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Note to Teachers: Before showing the videotape to your classes, please review for possible objectionable language.
 Students will identify many genres of Black music Students will identify Black music as a reflection of the culture Students will consider the effectiveness of music to communicate ideas Students will identify many Black musical examples Students will identify many historically influential Black music artists, producers, and other contributors National Standards for Music Education -VHS VCR player
Part I 1. Play selections of traditional West African music (see materials
list for examples) as students enter the classroom and get settled.
Ask students what kind of music they associate with West African music.
You may refer to the following information about the music: 2. Play selections of early oral tradition music (field hollers, work
songs, etc.) For music, please see materials list for examples. Ask
students what kind of music they associate with field hollers and work
songs. You may refer to the following information about the music: African-American Contributions to American Music The following content is referenced from The Concert of the Century for VH1 Save the Music: VH1 Music Studio, Cable in the Classroom , Lessons for Music and Social Studies Classes, Middle School and High School, American Music Styles, Lesson 1 of 9, available at www.vh1musicstudio.com Musical Styles Spirituals--great songs of faith born out of slavery--represent one
of America's important song treasures. Some of the hallmarks of the
African-American spiritual style are: After the Civil War, African-American colleges such as Fisk University sent their choirs to tour the northern United States and Europe. Groups such as the Fisk Jubilee Singers helped to popularize many of the spirituals that are still widely known today. In the 1920's a new style of black religious song called gospel added a new dimension to the spiritual tradition. The acknowledged leader of the gospel movement was Thomas Dorsey. This new style added instruments such as the piano and (at a later time) the Hammond electric organ. It also featured solo quartets or other special performers. Many of the greatest African-American singers of their century, such as Mahalia Jackson or Aretha Franklin, got their start singing in the local church gospel choir. In contrast to the group singing of work songs and spirituals, blues were solo songs that gave vent to the frustrations and personal troubles of the African-American. Early blues (that is, in the early 20th century) from the Mississippi Delta or Texas--called country blues--were sung with guitar accompaniment. These early singers often sang three phrases (AAB) that used twelve measure of music--a form called 12-bar blues. Leadbelly's song "The Bourgeois Blues" is an example of this form. The second stage of the blues style was the 1920's classic blues featuring female singers such as Bessie Smith with a small jazz band accompaniment using players such as the great trumpet player Louis Armstrong. When players such as Muddy Waters used electric guitars and instruments such as saxophones during the 1940's and 50's, the style became known as urban blues or rhythm and blues. Eventually the rhythm and blues style gave birth in 1955 to rock 'n' roll, which featured many songs in the 12-bar blues form. Rock 'n' roll stars such as Elvis, Chuck Berry, or Little Richard, who appears on the A Vision Shared videotape, (Columbia, available from MENC) sang many early hit songs in this style during the period from 1955 to 1959. Around the turn of the century, piano styles such as ragtime and early forms of jazz developed within African-American communities. These fresh new styles, with their exciting syncopated rhythms, quickly became popular with mixed audiences throughout America and even Europe. In the 1920's when phonograph records became practical and less expensive, many of the early jazz bands and blues performers recorded their music on African-American labels such as Paramount or Okeh. Recordings by African-American performers were known up through the 1940's as race records. When a race record became a big hit, a cover recording was usually made by a white performer to take advantage of its popularity. The practice of making cover recordings can be seen up through 1950's rock 'n' roll with Elvis' version of Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle and Roll." In the 1960's the word soul began to replace the term rhythm and blues as a name for recordings made by African-Americans. By the 60's many elements of African-American music had been absorbed by white performers. 3. Tell students they are going to view (or view portions of) Say It Loud!: Black Music In America, Episode 1: Keep On Pushin’ program. 4. Have students use pencil and paper to note different styles of music they hear in the program (teacher may stop the program to point out specific styles). 5. Play program. 6. Discuss the styles of music used in the program with the students. 7. Ask students to name specific song titles. 8. Encourage a live acapella vocal demonstration by students (accept
an example from the program or other appropriate impromptu song) and/or
teach students the following, or similar call and response song: “MINNIE THE MOOCHER”
1 “WHAT’S GOING
ON” 1 9. Ask students to comment on the lyrics of songs from the earliest examples of black music to the music created today. Are the messages similar? 10. Discuss the messages contained in the music. Emphasize the political and social content of many songs. 11. Lead students to recognize the similarities in the messages of the music from the early West African to the contemporary hip-hop. (See Say It Loud! Episode 1: Keep On Pushin’ Lesson 2 for a more in-depth exploration of music as a means of communication.) Part II 1. Choose a recording and sheet music from your school’s music library. (For suggestions, refer to Materials section above or use “Minnie The Moocher” printed above). 2. Play an excerpt from the recording, asking students to listen for musical characteristics. 3. Lead a brief discussion of three common musical characteristics of the chosen song: e.g. syncopation, accents on beats two and four, and call and response form. (Students may mention other characteristics such as long-phrased melodies.) 4. Explain the use of syncopation and write an example of the rhythmic
pattern on the blackboard. 5. Play an excerpt of the recording. Students should identify and clap the pattern along with the recording. 6. Play an excerpt of the recording. Students should identify the call and response in the song. 7. Reinforce the call and response by oral tradition. Choose a lead singer to improvise on the call while the group responds.
-Students may each bring a CD example from their own collection that illustrates the use of a political or social message. Students should write a short statement about the music and the content of the lyric. -Students may create a song communicating a modern day message. (For lesson plan ideas, see VH1 Music Studio’s The Greatest TV Moments: Sesame Street Music A to Z Lesson #4 “Songwriting” and Concert of The Century Lesson #5 “Songs That Bring Us Together” available on the “Past Programs” section of www.vh1musicstudio.com) -For additional information on terms used in this lesson, look up The White House Millennium Evening: Jazz, An Expression of Democracy, Lessons for Music and Social Studies Classes, Middle School and High School Glossary, available on the “Past Programs” section of www.vh1musicstudio.com
This lesson was developed by Dee Spencer, professor of music at San Francisco State University and Willie Hill, president-elect of MENC: The National Association for Music Education and director of the University Fine Arts Center at University of Massachusetts-Amherst in collaboration with
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