A. Name of text resource and grade level: a. Silver Burdett, The Music Connection for grade 2
B. Name of song and page numbers: a. “Old Dan Tucker” Pg. 28 and 29
C. First Verse: a. Old Dan Tucker was a mighty man. He washed his face in a frying pan. Combed his hair with a wagon wheel. Had a toothache in his heel. So get out the way, Old Dan Tucker. Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker. Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker. You’re too late to get your supper.
D. Key Signature: a. F Major
E. Melodic Analysis: a. Range of Tones: i. Middle C to 2nd space A b. Shape of Melody: i. A lot of stepwise motion in section A and then a few more jumps in section B c. “Singability” i. This song is very “singable” for 2nd graders because the range of their voices in from middle C to middle line Bb.
F. Harmonic Analysis: a. Chord Structure: i. Section A: I – I – V – I – I –V – I ii. Section B: I – I – V – I – I – V – I b. Tonality: i. This piece is very tonal; there are no applied chords or borrowed chords. ii. There are no accidentals that would cause any dissonance in the music. c. Support of the melody: i. The harmonic structure support the melody well except it is harder to sing scale degree 6 (D) with a I chord as the chord underneath it.
G. Rhythmic Analysis: a. Meter: Simple meter in 4\4 time b. Rhythm Characteristics: i. Rhythms fit with the texts ii. There is a repetition of rhythms with the words, “get out the way, Old Dan Tucker” in section B
H. Non-musical Considerations a. All the words are simple and would be easy to understand for a 2nd grader. b. This song could be linked to other parts of the curriculum by using it as an introduction to ABA form. All that would need to be done is to just expand the AB form and add the A section to the end of it. c. The subject matter of the song is fun and upbeat and will keep the students entertained with the images of the strong man who does all these crazy things in his day-to-day activities. d. This song isn’t too baby for 2nd graders, but not too hard for them either.
I. Strategy for Teaching: a. My strategy to teach this song is going to be rote with the whole-part-whole method. I feel like this song is complex enough that it would be very difficult to use the jump in method. This song is also broken into sections that make it easy to brake into sections to sing in parts.
J. Teaching Idea: a. I would like to teach AB form to the students. This would probably be one of their first exposures to form in their musical career and this song is great for teaching AB form. b. Skills and National Standards that could be used: i. Singing Alone and with others ii. Movement through keeping a beat and using flash cards
K. Defense of Grade Level: a. This song is perfect in the grade 2 book because it is in the right range for 2nd graders, the rhythms are not very difficult for them, the words are not very hard to understand, and it isn’t too childish for the students to stop them from wanting to participate.