So far, we've talked about why it's important to include contemporary music in your curriculum. But what if it scares you and your students say "it's weird"?

Today's post is for you. A basic understanding of how to listen to contemporary music will help teachers and students use this tool for their maximum benefit.

First, some of the major composers, their works, and some things to listen for in their music.

Steve Reich: known as a "minimalist" composer, Reich's music revolves around repeating patterns and the way that these patterns interact with each other as they fall in and out of "phase" (very much like certain properties of light and sound waves; his music could be used in a lesson about these topics). Try listening to one instrument, repeating over and over again. Listen how small changes in, for example, the clarinet line, affect the overall motion of the music. Reich's music reminds many people of cities, and some would say he is heavily influenced by jazz. Here's a Youtube video of the London Steve Reich Ensemble performing "Eight Lines," which is for. . . you guessed it, eight instruments.



George Crumb is known as an avant-garde composer, searching for new ways to make and hear music through "extended techniques." Try listening for the many different sounds Crumb can make through one instrument, such as the voice. List and describe the different "sound characters" in this recording of Ancient Voices of Children:


Crumb uses a multitude of external references in his works (music theorists are always talking about "intertextuality" when someone mentions his music). This intertextuality combined with the dramatic quality of his music gives it a very theatrical nature. Students can use Crumb's sounds as inspirations for characters in a play or an improvisation, and Crumb's intertextuality could play a part in a lesson on literary allusions. For example, Crumb quotes another composer (Schubert) in the beginning of the second movement of his string quartet Black Angels, which is about the horrors of the Vietnam war. You will definitely hear this in music. Those who know German will also recognize the counting . . . I could spend days writing about this piece, so I'll just post it here and you can see (hear) for yourself.


That's more than enough for one day! I will cover more contemporary music issues in future posts.