My Dear Companion - Writing Across the Curriculum- Letters

This week in general music class we are discussing two important subjects:   Tonic, and  Loss.  The Appalachian folk song "My Dear Companion" can be found in our general music books, and we have been practicing our sight reading with this haunting but simple melody.  We learned some vocabulary while we were practicing this sight reading.  For example, the key signatures are symbols at the beginning of the piece that show what sharps and flats are being used.  This also tells us what "Do" is.

We can then identify the scale and the key and finally what the "tonic" is.  We had a discussion about the word "Tonic".  Many students knew it as a drink.  Yes, it used to be a drink that would make you feel better, in other words, you would feel more like yourself after you drank it, it was a drink with medicinal qualities.  It also means that place that you believe makes you feel like you are home, a tonic, a good place where you feel well.  So- does that not translate to the musical definition of "tonic"?  Why, of course.  The Tonic in music is the first and last note of the scale.  It is the note of the scale that is also called the "home tone" and it is often the first and last note of the song.  We begin and end at "home".  We begin at the tonic, and we spend many phrases trying to return to the tonic.  We also connected the "tonic" discussion back to the idea that when we compose music, we often start on the tonic note as well.  This helps the ear of the listener get situated before you go elsewhere and listen to new, unfamiliar material.  We are happy to begin at the "home tone" or "tonic" and we are even happier upon our return to it.  All folk songs begin and end that way, no matter what key they are in.

 We move the discussion from the "tonic" to the idea of what the song is about.  "Oh have you seen my dear companion, for she was all this world to me, I hear she's gone to some far country, and that she cares no more for me."  We decided this could be about someone breaking up, it could be about someone moving away, it could also be that someone has passed away and has gone to "a far country", which could be a euphemism for one's final resting place.  We discussed the next line, "I wish I were some swallow flying, I'd fly to a high and lonesome place."  The question I ask is, "why"?  Because, they say, "when you are really sad you don't want to be around anyone else.  When you cry, it makes other people uncomfortable, so it is best to stay alone."  And then- how do we make connections between music and our own experiences in life, our own "interpersonal interactions" as the Maine visual and performing arts standard says?  Ah- not easy.  The assignment is to write a letter to a person you know or knew, someone you argued with, or someone who died, or someone who moved away..describe your relationship, describe your memories, describe the music you might have shared.  This is a complicated and emotional assignment, but it also works on how to write a letter, how to compose and articulate ideas and memories, and it also is just about reading and writing across the curriculum.   The letters begin with Dear..and end with sincerely, fondly, etc.. I grew up writing letters, but these children did not.  So- it is, if nothing else, a history lesson, a way that music connects with social studies, with our interpersonal relationships, and how it connects with writing, to me an essential part of our teaching.