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The Pony Song
Young scholars sing "Three Little Pigs", the "Pony Song", and "The Animal Blues" in this elementary school music lesson. National and State Standards are addressed. Assessment rubric is included for grading and student evaluation.
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The Motown Dynasty (1969-1980) Part 2
Students connect achievements of noted artists with their roles in the music industry. They identify many Black music industry leaders and their contributions with the Motown Sound.
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Audio Engineers: Sound Weavers
Students explore audio engineering. For this career education and "sound" science lesson, students define related vocabulary and make connections between the music they listen to and the job an audio engineer does after listening to...
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Learning the Blues
Students become familiar with the characteristic form and sound of the blues, then learn about the history and evolution of the blues in relationship to the African-American experience. Students examine the structure and language of...
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Blue Jazz Scale
Young scholars engage in a study of music that includes the Blue Jazz scale. They listen to pieces of music in the targeted style while becoming familiar with the scale. Students then describe how the scale is built and demonstrate by...
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The Beat of the Blues
This lesson focuses on how students can learn basic blues percussion patterns by considering the polyrhythms of African drumming and investigating how and why such drums were banned during slavery. Students will listen to several blues...
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Red, White, and Blue Notes
Students explore the history of major American music genres. Then, through mock radio shows, students examine the distinguishing features of each genre and how each has changed throughout the years.
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Folk Traditions in the Blues
Click here to download a PDF of this lesson. (2.8 MB) Overview This lesson will enable teachers to use the blues to explore selected topics in African American folklore. Students will learn about some of the African American cultural...
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Jazz Talk
Learners analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...
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Sing the Blues
Students explore examples of this musical form, then write their own lyrics for a blues song.
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Satchmo's Blues
Students work cooperatively to create a jazz composition using the computer program GarageBand and incorporating the musical stylings of musician Louis Armstrong. Internet access is required for this lesson.
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VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx, Lesson 3
Learners examine the blues, poetry, the Harlem Renaissance, and the 12-bar blues form. They watch a segment from the video, "VH1 Driven: Jamie Foxx," participate in a class discussion, and listen to songs by Ray Charles and a poem by...
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Blues Improvisation
Students practice playing and improvising while playing the 12 bar blues. They practice compositional skills, evaluate and perform musical pieces focused on the blues.
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Gospel Beginnings - Lesson 1
Students identify genres of music that influenced musical style of Aretha Franklin. They identify musical characteristics of gospel and sing a gospel selection. They pay particular attention to the call and response style.
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From Sacred to Secular: Exploration of Vocal Styles/Crossing between styles - Lesson 2
Students identify some of Aretha Franklin's vocal qualities and techniques. They have a discussion of styles of music they heard on the video, including gospel, jazz, pop, rhythm and blues, and opera.
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Working Conditions in America: 1880s versus 2000s
Students conduct research into the life of Americans and how working conditions have changed over time from the 1880's to modern times. They use primary and secondary resources in order to compile research in order to report the findings...
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Writing the Blues
Students assess the blues as musical poetry. They place the writing of blues music in historical context and write (and read) their own blues lyrics. They perform for the class and others.
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Music Education, Playing the Blues
This lesson enables learners to gain a broader awareness of the basic blues scale and the harmonic structure of the standard blues progression. Students will be given introductory exercises on blues improvisation and will also...
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US Geography, The Blues
This lesson enables teachers to use blues styles and performers to think about various geographical regions of the United States. By studying different blues styles from the Mississippi Delta, Texas, and the Piedmont region of the...
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Whites, Blacks and the Blues
This lesson enables students to explore and measure the distance between blacks and whites in the past and present United States. By thinking about the intersections of whites, blacks, and others around the blues, students will deepen...
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TE Activity: The Beat Goes On
Students determine what the pulse is before examining how to measure the heart rate in different situations. They build a simple device that measures the heart rate, take heart rates, and record them on a worksheet. They discuss how...
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Music Styles
Young scholars identify many genres of music and connect styles of music with various cultures. They watch "The Greatest TV Moments: Sesame Street Music A to Z" and list music styles: folk, jazz, rock, etc.
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Singing The Blues with Garage Band
Students demonstrate writing lyrics for a twelve-bar blues pattern by writing two verses of a blues song and then recording themselves singing over a stock blues pattern using Apple's Garage Band. Requires a networked keyboard lab.