Related sites
Canada
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. Digital Collection. Livres et partitions musicales. (French only)
University of British Columbia. British Columbia Sheet Music
Australia
National Library of Australia. Australian music in Trove.
Denmark
Kongelige Bibliotek [National Library of Denmark]. The Danish National Digital Sheet Music Archive.
Sweden
Statens musikbibliotek [The Music Library of Sweden]. Boije Collection.
United States
Baylor University. Frances G. Spencer Collection of American Popular Sheet Music.
Brown University. African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
Brown University. World War I Sheet Music
Brown University. Yiddish Sheet Music
Duke University Libraries. Historic American Sheet Music: 1850-1920
Indiana University. Lilly Sheet Music Collection.
Johns Hopkins University. The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music.
Library of Congress. America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets.
Library of Congress. Band Music from the Civil War Era.
Library of Congress. Baseball sheet music.
Library of Congress. Civil War sheet music collection.
Library of Congress. Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry Reed Collection.
Library of Congress. Historic sheet music collection, 1800-1922.
Library of Congress. Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1820-1860
Library of Congress. Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885.
Library of Congress. The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana.
Lincoln (Nebraska) City Libraries. Music of Old Nebraska.
University of Maine. Maine Music Box.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Inventions of Note: Sheet Music Collection.
Mississippi State University. Charles Templeton Sheet Music Collection.
Smithsonian Libraries. Bella C. Landauer Collection of Aeronautical Sheet Music
University of California at Los Angeles. Archive of Popular American Music.
University of Colorado at Boulder. Digital Sheet Music Collection.
University of Missouri. Kansas City Sheet Music Collection.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 19th Century American Sheet Music.
University of Pennsylvania. Keffer Collection of Sheet Music, ca. 1790-1895.
University of South Carolina. Sheet music collection.
University of Washington. Pacific Northwest Sheet Music Collection
Educational Resources
The following educational resources explore music from Canada's past and gives students the opportunity to examine and compare the historical context.
Musical art
Subject and ages
Visual arts; 12-14
Summary
Students will learn about and use all stages of the design process (specifications, research, experimentation, roughs, prototypes, revision, presentation and reflection) to create, in the role of commercial artist, CD cover art for an early 20th-century Canadian song. They will select the materials, artistic media, style and techniques that they judge best reflect the song's theme and artists, as well as its historical and technological context.
Consult the teaching strategy for Musical art used on the Virtual Gramophone website.
Music and Canadian Identity
Subject and ages
Music and Language Arts; Ages 14+
Summary
Students will conduct a group analysis of a sample song from Library and Archives Canada's Sheet Music from Canada's Past website, examining and comparing the historical context with Canada today. Following this, students will compose song lyrics on the same theme. Some groups may choose to perform their music as an extension activity.
Materials or resources required
Instructional procedures
Students should be aware of the history of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Large-Group Work
Facilitate a whole-class brainstorm to identify the topics, issues and themes that are the focus of current popular songs.
Possible themes include:
- War/pacifism
- Patriotism
- Social issues such as drugs, poverty or homelessness
- Politics
- Love and relationships
- Remembrance
- Other issues
Small-Group Work
Task 1
Students are invited to bring to class audio recordings and printed lyrics of songs from their personal collections that address the above issues. Have students divide up into small groups.
Each group should choose one song from among those brought in by the group members. The group will listen to the song, guided by the following questions:
- Which theme is being addressed in the song?
- What opinions are being expressed regarding this theme?
- Do you think this song reflects today's general societal values regarding this issue?
- How do your personal opinions resemble or differ from those expressed in the song?
- What major (historical, political, natural, cultural) events might have influenced the lyricists' point of view?
- How is language (song lyrics) used to effectively express the song's point of view?
Once the group has finished listening to the song, each member of the group will complete Part 1 of Student Handout 1, and then share and compare answers with the other group members.
Task 2
Each group will select a song to analyze from the Sheet Music from Canada's Past website. Groups should first brainstorm words that will help in their search. When they have chosen a piece of music, they should print the song and read it once.
Groups will begin their song analysis with research into the historical context of the song, with a focus on the theme of the song (see Part 2 of Student Handout 1). For example:
- Love songs: What were social attitudes toward love, relationships and marriage at the time the song was written? Are there any interesting stories about the love affairs of famous figures at the time?
- War: What conflicts were taking place, or about to take place? What side would the songwriter have been on? What were other major political events of the day?
- Politics: What were the major political movements of the day? Who were the major players on the political scene?
- Social attitudes: What were attitudes on alcohol? Smoking? Other drugs? How were the poor and homeless viewed? How were visible minorities and Aboriginal people treated and viewed?
Students should contrast these events and attitudes with those in their region of Canada today.
Task 3
Once the research is completed, each group member analyzes the group's chosen song using Part 3 of Student Handout 1. Group members are to share their results when all members have finished.
Task 4
In the same groups, students will compose original song lyrics on the same theme. They should express their own viewpoints through the lyrics of the song (see Student Handout 2).
The lyrics can be presented to the class either as a performance or a recital. The work could be displayed in a manner appropriate to class resources.
Student Handout 1: Historical Context and Musical Analysis
As a group, you will select a song from Library and Archives Canada's Sheet Music from Canada's Past website. You will identify the topics, issues and themes mentioned in the song's lyrics and compare them to songs written today.
Part 1
On your own, answer the following questions about the song your group has chosen. When you have finished, compare and discuss your answers with the other group members.
- Which theme is being addressed in the song?
- What opinions are being expressed regarding this theme?
- Do you think this song reflects today's general societal values regarding this issue?
- How do your personal opinions resemble or differ from those expressed in the song?
- What major (historical, political, natural, cultural) events might have influenced the lyricists' point of view?
- How is language (song lyrics) used to effectively express the song's point of view?
Part 2
Select a song from Library and Archives Canada's Sheet Music from Canada's Past website and follow the instructions below.
- Write the title of the song on the sheet music
- Write when the sheet music was published
- Read your sheet music through once. Highlight or underline references to areas that suggest a theme.
- When completed, research the events, social trends and attitudes of the period that relate to the issues in the song. For example:
- Love songs: What were social attitudes toward love, relationships and marriage at the time the song was written? Are there any interesting stories about the love affairs of famous figures at the time?
- War: What conflicts were taking place, or about to take place? What side would the songwriter have been on? What were other major political events of the day?
- Politics: What were the major political movements of the day? Who were the major players on the political scene?
- Social attitudes: What were attitudes on alcohol? Smoking? Other drugs? How were the poor and homeless viewed? How were visible minorities and Aboriginal people treated and viewed?
Compare these events, trends and attitudes with your own (or those of other Canadians).
- Event at the time the song was written compared to a similar or contrasting event today.
- Trend at the time the song was written compared to a similar or contrasting trend today.
- Social attitude at the time the song was written compared to a similar or contrasting attitude today.
Part 3
On your own, complete this music analysis for the song chosen by your group. Once everyone has finished, compare and discuss your answers with the other members of your group.
- Do you agree with the message of the song? Why or why not?
- Choose one or two phrases in the song that are interesting to you and explain why.
- How do the lyrics of this song make you feel?
- How do you think the public would have reacted to this song at the time it was published?
- Do you think music such as this would have been important to people of the time (the way television is now)? Why or why not?
Student Handout 2: Songwriting Guide
You will compose the words (lyrics) to an original song on the same theme as the song you picked in Part 3 of Student Handout 1. Express your own points of view through the lyrics of the song.
1. What is the topic or theme of the song you will compose?
2. What is your group's opinion about this issue?
3. Why do you feel this way? List facts and evidence to support your point of view.
4. Begin to draft your song. Make sure that it clearly expresses your views and is backed up by facts and evidence. Some tips:
- Writing song lyrics is similar to writing a poem.
- Song lyrics can rhyme, but it is not necessary.
- You may decide to use the tune and rhythm of a familiar song (e.g. "Three Blind Mice") and simply rewrite the lyrics.
- A chorus reinforcing your opinion may be used repeatedly throughout the song.
5. When the song is finished, design a cover for your sheet music. For guidance you can look at the Materials or resources required.