MAY-JUNE 2020
The last few weeks were spent creating a complete project timeline, and sharing it with the project beneficiary, school administrator, and officials from my regional Boy Scout chapter. All of the connections have been made, volunteers contacted and supplies acquired, and I’m finally in a position to begin serious work on the project.
My main goal is to inspire and encourage young kids to continue pursuing music by providing them with viable resources, explanations, and examples of music’s true potential. This project would supplement the curriculums of primary music teachers at KIPP Houston schools with easily accessible, online lessons and explanatory videos covering a range of topics. These videos would aid teachers in their online or in-class instruction, as well as helping to introduce students to how these concepts apply to music they are familiar with. They would also help to spark and maintain interest in the world of music.
Ideally, the work on the project could start in the last few weeks of June 2020. The videos should be finalized and ready to be distributed by the end of August/beginning of Fall semester. Partnerschools will be the official beneficiary for this project. Through Partnerschools, the videos will be distributed to numerous KIPP elementary schools throughout the Houston area, as well as some HISD schools involved with Partnerschools.
Based on the elementary school music class curriculums suggested by the Texas Education Code, I have identified topics of study and subtopics covered by individual videos. This is not a confirmed list of videos and their topics, as I develop scripts and plan out the videos, certain subtopics are likely to be combined into one video or broken up over multiple videos. Topics can be added or removed at my and/or my advisors’ discretion.
For filming, I will use my personal iPhone and tripod. For editing the footage and adding visual elements, I will use video editing software my personal computer, all of which I already own. Supplies will vary by video, but most likely nothing will need to be purchased as the volunteers and I can provide our musical instruments for demonstrations. The project’s expenses will be virtually zero, unless I feel the need to purchase some new equipment to aid in the filming and editing process.
I think that an efficient way of filming is to plan out every element of the video beforehand. There will be room for improvisation, and I expect the volunteers to contribute new ideas during the filming process, but before I film anything, I need a detailed understanding of what topics will be covered, where filming will take place, and who else will be involved in the filming process. When volunteers and I meet up to film, we will all know exactly what we need to do, leaving ample time for extra takes and filming alternate ideas. The rest of the filming will be done by myself, either before or after I meet up with volunteers for filming. Using Google Docs, I can create documents where multiple people can collaborate with generating ideas and writing the script. I already know of one volunteer who owns the same video editing software as me, in case I need to delegate some editing tasks to him.
The videos will be digitally recorded and shared on YouTube, downloaded from the website, or sent as compressed files in an email. For the filming sessions, volunteers and I will meet up at our houses or local parks. Another option would be to have volunteers film their contributions individually, then send me the clips to be edited and included in the video lesson.
After tweaking and revising this plan, I think the next step would be to create a relatively detailed outline of the lesson plan so it can be approved. After various approvals and the signing of documents, the rest of summer would be devoted to filming and editing.
My main goal is to inspire and encourage young kids to continue pursuing music by providing them with viable resources, explanations, and examples of music’s true potential. This project would supplement the curriculums of primary music teachers at KIPP Houston schools with easily accessible, online lessons and explanatory videos covering a range of topics. These videos would aid teachers in their online or in-class instruction, as well as helping to introduce students to how these concepts apply to music they are familiar with. They would also help to spark and maintain interest in the world of music.
Ideally, the work on the project could start in the last few weeks of June 2020. The videos should be finalized and ready to be distributed by the end of August/beginning of Fall semester. Partnerschools will be the official beneficiary for this project. Through Partnerschools, the videos will be distributed to numerous KIPP elementary schools throughout the Houston area, as well as some HISD schools involved with Partnerschools.
Based on the elementary school music class curriculums suggested by the Texas Education Code, I have identified topics of study and subtopics covered by individual videos. This is not a confirmed list of videos and their topics, as I develop scripts and plan out the videos, certain subtopics are likely to be combined into one video or broken up over multiple videos. Topics can be added or removed at my and/or my advisors’ discretion.
- Rhythm
- Note values
- Time signatures
- Tempo and articulation
- How to create rhythmic patterns
- Melody
- What is a melody
- How to construct a melody
- Major/minor/pentatonic scales
- How to create melodic patterns
- Improvisation, composition
- Song Structure
- Simple patterns and forms in classical and modern music
- Keys and diatonic chord progressions (ties into Melody lessons)
- Other Concepts (and their effect on the listener)
- Dynamics
- Tempo
- Articulation
- Musical Exploration
- Different genres and instruments
- Becoming a musician/artist
For filming, I will use my personal iPhone and tripod. For editing the footage and adding visual elements, I will use video editing software my personal computer, all of which I already own. Supplies will vary by video, but most likely nothing will need to be purchased as the volunteers and I can provide our musical instruments for demonstrations. The project’s expenses will be virtually zero, unless I feel the need to purchase some new equipment to aid in the filming and editing process.
I think that an efficient way of filming is to plan out every element of the video beforehand. There will be room for improvisation, and I expect the volunteers to contribute new ideas during the filming process, but before I film anything, I need a detailed understanding of what topics will be covered, where filming will take place, and who else will be involved in the filming process. When volunteers and I meet up to film, we will all know exactly what we need to do, leaving ample time for extra takes and filming alternate ideas. The rest of the filming will be done by myself, either before or after I meet up with volunteers for filming. Using Google Docs, I can create documents where multiple people can collaborate with generating ideas and writing the script. I already know of one volunteer who owns the same video editing software as me, in case I need to delegate some editing tasks to him.
The videos will be digitally recorded and shared on YouTube, downloaded from the website, or sent as compressed files in an email. For the filming sessions, volunteers and I will meet up at our houses or local parks. Another option would be to have volunteers film their contributions individually, then send me the clips to be edited and included in the video lesson.
After tweaking and revising this plan, I think the next step would be to create a relatively detailed outline of the lesson plan so it can be approved. After various approvals and the signing of documents, the rest of summer would be devoted to filming and editing.