Full PDF Lesson Plan –

Pre-Class

Listen to the audio example below. [Libertad y Soberania]

Mastery Objectives:

Students will be able to:

• Identify the general musical instruments playing in the ensemble.
• After reading the cultural context guide, reflect on how the development of the culture over a multi-generational time frame would affect the rationale for creating this song.
• Write a blog post on the effect of the music on the words for Libertad y Soberania.
• Sing the primary melodic idea sung in the chorus of the song, Libertad y Soberania.
• Sing on solfedge the bass line, with appropriate hand-signs, the song Libertad y Soberania.
• Evaluate each other’s vowels and tone quality.
• Discuss the cultural impacts which can affect the creative process, with regard to political influences on music.

Cultural Context

The Puerto Rican protest song “begins with reflections on factors that led to the rise of leftist politics throughout Latin America in the Post-World War II period and to a pan-regional musical form known as nueva cancíon, or “new song.” (Moore, 147) Like the protest songs of the late 1960s in the United States as a response to unpopular political decisions by leadership, musicians in the Hispanic Caribbean were also using their musical voice to call their peers to arms. Multiple geo-political issues were at work in the region, including calls for independence by Puerto Rico from the United States. Moore describes the artists in this counter-culture as, “teenagers and young adults, primarily middle-class and college educated. They sought an alternative to music dominating the media that they perceived as overly commercial.” (Moore, 148) In Puerto Rico, the strains, “had to do with the desire of U.S. authorities to “Anglicize” Puerto Rico, essentially to strip it of its Hispanic heritage. The lesson using “Libertad y Sobernia,” is emblematic of this style, written for Andrés Jimenéz’ album, “In the Final Trench.” The album is discussed at length in Moore’s text, but can be paraphrased as a reaction to the continued uncertainty stemming from the Puerto Rican people and their sovereignty from the United States.

On Your Own

Have a student read the following:

• Classroom reading from the Oxford book about the Nueva Cancion, or protest song
• Read Cultural Context Guide above

Fill in their own note-taking page which answering the questions below.

• During the first listening, ask if the piece sounds major or minor?
• What harmonic clues help identify? USE SOLFEDGE!
• Ask students to describe the vocal timbre of the singer

 

After two shortened listenings, ask for volunteers to try to sing either the melody or bass line back (in sections). Divide the students into voice sections, and have them work as a group to identify:

• The melody in the chorus
• The Bass Line throughout
• Using neutral syllables, sing the chorus melody
• Divide the group in half, have one group sing the antecedent, the other the consequent.
• Peer teach in sections the bass line, deriving the same way as above.

As each section is singing back, have them evaluate the groups accuracy with bullet point responses.

Blog post a response to one of the following questions/prompts:

• Discuss similarities between the recording and our traditional bass line chord structure.
• How is the structure the same? How is it different?
• Is this music derived from any other harmonic practices?
• How does the text affect the singer’s performance?
• Is this person happy? Sad? Have an agenda?