National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Music Across America
This curriculum unit devoted to the study of American music features five lesson plans that help students identify instruments, recognize styles and genres of American music and begin to comprehend the rich diversity of American music.
PBS
Pbs: American Roots Music: Historical Background
What is American roots music? The term "American roots music" may not be a familiar one, and requires some explanation. At the beginning of the 20th Century, the term "folk music" was used by scholars to describe music made by whites of...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Smithsonian Jazz: Duke Ellington
This site provides audio clips, photos, and biographical information of this legendary composer and performer. A match game teaches and tests your knowledge of Ellington.
Other
Classical Music Navigator: Forms and Styles
This alphabetized list of musical forms and styles briefly defines and describes the types of musical sounds and genres created throughout history.
PBS
Pbs: The Blues Classroom
Access the educational resources developed by a Seattle-based museum to supplement the PBS documentary series "The Blues." Includes background essays on the blues; biographies, video clips, and sound clips from the series; a blues...
The Washington Post
The Washington Post: "The History of Jazz," Chapter 1
This site offers the first chapter of Ted Gioia's book, "The History of Jazz." This chapter focuses on the prehistory of jazz, including the Africanization of American music, country blues and classic blues, and Scott Joplin and Ragtime.
PBS
Pbs: American Roots Music: Lesson Three: Gospel Music Meets a Wide Audience
The third lesson deals with the emergence of gospel as a form of popular music among a general public. Gospel is a musical genre with roots in the African American church, particularly in the South. Between the 1940s and the 1960s,...
Library of Congress
Loc: Patriotic Melodies
The Library of Congress site profiles 26 American patriotic songs with commentary, supporting visual material, and recordings of "America the Beautiful," "Fanfare for the Common Man" and the like.
Other
The Guide to Musical Theatre: Bob Fosse American Choreographer
Article about Bob Fosse musical revivals and new shows made in tribute to him, also includes information on Fosse dance style.
Kenyon College
Kenyon College: North by South: The Jenkins' Orphanage Bands
If you are interested in the music for the Cakewalk, come check out the Jenkins' Orphanage Band. They played a mix of ragtime and march. Lots of cool photos.
Other
Kansas State Univ.: Music and Race in 20th C. America
Short but interesting combination of music and race and its influence on American culture from the Kansas State University. Provides most important songs, artists, and lyrics. Unusual page.
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: Ragtime
Wikipedia offers the definition, historical context, revival, and composers of the ragtime style of music.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Gospel Music Meets a Wide Audience (Lesson Plan)
A lesson that identifies some of the leading figures in post-World War II gospel music. Students compare the differences in style and approach of several gospel musicians and analyze how music has different meanings in different social...
Broward Education Foundation
Broward Education Foundation: Creative Canjos [Pdf]
Creative Canjos is an interdisciplinary unit that teaches American History through Folk Art and Folk Music. The students began the project in Art class. They were introduced to American Folk Art through a teacher made iMovie. The iMovie...
Other
African Australian Online Resource
This site offers dozens of reviews of African recordings, new and re-released. Well-known musicians Zap Mama and Femi Kuti, as well as up and coming ones, are reviewed. Links to individual Web sites and audio files are also featured here.
PBS
Pbs: Blues Road Trip
Come and trace the migration of the blues through the United States. This site features an in-depth look at the origins of the Blues throughout its development across the Deep South of the US and beyond.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Horace Silver
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Horace Silver, an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader, exemplary performer of what came to be called the hard bop style of the 1950s and '60s. The style was an extension of...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Out Kast
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features OutKast, an American rap duo, formed in 1992, that put Atlanta, Ga., on the hip-hop map in the 1990s and redefined the G-Funk (a variation of gangsta rap) and Dirty South (often profane...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Ludacris
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Ludacris, an American rapper who exemplified the Dirty South school of hip-hop, an exuberant, profanity-laden musical style popularized by artists in the southern United States. Ludacris's...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzie Gillespie helped create a new form of modern jazz called be-bop. It was the predecessor of hip-hop that is so popular today.
Other
Recreation Arts Dance: Salsa vs. Mambo
An article discussing the similarities and differences between Salsa and the Mambo, both Latin American dances. The article mainly discusses the steps of both dances, but has some information about the style and feel of the music.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Sam and Dave
Biographical details on Sam and Dave, the American vocal duo who were among the most popular performers of soul music in the late 1960s and whose gritty, gospel-drenched style typified the Memphis Sound.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
Encyclopedia entry for a vocal group that popularized the doo-wop style of music.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Etta Baker
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Etta Baker, an American folk musician who influenced the folk music revival of the 1950s and '60s with her mastery of East Coast Piedmont blues, a unique fingerpicking style of...