Peterik Chapter 5: Getting Acquainted with the Different Kinds of Lyrics
Table of Contents
Introduction
Yes, it's the day after Tau Day, and I'm already back at it. Last summer, I had a two-day posting stretch around Tau Day in order to cover another book, and I'm doing the same this year. I want to get through as much of Peterik's book as possible this summer.
My Tweets
I finally got back on Twitter yesterday, and I actually participated in a mini-conversation. (I kept on tweeting less when I realized that many of my tweets were not being read.)
It was Tau Day, of course. But someone tweeted that a better Tau Day would be July 44th. To me, this would be more in analogy with Pi Approximation Day on July 22nd (22/7), as opposed to Pi Day itself on March 14th. So I tweeted that July 44th would be Tau Approximation Day.
And here's his response -- he linked to some code (in Sage) that proves that 44/7 is, in fact, a superior approximation, since 44/7 is closer to tau than 6.28. (This should be no surprise, since 22/7 is more accurate than 3.14 in approximating pi.)
So he got me there. Unfortunately, July has only 31 days so there is no July 44th. The only way to get July 44th is to go to another planet, like Mars, and use a "Stretched Gregorian" calendar so that the longer months fit the Martian year. Then there is indeed a July 44th for Tau (Approximation) Day. But there still can't be a Lambda (= pi/2) Day on January 57th, as months have only 55-56 days (sols). (As for 2tau Day, December 56th could be Leap Day on this calendar.)
But no, the conversation ended there. There was no need for me to bring up the Red Planet here.
Popular Tweets
So what do people tweet about these days? If I want my tweets to be more popular, then I need to tweet about what other people tweet about -- but what is that?
One possible answer is -- Wordle. This is a game similar to Mastermind (or Pico Fermi Nada), except with five-letter words instead of numbers.
Fawn Nguyen is a frequent Wordler. On Tau Day, for example, she needed five guesses to get the word, and she posted her results on Twitter.
I haven't decided whether I'm going to join the Wordle craze or not -- I've heard that the game is now part of The New York Times, but I don't wish to subscribe. I've also seen other versions of Wordle -- such as Primel, except we're guessing prime numbers instead of words:
Primel 180 3/6
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
(In case you're curious, my guesses were 43201, 30671, 30161.)
Unfortunately, I doubt Primel will catch on (even among math teachers).
Rapoport Question of the Day
Today on her Daily Epsilon of Math, Rebecca Rapoport writes:
What is the average value of f (y) = e^y between 0 and 5 rounded?
This is a strong AP Calculus AB question -- indeed, it appeared in Chapter 6 of our textbook. To find the average value of a function, we use an integral:
1/(5 - 0) * int _0 ^5 (e^y)dy\
= (1/5)(e^y) |_0 ^5
= (1/5)(e^5 - e^0)
= (e^5 - 1)/5
This is as far as we can get without a calculator. Using our TI, we obtain an approximation of 29.48,Thus our desired answer is 29 -- and of course, today's date is the 29th.
It's possible that I could have given this question as an Exit Pass to my students on April 29th -- the only problem is that it was a Friday, a day when Calculus class didn't meet.
Peterik Chapter 5: Getting Acquainted with the Different Kinds of Lyrics
Chapter 5 of Jim Peterik's Songwriters for Dummies is called "Getting Acquainted with the Different Kinds of Lyrics." Here how it begins:
"Think back to the first song you can remember as a child. What part of that song really made a connection in the developing synapses of your brain?"
That's a tough one for me -- my very first song, eh? I'm likely to believe it was from some TV show that I watched around kindergarten, such as Sesame Street. Then again, the first season of Square One TV also was back in kinder, and I still think about those songs daily. That being said, the first song on that show was "Infinity," so I'll name it as my first song here.
This chapter directs us to look at the lyrics of our earliest song. "Infinity" has particularly memorable lyrics -- the words "and on and on" repeat many times (infinitely many times, in theory) in the song. So this chapter begins with the definition of lyric:
"But when the word is defined as an adjective, things get interesting: 'songlike; specifically, designating poetry or a poem expressing the poet's personal emotion or sentiment...."
The first kind of lyrics that Peterik discusses in this chapter are concept-driven lyrics:
"If you can't distill your idea into one or two sentences, perhaps your idea is too complex for one song, or you lack a clear idea of what you want to stay. In many of my songwriting sessions, I look back at the initial concept of my song and realize it has somehow morphed into something else."
On song with strong concept-driven lyrics is "Good Vibrations" (The Beach Boys):
"'I'm picking up good vibrations, she's giving me excitations' became the catch phrase for the Baby Boom generation with the song's brilliant juxtaposition of heaven and earth."
Other examples of concept-driven songs include "Missing You" (The Babys and Bad English) and "Superman (It's Not Easy)" (written by John Ondrasik).
The author moves on to lyrics that telling a story. One song with such lyrics is "Stan" (Eminem):
"The chorus refrain, sung by English singer-songwriter Dido (or Elton John as performed at the 2001 Grammy Awards telecast) is really the only melody in an otherwise spoken presentation."
Another example of a story song is "The Chain of Love" (written by Rory Lee). The song's entire lyrics appear in the book, but of course I won't reproduce those lyrics here. Oh, and speaking of that L word....
Peterik proceeds to discuss love lyrics. He writes:
"In fact, every generation seems to recycle some of the same emotions, situations, and predicaments that love seems to breed, each time around, totally unaware that it was said before by other generations. Look up the lyrics for some (or all) of the songs in the table for examples."
And I won't include the entire table here either, but just one of each type. The table includes story love songs like "Give My Love to Rose" (Johnny Cash), situation love songs like "Sunshine of Your Love" (written by Eric Clapton), concept-driven love songs like "All You Need Is Love" (The Beatles), protest love songs like "Love Stinks" (written by Peter Wolf), novelty love songs like "Love Potion #9" (written by Doc Pomus), silly love songs (like Paul McCartney's ditty of that exact title), parody love songs like "My Bologna" (parodist Weird Al), and inspirational/spiritual love songs like "My Sweet Lord" (George Harrison).
One such song on which the book focuses is "This I Promise You" (written by Richard Marx). Again, I won't include the entire lyrics here -- suffice it to say that its inspirational words about strength, hope, and faith make it the wedding song of its generation.
Another example of a love song is "Ghost Story" (Sting):
"When you look up the lyrics notice that as the story unfolds, many devices (see Chapter 6 for more on devices) are used: personification ("his icy sinews" referring to winter), metaphor ("the moon's a fingernail"), anaphora (the repetition of words like "the same," "I did not," and "you were"), the use of only perfect rhyme (suffer/tougher, stars/scars, measure/treasure), and others, such as the absence of a title as a hook and an innovative form."
The author moves on to lyrics that draw on current events and social protest. One song with such lyrics is "Blowin' in the Wind":
"This hit song, sung by folk icons, Peter, Paul, and Mary and written by one of America's finest musical journalists, Bob Dylan, is perhaps, along with singer/songwriter Pete Seeger's 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone,' the prototype of the modern protest song."
Other examples of protest songs include "Ohio" (Neil Young) and "Cop Killer" (written by Ernest Cunnigan) -- but of course, with so many protests going on this month, I wonder whether someone might be encouraged to write another protest song for our generation.
Peterik proceeds to discuss novelty and humorous lyrics. He begins with "Surfin' USA" and other songs written by The Beach Boys:
"Songs based on fads and crazes have been known to 'surf' the generations and have enjoyed popularity long after the fads that have inspired them have come and gone."
The author moves on to parody lyrics -- and we can't look at parodies without considering the parodist par excellence, "Weird Al" Yankovic:
"Al just loves to take the grand statement of certain songs and cut them hilariously down to size. When Frankie Sullivan (co-writer of 'Eye of the Tiger') and I were approached by our label and publisher to grant permission to a new artist named 'Weird Al' Yankovic to release a parody of our then current hit, 'Eye of the Tiger,' I must admit, I had my doubts."
Of course, Peterik changed his mind after hearing Weird Al's "Eat It" (Michael Jackson's "Beat It"). Yet the author doesn't give the name of the parody here -- it's "The Rye or the Kaiser."
Peterik proceeds to discuss inspirational lyrics:
"As songwriters, we have the unique opportunity to get our message across to potentially millions of people. Here are a few noteworthy examples in this wonderfully crowded category."
And I think I'll list one of them here, "Change the World":
"This mid-'90s hit for singer Eric Clapton (written by Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick, and Tommy Sims) centered on the ways we all can make a difference in this vast universe."
Other examples of inspirational songs include "My Sweet Lord" (The Beatles) and "With Arms Wide Open" (written by Scott Stapp).
This takes us to the next "Practice Makes Perfect" section -- it's time for me to write a song now.
A Song for December
In our last post, we looked at what Math 8 Unit 3 would have looked like at the old charter school with these songs. Let's look at the ideal Unit 4, spanning Weeks 13-16 of school. The math standards to be covered are the EE standards on systems of equations.
This is an awkward stretch of time for several reasons, first of all the trimester transition. The first trimester Benchmarks are Week 12, but the second trimester doesn't start until Week 14. It's likely that make-up Benchmarks are to be given Tuesday Week 13, but other than that it's ambiguous as to whether this week's work should be included in the Tri 1 or Tri 2 grades.
On the original timeline, my intention was to sing "Vote" on Tuesday Week 13 -- that day was Election Day, and "Vote" is an election song. First performed by my own teacher when I was a young sixth grader (the day that Bill Clinton was elected), "Vote" definitely counts as parody lyrics -- indeed, it was a parody of "Do-Re-Mi" from Sound of Music.
But in the end, I didn't perform it that day -- that was the day my car broke down. This is, in many ways, a What If? as in "What if I sang these songs in class and used interactive notebooks" -- not "What if my car didn't break down?" So even on this timeline, we must assume that my car still breaks down, and since I never make it to my own charter school, I don't sing it. (I do ultimately perform it at the long-term school -- in 2020, the next presidential election year.)
Friday Week 13 is Veteran's Day, so this leaves only a song for Thursday. On the original timeline, I perform "Fraction Fever" and have my students perform that activity as something to fill in the time between the trimesters. But on the new timeline, "Fraction Fever" counts as learning centers, which should only be done during the third week of a four-week unit (Week 11 or 15, but not 13). Instead, I should give the 4's Hero Quiz that day -- but that doesn't give me anything to sing. It's likely that I won't feel like composing any song after my car breaks down and will just sing Square One TV at random.
Week 14 is the official first week of Tri 2. But that week has only minimum days due to Parent Conferences -- and I never sing on minimum days. This takes us to Thanksgiving break.
After the holiday vacation, it's back to music for Week 15. On the original timeline, I sing a song about packets -- as in the work packets that I started passing out that week. But on the new timeline, the interactive notebooks obviate the need to have packets at all -- no packets, no packet song. The other song I perform this week is "Measures of Center," but that fits the SP standards that I taught some of my younger students. On the new timeline, no grade gets SP standards until the end of the school year.
On our new Unit 4, Weeks 13-15 fit together because they are all on systems of equations. On the original timeline, I didn't reach systems until just before I left the school. I was considering teaching substitution during 8.EE8b and elimination during 8.EE8c, but I never actually made it to 8c. I felt less guilty about not teaching elimination once I made it the long-term school in 2020-21 -- as it turned out, APEX didn't include elimination either. So if I wish to write a Week 15 song for EE8c, the assumption is that the systems that we're applying that week should be solved using substitution, not elimination -- so this should be reflected in the song.
Week 16 marks the start of a new strand -- F, functions. This is the one strand that the APEX curriculum at my long-term school moved out of order, to Unit 2, between EE4 and EE5 -- and so these were the first lessons I taught at that school. On the original timeline, I perform two Christmas songs, "Jingle Algebra" and "Rudolph the Statistician" (the latter also performed at my long-term). Both of these songs have parody lyrics.
Before we get to the new song, let's take a look at the science for the unit -- and here we're also making a transition from chemistry (MS-PS1) to physics (MS-PS2). For Week 14, PS1-6 is about thermal energy, and so I have a choice whether to absorb (make a soundproof box) or release (dissolve calcium chloride in water) energy. Keep in mind that with all the minimum days in Week 14, plus a student-free day on Friday, there's only Wednesday to do whichever activity I choose.
For Week 16, there's also a choice of activities to demonstrate Newton's Laws -- students can create either a water bottle rocket or an egg crash box. We must decide whether we want to build things that rise up or things that fall down.
So far, all of my songs I've listed have parody lyrics. While I don't want to be reliant on these, parodies are always great because I don't need to come up with the melody and can focus on lyrics. Some songs from Square One TV may qualify as parodies -- "Tessellations," for example, is likely intended to be a parody of the aforementioned "Good Vibrations" (and indeed, these words even appear in it). Weird Al himself also performs a song, "(Polka) Patterns," but ironically this doesn't count as a parody. It would still count as novelty/humorous lyrics.
As for the other categories, inspirational lyrics are quite common on Square One TV. The opening songs "Count on It," "That's Math," and "Wanna Be" (plus my own "Heroes and Zeroes") all inspire. And, of course, some songs from that show qualify as love lyrics ("Mathematics of Love," "Count the Ways").
OK, so let's compose a new song now -- but which week should I choose? So far, I don't have any songs for either systems or functions. At both schools, the systems week was taken over by some indirectly related songs ("Solve It" and "Slope Song"), while the functions week also had other things going on (too close to Benchmarks at the old charter, too close to opening inspirational songs at the long-term).
I think I'll return to our previous pattern and compose for Week 16 on Functions. But it's likely that I'd have taken advantage of Thanksgiving break to compose a Week 15 song on systems as well, instead of an unnecessary packet song.
Week 16's song (for Tuesday, December 6th) will be based on the following standard:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.F.A.1
Understand that a function is a rule that assigns to each input exactly one output. The graph of a function is the set of ordered pairs consisting of an input and the corresponding output.
There's a song that I've been wanting to do for functions for years (ever since the days of the old charter school), but I've never written until now. The song that I came up with for this one is call-and-response, and it's based on the following three relations:
20 FOR V=1 TO 2
30 FOR X=1 TO 9
40 READ A,T
50 SOUND 261-N*A,T*2
60 NEXT X
70 RESTORE
As usual, click on Sound before you RUN the program.
This song can be performed a bit like Eminem's "Stan" as described in the Peterik chapter. The lines where I, the teacher, give an x and the students give a y are rapped. Only the lines in the chorus, and that includes our hook, are melodic (14EDL). The Mocha code plays the hook twice -- then the third line of the chorus is rapped again. We can run Mocha again for the last hook -- and press Esc (Break) before it tries to play the line a second time.
The last verse, of course, gives a relation that isn't a function. The verse is interrupted as soon as the students see that there are two y's for x = 2. (And in Verses 2-3, I name the x's in a different order from their appearance in the table, so students can't just assume that for x = 2, y = 0 just because it's first.) At this point, the hook is repeated one last time, except with "No!" as the last word. So this counts as a coda or outro.
Conclusion
Eminem's "Stan" counts as lyrics that tell a story. An argument can be made that today's new song can also be considered a story -- the story of learning whether a relation is a function. (To that end, the songs "Solve It" and "Benchmark Tests" are also stories -- the story of learning to solve increasing complex equations, and the story of improving on the Benchmarks throughout the year.) And I hope to write more storytelling lyrics as the summer proceeds.
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