Hip-Hop – Writing Bars and Choruses with Schemes (1 Hour)

Lifetime

All levels

4 lessons

1 quiz

69 students

Overview
Curriculum
Instructor

This course is a special collaboration with Fifth Element Education, a collective of hip-hop artists and educators dedicated to providing workshops and clinics for school districts and universities. Their mission is to inspire, create, and elevate hip-hop culture.

Course Description

Hip-Hop – Writing Bars and Choruses with Schemes is a 1-hour course designed for teachers to learn how to engage in lyric writing with students. Dr. Cooper teams up with hip-hop artist SoSoon to teach you about “schemes” as a way to write clever lyrics, learn basic exercises to find flow and rhyme scheme, and get tips for engaging students in rapping and performing choruses in the classroom. A PDF of ideas for getting students started with recording and writing bars will be available for download and can be used as a classroom handout.

Course Objectives

During the course, you will:

Learn how to use scheming (themes) for writing bars.
Learn tips for developing rhyme schemes.
Learn rhythm exercises to develop flow.

Student Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Write lyrics and perform them over a beat.
Write a chorus that could be performed by a group of students.
Teach their own students the basics of writing lyrics and choruses in hip-hop.

Requirements for Modules

In order to receive a Certificate of Completion and 1 hour for this course, you will need to:

Write and submit a short verse or chorus based on a scheme.

Complete 2 Learning Modules.
Take 1 multiple choice quiz (Module 2).
Write and submit a short verse or chorus based on a scheme.

Patrick Cooper

Dr. Patrick K. Cooper is an assistant professor of music education at Florida International University. He teaches courses in research, curriculum development, philosophy, and creativity. He holds degrees in music education from Arizona State University (B.M., M.M.) and University of South Florida (Ph.D.). Winner of the 2015 Outstanding Emerging Researcher Award from the Center for Music Education Research, his research interests capture the intersection of creativity, inclusion, and performance. His publications can be found in academic journals such as Psychology of Music and International Journal of Music Education as well as practitioner texts such as The Music Technology Cookbook and The Learner-Centered Music Classroom. His book Broadcast to Podcast: Lessons from Radio for an Online Music Education is available through F-Flat Books. Dr. Cooper has presented internationally, nationally, and locally at conferences such as NeuroMusic, Society for Music Perception and Cognition, International Society for Music Education, Society for Music Teacher Education, and the National Association for Music Education Biennial Music Research and Teacher Education Conference. He has given workshops and lectures as an invited speaker at several universities including University of Southern California, Arizona State University, Illinois State University, and Westminster Choir College. As a musician, he has performed extensively as a double bassist, synthesizer player, and hip-hop artist. Prior to his appointment at Florida International University, he held adjunct positions with Eastern Illinois University and The Crane School of Music at SUNY-Potsdam, was a Presidential Doctoral Fellow at University of South Florida, and taught in public schools and community centers in St. Petersburg, FL and the metro Phoenix area.

SoSoon

James "SoSoon" Gantt is a New York born emcee, producer, and educator. SoSoon honed his sound at Hunter College and eventually began performing throughout the tristate at legendary venues such as The Nuyorican, Bowery Poetry Club, CBGB's, and SOB’s. SoSoon has also performed internationally in Amsterdam and Paris. SoSoon recently joined forces with Full Blast booking where he has toured alongside the likes of Ghostface Killah, Sheek Louch, Rah Digga, and Canibus, all while helping to raise money for mental health awareness. SoSoon has been a Hip-Hop educator for the last 12 years and is a founding member of Fifth Element Education.