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"Dave Caruso did a fine job
working with our students on his songwriting clinic. From the
beginning band students through our top high school band, Dave
was able to connect with the classes and help them construct
topics for a song, lyrics, and even sing and play the piano to
present the students with their work! It was a pleasure to have
him, and I recommend him for any director looking to connect
music to the students in a personal and educational way!"
Paul Bickel,
Band Director
Western High School / Jackson, MI
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On Tuesday, April 24th, 2007, Dave
Caruso took his Songwriting Workshop to the Western
School District in Jackson, MI.
For 5 class periods, Dave spoke to Western’s 6th, 7th
and 8th grade bands, their high school Concert Band
and their high school Symphonic Band.
Mrs. Kellie McInchak and Mr. Paul
Bickel, the Co-Band Directors, hosted Dave as he talked with the students about
everything from building a strong lyric to mixing music and
lyrics together. For the older classes, Dave played
popular music examples to demonstrate basic lyric techniques
such as alliteration, internal rhymes, personification,
metaphor and onomatopoeia. |
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After a crash course in pop song form and
scheme, each of the 5 classes wrote a song interactively with
Dave. They began by
brainstorming song topics and titles ranging from tacos and
burritos to summer vacation and
high school drama.
With less than
an hour per class, Dave helped the students shape individual
lines and couplets into cohesive verses and choruses.
Then with Mr. Bickel on the piano, Dave and Paul developed
each lyric into a musical theme which they performed for the
class.
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For an afternoon class, the students nominated singers
to perform the song with only vocals. The first team of
singers played beat box, the second group rapped the lyric of
the verse and the third group sang the title in harmony for
the chorus. The students enjoyed the participation part of
the exercise. Next, Mrs. McInchak suggested that an alternate
style be
created for the same song. After
one of the earlier classes, some of the kids gathered round Dave for autographs
-- for their moms. |
A group of girls prepare to sing the chorus |
2 boys provide the beat box |
Mr. Bickel, Dave Caruso and Mrs. McInchak |
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You can hire Dave
to work with your students on the crafts of lyric and song
writing. Dave's Songwriting Workshop is a fun and
effective way to cultivate creativity and collaboration.
The program will be customized to your class size and your
students' ages and skill levels. For more information,
E-mail Dave. |
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