Bass drum, snare drum, tom-toms, cymbals. Perched behind their drum sets, wielding their drum sticks and wire brushes, drummers lay the grove and are the heartbeat of a band's performance. A dynamic lesson introduces young musicians to...

Bring the sounds of the deep South vocal blues to the classroom with a Smithsonian Folkways lesson. In preparation, scholars listen to and count the 12 bar blues patterns in several works and identify the I, II, IV, and V chords as well...

Students take a virtual field trip to Memphis, Tennessee in their study of the blues, its characterisitics, founding fathers, and histororical influence on modern music. They compose blues lyrics that reflect present-day attitudes and...

Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A lesson like this ties into American history and African-American musical contributions very...

Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...

Jazz, Blue Grass, Hip Hop, Swing. Gospel, R&B, Ragtime, Disco. So many music genres born in the USA. After reading an article about the fate of New Orlean's Jazz after Hurricane Katrina, class members investigate the life cycles of...

Students examine how American Jews affect music and entertainment. They identify problems between immigrants and their children. They relate the Jewish American issue to those of African Americans.

Watching Great Performances’ Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival Chicago launches an investigation into and discussion of how the electric guitar and guitarists have changed the sound of the blues over time. An engaging way to...

Students discuss the societal roots of music from times of slavery and black spirituals, and compare it to the emergence of Rap and Hip Hop music.

Students analyze the movement of the blues from rural Mississippi to urban Chicago and how place and the environment affected the development of the blues. They define the blues, where it originated and how and why it moved to Chicago....

Learners explore the connections between Langson Hughes and blues music. In this African American culture instructional activity, students compare and contrast blues music with poetry and short stories by Langston Hughes.

Young scholars examine blues music. In this music genres lesson, students discover details about the history of the musical genre and compositional techniques. Young scholars then compose melodies of their own with 12-bar blues chord...

Young scholars describe some of the distinguishing characteristics of blues music. They compare and analyze two versions of the same 12-bar blues song. They read and identify notation symbols for rhythm and tempo.

American music is the result of the influence of many cultures, including the traditions brought by the African slaves. Young scholars study the polyrhythms, the call-and-response format, and the vocal improvisations of the Gullah...

Students describe some of the characteristics of country and blues music. They see how country music rose to a nationally known music style. They write a two-paragraph essay on what they think country music be like in the next 100 years.

Music has been used to convey thoughts, feelings, and the human condition for thousands of years. Your class will analyze several songs hear in the animated classic, "Charlie Brown." They will listen to several jazz pieces from the show,...

Young scholars identify musical characteristics of blues music and define the term 'scale.' They identify chromatic, major, pentatonic, and blues scales and label each key on a keyboard using letter names, sharps and flats.

High schoolers examine role spirituals have played in African American history and religion, examine Harriet Tubman's use of spirituals in her work, explore power of spirituals in Civil Rights Movement, and work with oral tradition,...

Learners gain an appreciation for various types of music. Using the music of the past, they compare it with the music of today. In groups, they research periods in which blues and jazz were most popular and write their own piece of music...

Enable students to use the blues to explore urbanization, technology, and their effects on everyday life in the 20th century. Musicians were among the large number of people who, between 1914 and 1945, participated in the Great Migration...

Students examine influence The Blues had on Rock and Roll and the concomitant social, political, and economic factors and movements during the post-World War II period. Students then research and create multimedia reports on...

Learners view the AMERICAN MASTERS film "Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied" and research him using the Guided Reading strategy. They examine the influential musician's childhood and trace his journey from the Mississippi Delta to...

Students examine the history of blues music and discover how it relates to the music of today. As a class, they listen to the drum songs of Africa and compare it to the use of drums in pop music today. Using the internet, they research...

Students identify the musical form of the 12-bar blues. They identify a problem from the "Farming in the 1940's" section and compose a 12-bar blues song. make comparisons between problems of the 1940's and today.