might - but please do not change your stories!

Post a comment about what you learned, or what you think about these artists, in the comments section!

See you next time!

Image: "Water Drops In Rainy Day" courtesy of Toa55/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Videos uploaded from YouTube. Uploaded for educational purposes. No copyright infringement intended. All rights reserved to the copyright owner(s).

Writing about music/音楽を書いて (Part 1)

Hello!

How are you? Today here is the first video to this piece of music I played for you in class - The Bad Plus' "Big Eater." 

Here is the music again:

Now here is the second piece of music I played for you in class - Weather Report's "Teen Town." Here is a video showing them performing it (the video is old, so the picture quality is not so good. Sorry!):

To learn more about The Bad Plus, click on this link here to the Wikipedia article in Japanese about them. The Japanese article doesn't say so much, however, so click over here to the Wikipedia article in English about them for more (it's long, so you don't have to read all of it!). 

To learn more about Weather Report, click on this link here to a Wikipedia article in Japanese about them.

Does listening to the music again and knowing more about these artists change what you wrote about their music? It might - but please do not change your stories!

Post a comment about what you learned, or what you think about these artists, in the comments section!

See you next time!

Image: "New York Skyline" courtesy of Antoine Henrich/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Videos uploaded from YouTube. Uploaded for educational purposes. No copyright infringement intended. All rights reserved to the copyright owner(s).

Words on Music (Part 4): Frank Zappa - "Little Umbrellas"

Hello to my students,

Image "Colorful Puppets On A Market Stall In Kathmandu, Nepal" courtesy of think4photop/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here is the last post - Part 4 - of our collection Words on Music. This is what you wrote to the Frank Zappa piece you heard in class - "Little Umbrellas." 

Here is the video for the song:

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. No copyright infringement intended. 

It is uploaded strictly for classroom use.

Here are your thoughts and feelings on this music:

I imagine many a place with many adrenaline and laughs in the air. Many lights, many people, many feelings, many dramas on the stage and many hopes and dreams delivered for children and teenagers! But also for adults, it breaks the common sense that adults do not have dreams because they lived long time to give up their dreams for "real life." In this place, those type of people can learn that dreams are also real! This place is a circus.

This is strange music and a fun mood. I image cats are dancing at open space. Cats stand with two legs. Cats are talking, eating and something drink, and they look human. Today is the cat's dance party!

The mood of the music is weird and the music makes me lazy. It expresses depression, for example, when I go to the university in the morning, I don’t want to go to there because of sleepiness.

At first this goes slowly but one the way was bitter sound. I am good to listen to sound of this type. It is in a restaurant or tearoom. Especially, tearoom is a good place to listen. I think the story is that some people are a dancing at a party. This party is the anniversary party of something. Everyone burst with fun. But this party is coming to an end.

This is such a mature kind of dance. It is fun for pleasure. I think that anyone begins to dance to it. Because many people likes to fun or dance to music.  Of course I will dance. Anyone can feel fun that your body adjusts to this music, and begins to move to it naturally.

This piece of music is most bright, but at the same time, it may be mysterious. This gap may create a unique atmosphere. I think this atmosphere cannot be imitated. How mysterious this makes it! 

I see a snake charmer appearing. Here, it is India. He handles his snake on the street as he sits cross-legged.

Another great collection of some great reactions to this music!

To see more, click on here for Part 1. Click here for Part 2. Click here for Part 3. 

Good luck on your final writing projects! I hope Words on Music can help you in writing your final projects. 

Words on Music (Part 3): Miles Davis - "Portia"

Hello to all my students,

Image "Statue The Face" courtesy of sritangphoto/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here is Part 3 of our collection, Words on Music. This is what you wrote to the third piece of music you heard in class - Miles Davis' "Portia." Here is the music:

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. No copyright infringement intended. 

It is uploaded strictly for classroom use.

I have edited a few of these a little, but not much. Read and enjoy!

I imagine the night. In noon, the song will not hear. This may create an adult atmosphere. I felt melancholy music. I imagined that a man walks in the dark town and drinks liquor in a bar.

I sense imminent danger.  I am fearful. The image it is may show some fierce animals attacking in the jungle.

This is like dangerous music. There is a man who is an adventurer. He takes a ship and goes to an uninhabited island. He crosses the Atlantic Ocean alone. He feels lonely but likes adventure. So he is exciting this. Whenever he is in trouble, he believes in god. Later he reaches the island.

One person goes shopping in town. The shop was opened. It was in a quiet corner of town. He came into the shop. It is general shop. There are many miscellaneous goods. All of things are so good. I like them. He thought that this shop is so wonderful.

There is a girl who goes on an adventure. She is going to be in a very good mood, but she heard a strange noise. She was lonely. Just then, the figure of grandfather emerged in front of a girl, and he introduced his house near here. This house were five dwarfs, they welcome to her. For example, they played the music, and cooking. But, after a short time, she missed his mother, and she was cried. It can’t be helped, they gave her a night, and she was escaped by them next day.

An explorer searches for a treasure. A treasure sleeps in the grave. He devotes his life to it. He fined a clue of treasure. He went to Egypt. Then he solves cipher of treasure. He fined treasure at last. It is beautiful nature. There are many animal and fruit. And many animals are an endangered species. Though the treasure was not treasures, he feels very much.

Words on Music (Part 2)：Ronny Jordan - "After Hours"

Hello to all my students,

How are you? As promised, here's Part 2 of our collection Words on Music. Here you will see some selections of what you wrote about the second piece of music you heard in class - Ronny Jordan's "After Hours." Here is the video for it:

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. No copyright infringement intended. 

It is uploaded strictly for classroom use.

Like before, I have edited these as little as possible. Check these out!

This piece of music is a dumped-man story. Someone is drinking wine in the dark room of the top floor of the high-quality apartment. He has been unlucky in love that day. He is idly looking out of the window. He sinks down.

This music's strong image is a holiday morning. I woke up in bright natural light, and I thinking I hope today is a good day too! I will cook a breakfast, and I will be getting ready. When I am ready, I will eat breakfast. After, I go out with my friends! I will go shopping, lunch, and play the karaoke! I am looking for this time.

I feel nostalgia. When I close my eyes, I imagine urban, mystic night, moon, modern and so on. I cannot explain well, this is good anyway. For example, you listen it as you walk in a urban night. If the moon is in a night sky, it is better.


I imagine a dog running. In holiday, the dog runs away and finds the town where he has not visited yet. The town makes him happy and surprised because he had no idea about human except his master. There are lots of living, love, dream, hope and freedom. 

This has a negative image. The boy was very fat. When he was walking, he stuck in a hole. He was fat so he didn’t get out of a hole. He was writhing in pain.  Many people assisted him but he did not get out. He reflected on what he had done for the day. He decided that go on a diet.

A season is summer. The sky in the west was aglow with the setting sun. I go to beach and see the setting sun. It’s so beautiful. But it will cease to this place, after soon, Moon will exist this place. People will return home by that time. So this beach will become lonely place.

In cafeteria, a lot of people are talking each people. One of the group look like interest talking. Their talked about new movie. But, this cafeteria does not play music. Talk sound heard like this music, because everyone looks like fun. This cafeteria is very big. The roof is very high. Desks and chairs are colorful. For example, yellow, green, pink, orange, purple, blue, white, red etc. Has a lot of light. Lights form is separate.

I imagine a man who is traveling without an object. He traveled some countries and walking a desert a few days. After he got away from a desert, he arrived at the town and found a bar. This bar is so old and there are few people. This music was played in this bar. I felt mysterious from this music, but it maybe agreeable for him.

There is the one bar. Many kinds of guests go that bar every night. This bar has many stories. For example two guests named, five people who play the instruments start the band. That bar gives many guests the opportunities of their life. Tonight, many guests will gather in that bar.

Some very interesting feelings on these! All different, and all unique. 

To check out Part 1 of Words on Music, click on this link here.

More to come in the next post - Part 3!