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Song for the Blue-Eyed Gal Grade Level: 1–3Southern Journey: Ballads and Breakdowns Fly Around My Blue-Eyed Gal — Hobart Smith "Country Gardens" Return to All Lessons Lesson Plans
Suggested Activity #1: Form and Rhyme 1.Listen to "Fly Around My Blue-Eyed Gal".
Q: What instrument if the performer, Hobart Smith, playing? A: Piano. Q: Can you imagine, just from the style of the piano-playing, any other instrument playing this music? A: Hobart Smith is a banjo player, and the piano style sounds a little as if he were plucking his banjo, playing broken chords and melodic figures. 2. Listen to the selection again, and identify the various sections. * Piano introduction * A * B * Piano * C * A * Piano * 3. Sing the first verse of the song:
"Fly around, my blue-eyed gal, Fly around, my daisy. Fly around, my blue-eyed gal, Almost run me crazy." 4. Create new verses, following the rhyme scheme [abab], as in this example:
"I just love my music class,
I think it is so fun.
And when the music time is past,
I'm sad that it is done."
5. The piano accompaniment maintains a single bass-note (which
infers a single chord) throughout the song; because the melody moves
so quickly, this harmony works without sounding "old" or uninteresting.
Play an accompaniment on piano or guitar while singing the song.
Suggested Activity #2: Circle Dance 1.Listen to "Fly Around My Blue-Eyed Gal", and tap the quick but steady beat. As the song proceeds, clap just beats 1-2, and go silent on beats 3-4. 2. Have students stand, and while listening again, step beats 1-2, and freeze on beats 3-4. They can move through the room, finding a unique trajectory, crossing in between other students' trajectories. 3. In a circle, move to the right, again stepping on beats 1-2 and freezing on beats 3-4. Holding hands, and with weight on the left foot, students can follow this pattern:
4. Try some variations on beats 3-4. Still in a circle and stepping 1-2, freeze and clap beats 3-4 or snap beats 3-4. Invite students to invent other possibilities for movement. Cultural Link: Anglo-American "roots" music Southern Appalachians Designed by Daniel Rossi and Patricia Shehan Campbell |