2018-19 Curriculum Unit 6 – Zydeco Lesson 1: Exploring “Hard to Stop”

Lesson 1: Exploring “Hard to Stop”

Aim: How can we explore tempo with the song “Hard to Stop?”

Summary: Students learn to sing and move along to “Hard to Stop” while building vocabulary to describe musical opposites.

Materials: Musical Explorers CD or online audio, markers or crayons

Time Required: 40 minutes (four 10-minute activities)

Standards: GA: ESGMK-2.PR.1; ESGMK-2.PR.2; ESGMK-2.RE.1; ESGMK-2.RE.2; ESGMK-2.RE.3; ESGMK-2.CN.1; ESGMK-2.CN.2
SC: MGK-2.1, MGK-2.4, MGK-2.5, MKG-2.6

Vocabulary: accordion, frottoir, largo, presto, tempo, zydeco

 

Learn About Zydeco and Louisiana

  • Jeffery sings zydeco. Zydeco is music of southern Louisiana that combines French dance melodies with rhythm and blues as well as music from the native people of Louisiana.
  • Find Louisiana on the map, SG40. What states are near Louisiana? How close is Louisiana to Georgia and South Carolina?

Learn the Chorus to “Hard to Stop”

  • Listen to “Hard to Stop,” Track 24.
  • Invite students to share what they hear in the music (e.g. man singing/talking, various instruments playing, etc.).
  • Invite students to sing along with “Hard to Stop,” Track 24.

Explore Tempo Through Movement in “Hard to Stop”

  • Listen to a portion of the song once more.
  • Review tempo on p.83.
  • While students listen to the song, ask students to tap and dance along with the steady beat to explore the tempo of the song.
  • A very fast tempo is called presto. A very slow tempo is called largo.
  • What kind of tempo does “Hard to Stop” have? Fast? Slow?

Explore Instruments in Zydeco Music

  • Zydeco music features many different instruments, including accordions, fiddles, triangles, and especially washboards or rubboards called frottoirs (fro-TWAHS).
  • Using SG43, examine pictures of the accordion, fiddle, triangle, and other zydeco instruments.
    • Which instruments do you hear in “Hard to Stop?”

Literacy Extension: Zydeco Zoom by Theresa Newport Singleton 

Zydeco Zoom tells the story of Zerick, a young accordion player making his first appearance on the zydeco stage.

Musical Word Wall

Add the words accordion, frottoir, largo, presto, tempo, and zydeco to the Musical Word Wall.

 

PDF Downloads

SG43 ↓ Download File

Musical Explorers Audio Tracks

“Hard to Stop”

 

Go to Lesson 2: Learning “Allons a Layfayette”