From Magpies to Messiaen: Birds in Music
Part III -Bird Song as Compositional Material
Before working with
recordings of bird calls, students work on various aspects of music theory and
aural skills in the first part of this project. The knowledge and skills
developed in this part of the lesson will provide students with the ability to
hear and understand melody or melodic fragments from a new perspective. This
page will review material covered in class and provide additional resources as
well.
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Topics covered in
this part of the lesson:
- How to transcribe
Birdsong into pitches
- Developing a way
to notate rhythm
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| Transcribing Birdsong into pitches: |
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Step 1 - listen to various
birdcalls at the following websites:
As you listen keep track of
the birdsongs/calls you like:
| Site
1 - North American Birds (copyright protected |
| Site 2 - New York State Birds (copyright
protected) |
| Site 3 - Native to eastern and central North America
(copyright protected) |
| Site 4 - Australlian Birds |
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Choose 5 birdsongs to use as
material for your composition.
At least two of them must
come from naturesongs.com
(Note- Most all of the
birdsongs located on these pages are copyright protected. Only birdsongs
located at naturesongs.com will be allowed to be used as actual recordings
in your compositions as permission has been granted by the
owner.)
Step 2 |
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| Your Computer
May need |
| the following
program to play |
| these
files: |
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