Today 10 students showed up. It was a lively group and one of the best discussions I have ever had in the class!
First an update to last week's class: The music used in the Goong soap opera from South Korea can be heard as the background music to this ice skating routine.
Some people in the class asked that I start each week's session with a song suggestion of my own. Perhaps I have gained their confidence that I have good taste in music? ;-) .
I started this week's class by playing a song by a group that I listen to a lot these days, especially as I drive around. The music is particularly well suited to driving around in the rain. The band is Zero 7 (bio). I played a video for the song "Somersault" (video, lyrics) knowing that the little dance-step at the end of the song is a crowd-pleaser. (Actually, I played this song in the class last quarter, too, but that was only for two students -- now I had a larger audience!).
I pointed out how sweet the lyrics are, about how she is saying all these nice things about this guy, like how he *encourages* eating ice cream rather than saying "you shouldn't do that". I explained what it means to "feed parking meters" and asked who knows what jelly beans are.
Today I was actually more in the mood to hear Zero 7's song "Futures" (video, lyrics), but opted to show the class Somersault instead because it has more visual appeal.
Kanako, remembered Modest Mouse (bio) from last week's class and asked to hear another song by them. I hesitated because the class didn't like the song last week. But I relented, playing their previous big song "Float On" (video, lyrics). I asked Kanako if she likes this song. "Yes!" was her answer. I asked why. "Because I want to be more of a Seattleite!" was her answer. I commend that attitude -- she is here now and wants to integrate into what it means to be a Seattleite! That gave me the idea to ask the class for the next session to tell me which songs they associate with Seattle.
However, only half of the class actually likes this song, so I think we've given Modest Mouse all the exposure in this group that we will do...
Casspina asked what the difference between R&B and Hip-Hop is. That's a tough question! It depends a lot on personal definition. On the spot I described the difference as saying that R&B is primarily about soul music while Hip-Hop combines soul music with rap and also includes a lot of fashion in it, too.
Here are the Wikipedia definitions of R&B and Hip-Hop Music.
As an example of a song that has both R&B and Hip-Hop in it I showed "Doo Wop (That Thing)" (video, lyrics) by Lauryn Hill (bio). This video shows old-school soul (R&B) on the left of the screen and modern hip-hop on the right. Lauryn Hill is an *awesome* singer and her album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" is one of my favorites!! Another song I like a lot from that record is "Lost Ones" (Sorry, I don't find any good video clips of that song).
At this point I told the class the origin of the term "rock n' roll": before it described music it was a term for "having sex". In the 50's people started making music which made people want to have sex" rock n' roll music. Here's the Wikipedia history of rock n roll.
Someone asked what the difference between Rap and Hip-Hop is. I said that in my view rap has less emphasis on singing, rather it started as a way for non-singers in the inner-cities of America to do social commentary over music. See the Wikipedia history of rapping. But I think rap has become something else now. It seems to be more braggadocio (word definition) about money, materialism and women as sex-objects. As an example we listened to 50 Cent's (bio) "Just a Lil' Bit" (video, lyrics).
We only made it through half of that song before the class said they want to hear some rap with quality. Someone asked what I think of Eminem (bio) and I said that I respect him as lyricist. One of the students asked to see his video "Mockingbird" (video, lyrics). I didn't know this song, but it's a good representation of what Eminem is about.
What my students didn't know is that Eminem is interpolating the traditional children's lullaby "Hush Little Baby" (video, lyrics) into this song. It's rather chilling how he mixes the sweet lullaby with lyrics of anguish. The class talked for a long time about whether Eminem is a good father for telling his daughter how much he hates her mother. The class said he is expressing his love for his daughter, but what about the vitriol (word definition) contained within those proclomations of love?
We lightened the mood of the class by listening to "Friday Night" (video with lyrics written in SMS form!) by Lily Allen (bio). (Here's a rough video of her
singing this song in Seattle a few weeks ago.)
The conversation in the class swung to the club scene in Seattle and abroad and we talked about that for a while.
We played a bit of a Taiwanese hip-hop artist, Jay Chou (bio). We played the song "Ting Ma Ma De Hua" (video). My students told me that his message is positive and that he is a good role model.
For the last song of the day one student asked to hear a song she had heard in an Abercrombie & Fitch store: "And She Said" (video, lyrics) by Lucas Prata (bio).
As I mentioned above, for this coming Wednesday I am going to ask the students to tell me which songs they relate to Seattle.
Wow, 15 students today, what a great turnout! Last week's students were there again plus Izumi from last quarter.
When I asked for a song suggestion Kerry piped up wanting to see Justin Timberlake's "My Love", just like we saw last week. As with last week -- and it is a recurring theme -- one of the students mentioned that she likes the songs because the lyrics are easy to understand.
Next up Stephanie from Hong Kong chose "It Ends Tonight" (video, lyrics) by The All American Rejects (bio). She likes how this song starts calmly then gets progressively more powerful. It makes her feel strong when she listens to it.
Kerry suggested that if Stephanie likes that last song, then she should hear "Lips Of An Angel" (video, lyrics) by Hinder (bio). I thought that Kerry was right on with that suggestion, that Hinder is quite similar to The All American Rejects, but Stephanie didn't agree and didn't like the Hinder song.
Listening to these two "alternative" bands made me think of Modest Mouse (bio), the Seattle band who recently had the #1 album in the US with "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank" (on Amazon). I asked if anyone in the class has heard of Modest Mouse. No one had, so I played the video for the first single, Dashboard (lyrics).
The class definitely did not like this song so it got taken off after about 30 seconds.
I asked if anyone knew of other Seattle bands. Someone mentioned Jimi Hendrix (bio), a statue of whom is on the street corner just outside our classroom. Most people in the class didn't know who Jimi Hendrix is. The statue was actually commissioned by the first company I worked for out of university, AEI Music Network.
I asked if anyone knew any of the Seattle grunge bands: Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains. Blank stares and lightly shaken heads. The glorious music of my youth isn't even on their radar screens.
Someone did say they know the local band Death Cab For Cutie (bio). So we put on the video for "Soul Meets Body" (video, lyrics)
So far all the music today had been guitar-oriented and pretty rockin'. At this point the people in the class who like calmer music were getting a bit restless.
I asked one of the guys in the class to pick a song: "Never Had A Dream Come True" (video, lyrics) by S Club 7 (bio) was his choice. I remarked that it seems like the *guys* in the class are more romantic than the women, hahaha! Again, the reason for liking this song is the now common refrain "The lyrics are easy to understand."
I asked one of the guys who likes classical music to pick a song. He chose a song by Richard Clayderman (bio), but now I can't remember which song it was!
At this point the YouTube website went down and we couldn't access videos anymore -- a disaster for this class!
Izumi had brought a CD single of a song she recently bought: "Smile" (video, lyrics) by Lily Allen (bio) so we played the song with just the lyrics on the screen but not the video. The song was popular in the class. I mentioned that Lily Allen recently played a sold-out concert in Seattle (Seattle Times review, Seattle PI review).
It was now 5pm, the scheduled hour was up. I said that I would stay and keep talking about music for anyone who wanted to stay. A few people left, but about 8 people stayed.
Since YouTube was down we now switched to playing songs off of the students' mp3 players.
Someone asked if we can play non-English songs. Sure!, I replied. Titus played "To You" (video) by a Hong Kong singer, Leslie Cheung (bio).
Next we heard two New Age instrumental songs from a Korean artist. I can't remember the artists name, but the Hong Kong students recognized the songs -- and *love* the songs! -- from a Korean soap opera called "Goong" (info). Apparently South Korean soap operas are beloved throughout Asia. Many people download them from the internet and watch them with subtitles.
For the last song of the day we listened to "Hollaback Girl" (video, lyrics) by Gwen Stefani (bio). On the screen I saw the lyrics "This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S" so I explained that the world "bananas" is old slang for "crazy".
After a 5-week break, today was the first class of the new quarter. In the hour before the class I went around to a few English classes in session to promote my conversation group in person, but when 4pm rolled around my classroom was empty. Was it that I hadn't sold the idea well? Was it the sunny weather outside that enticed potential students to sit on the grass rather than in a room?
Suddenly my first student showed up: Titus, from Hong Kong. Shortly after him Yumi, from Japan, came in.
As the three of us were introducing ourselves I saw someone out in the hall looking over at us curiously. I beckoned her to join us. Enter Vanny from Vietnam!
We kept the introductions short and went straight for music. Vanny picked the first song, "My Love" (video, lyrics) by Justin Timberlake (bio). She likes the rhythm of this song. And the dancing. When she listens to the song she thinks of the video: the song and visual are linked.
Next Yumi picked a song by Utada Hikaru (bio). There were a number of songs out there, so she picked "Passion" (video , lyrics and song information).
This inspired Vanny to start taking about a song called "Bonjour Vietnam" (video, lyrics) which is sung by a French-Vietnamese woman name Pham Quynh Anh (her website, in French). Vanny said that this song is extremely popular in Vietnam. Even though the singer has never been to Vietnam -- she was born to immigrants in France -- the Vietnamese like her sentiment of staying close to her family roots. Here is a story about the song.
At this point Vanny's sister, Kerry, showed up and the conversation became even more animated!
I wanted everyone in the class to have a chance to pick a song and talk about it so asked Titus to pick one. He choose Westlife (bio) "My Love" (video, lyrics). When I asked him why he likes this song his answer was one I have often heard: I can easily understand the lyrics.
We talked about the visual element of bands, how listening to music a person also imagines what the band or video looks like. And how a good-looking band can have a bad song, but a person sometimes still likes the song because the band is so good looking! I asked if any of my students *used to* think an artists was hot looking, but doesn't like him/her anymore. Kerry's example was 50 Cent (bio) "Just A Little Bit" (video, lyrics).
I was thinking of the inverse, of an artist who isn't very good looking but has a great song. My example was James Blunt (bio) "You're Beautiful" (video, lyrics). I can't remember from all the "I love this song!" cooing that was going on between my students if they think he's good looking or not...
With that our hour was up. It was a good group and I hope to have a few more participants next week. Will Izumi return from last quarter?
