Minds On
Today’s vocabulary
Important ideas in music. They are: duration (beat, rhythm, metre, tempo), pitch (melody), dynamics, timbre, texture/harmony, and form.
The basic attributes, ideas and parts of artwork that are used to create an artwork. Design elements include but are not limited to colour, form, line, shape, space, texture and value.
Synesthesia is a phenomenon where people experience music in shapes and colours.
Let’s get started!
Hip Hop art
Keith Haring was an American artist who was inspired by Hip Hop music and culture. He admired the work of graffiti artists and the movement of break dancing. These core elements of Hip Hop influenced his art.
Vasil, Martina. “Hip-Hop and Haring: Pop Culture and Interdisciplinary Learning for the General Music Classroom.” General Music Today, vol. 34, no. 1, Oct. 2020, pp. 6–13.
Investigate
Check it out!
Explore the following video from the 1980s. There are several elements of Hip Hop being represented in the video.
In the video clip, a few core elements of Hip Hop are represented. There is a DJ who is creating an extended instrumental break in the music to encourage break dancing. Different dancers take turns spinning on their shoulders, back and head, doing flips and freezing in a position like a statue. Behind the DJ are stages at different levels. The surfaces are covered in graffiti art and include colourful images and words.
Let’s examine a piece of artwork by Keith Haring. Do you recognize how breakdancing might have influenced his art?
Untitled, 1982, Keith Haring
What do you notice in the artwork?
When you’re ready, press the ‘Observations List’ button to reveal some of the things found in this artwork.
Here are some things you may have noticed about Keith Haring’s artwork:
- The image is on a cream-coloured background.
- There is a large heart in the centre of the image. The heart is the only thing that is coloured in and it is red.
- There are short lines drawn away from the heart, all around the heart.
- There are two figures that are outlined.
- Their legs are bent and one figure has a leg raised.
- Their arms are above their heads bent at the elbows.
- There are curved lines near their knees and under their arms.
- There is a horizontal line across the page about one fourth of the way up.
- Below the line the space is filled with black dots.
Brainstorm
Brainstorm
Imagine If this artwork was a kind of music, what might it sound like?
Provide a variety of ideas for how this artwork could connect to sound. Record your ideas digitally, orally, or in print.
If you’d like, you can press the ‘Hint’ button to get you started.
Think about the lines, shapes, and colours in the artwork. Do the placement of the images make you think about high or low sounds?
How would you describe the different types of lines? Do they make you think about short or long sounds?
Do certain shapes and their size connect to loud or soft sounds? How do the colours evoke different feelings, ideas, or images?
Action
Get ready, get set…
Representing music
Have you ever heard of synesthesia? This is a phenomenon where people experience music in shapes and colours. The five senses get intertwined.
In this section, we are going to explore a video of Melissa McCracken. McCracken is a synesthesia artist who made a painting to represent the song “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder.
As you explore the video, think about how sound and images can connect to each other and support each other.
Melissa McCracken describes the song as “dynamic, funky, fun, and expressive.” How might she represent these characteristics of the song using her artwork?
Check out the following video to learn about Melissa McCracken’s art.
Making connections
Let’s consider the relationship between music and visual art.
There are many ways that music is connected to visual art. There are also connections between music and dance! You can press the ‘Music, Dance, and Visual Art’ button to explore some of these connections.
|
Dance |
Music |
Visual Art |
|---|---|---|
|
Body |
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locomotor movement |
moving notes, how movement is created in music |
elements that create movement e.g., texture, tints, and shades, changing visual focal points, emphasis |
|
body shape |
tonal shape, dynamic shape |
shape 2D, 3D |
|
Space |
||
|
level |
pitch |
foreground, background, placement of elements in a piece |
|
Size of movement |
dynamics |
size of shapes |
|
direction |
melodic direction |
focal points, where the audience’s eyes travel, emphasis, the direction of lines |
|
pathway (in the air, or through general space) |
related to the melodic direction |
line: outline, contour, silhouette, various line types (straight, curvy, etc.) |
|
Time |
||
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tempo (fast and slow, etc.), speed of movement |
allegro, adagio, ritardando |
related to rhythm and movement in a piece, intensity, speed of brushstrokes |
|
freeze–cessation of movement which holds a position in space |
rests |
blank space |
|
accent–using movement to show emphasis |
symbols for staccato, accent |
creating visual accents, emphasis |
|
Energy |
||
|
force |
dynamics, accents |
creation of line, use of accent and contrast to create a feeling of force |
|
effort |
timbre |
pressure |
|
quality of movement |
dynamics |
value–relative lightness or darkness of a color, shades, and tints |
Let’s examine the Keith Haring artwork again to make connections between how the elements of music and visual art are used.
Here is the Keith Haring artwork again:
Untitled, 1982, Keith Haring
In the Minds On section, you imagined: If this artwork was a kind of music, what might it sound like? Return to your ideas. Think about how the elements of Haring’s artwork connect to the elements of music. You can use the Music, Dance, and Visual Arts chart to help you.
Record your ideas in the following fillable and printable Making Connections document. You may also record your ideas using a different method of your choice.
When you’re ready, press the ‘Answers’ button to reveal some possible ways Keith Haring’s artwork could be translated into music.
|
Ideas From the Keith Haring Artwork |
How They Could be Translated into Music? |
Element of Music |
|---|---|---|
|
The multiple dots on the floor |
Short (staccato) notes repeating over and over again |
Dynamics and expressive controls |
|
The dots are placed low in the artwork |
Lower pitches played by an instrument like a tuba |
Pitch |
|
The two dancers |
Two instruments from the same family playing melodies that weave together |
Timbre |
|
The connected dancers |
Two smooth (legato) connected melodies |
Expressive tools |
|
The large heart symbol |
A loud sound, because the heart is large |
Dynamics |
|
The heart seems to be getting bigger |
A sound that is blaring and ringing, such as a horn or bell |
Timbre |
Go!
The art of music
When you experience a happy, energetic song, what shapes and lines might come to mind? What about a slow, mellow song?
In this next activity, you will create your own artistic response to music. You can use an art medium of your choice.
You will choose a Blues song to make your artistic response.
Did You Know?
What are the Blues?
The Blues is a genre of music with deep roots in African American history. The lyrical structure and the 12-bar Blues progression have inspired and influenced many different genres, including pop, rock, country, hip hop, and jazz.
The Blues are known for expressing feelings such as loss, struggle, pride, and resistance. The lyrics often share feelings of disappointment or other troubles (hence “the blues”), with a bit of humour to help lighten the mood.
The musical structure of the Blues is organized in a repeating pattern called the 12-bar Blues. Many Blues songs will include this chord progression with lyrics and a melody played over top. The song examples included in this learning activity are all Blues songs. The first two audio clips are instrumental, and the third includes lyrics.
Let’s explore Blues music! Access the following three Blues songs. You will be creating an artistic response based on one of these songs.
“Easy Listening Blues” by B.B. King
“Easy Listening Blues” by B.B. King
“Hideaway” by Freddie King
“Hideaway” by Freddie King
“Rainy Day Blues” by Willie Nelson
“Rainy Day Blues” by Willie Nelson
Portfolio
Portfolio
Choose one of the blues songs, or another blues song of your choice.
Using the following fillable and printable The Art of Music organizer create your own artistic response, or a detailed description of your ideas, to the song you chose. You can use the organizer or another method of your choice to complete this activity.
Consider adding your artistic response to your portfolio.
Consolidation
Putting it all together
Reflect
Share your artistic creation with someone, if possible.
Describe your experience of creating an artistic response to music. How does your artwork represent the song you chose?
Be sure to be specific and use the elements of music and art when explaining.
Portfolio
Review your learning
Answer the following questions using a method of your choice.
- Which element of music do you feel stood out to you most in your artwork?
- How are the elements organized, combined, or arranged?
- How does the work you created evoke ideas, feelings, and images?
- Which elements of visual arts did you find most useful when trying to respond to the song? Were there elements you didn’t use?
Record your ideas using a method of your choice. Consider adding your ideas to your portfolio.
Reflection
As you read the following descriptions, select the one that best describes your current understanding of the learning in this activity. Press the corresponding button once you have made your choice.
I feel…
Now, expand on your ideas by recording your thoughts using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.
When you review your notes on this learning activity later, reflect on whether you would select a different description based on your further review of the material in this learning activity.
Press ‘Discover More’ to extend your skills.
Discover MoreThe art of Hip Hop
Choose a Hip Hop song, or another song of your choice.
Create another artistic response using the song you selected. You can complete your artistic response using the following fillable and printable The Art of Music 2 document. You can also complete this activity using another method of your choice.
