Little Bird: Birdcalls and the Gayageum
Music is all around us, wherever our ears and minds are open. If we tune in, we notice the melodies of birds in the sky above throughout the day and night. People from around the world have found inspiration in birdcalls, mimicking and incorporating them into their music. In a popular folk song from Korea, we hear the cry of birds from mountain to mountain sung by a group of women playing the traditional 12-string gayageum. That birdsong is echoed in the song “Little Bird” by Joyce Kwon, a Korean American singer and gayageum player who immigrated to the States as a child. Listen as she weaves sounds of her motherland into a new American folk music, an ever-evolving genre that continues to flourish, reflecting the diversity of the United States.
Lesson Paths & Learning Objectives
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- Identify Korea on a map.
- Explain the term "Korean American."
- Describe the traditional Korean instrument, gayageum.
- 15 minutes
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- Perform the "big beats" in 6/8 time.
- Vocally explore, mimic, and create "bird calls."
- 15+ minutes
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- Aurally identify musical characteristics and expressive qualities related to timbre, dynamics, tempo, melody, and mood.
- Discuss similarities and differences between "Little Bird" and the traditional Korean folksong, "Saetaryeong."
- 20+ minutes