TeachRock

Overview

From its raucous beginnings to the time of its mainstream acceptance, Rock and Roll was youth music. More exactly, it was the music of the teenager. Born of postwar affluence and the increased leisure time such affluence afforded young Americans, the idea of the teenager was new to the American landscape. If for some they were an object of anxiety, this had everything to do with the fact that teenagers defined themselves in opposition to the parent generation. Rebellion was a part of being a teenager. And Rock and Roll was an expression of that rebellion and of the growing gap between generations. From the teen surf culture celebrated in the music of the Beach Boys to the mini-melodramas of the Shangri-Las’ Girl Group sound and teen dances including the Twist, the Stroll, the Mashed Potato, and the Watusi, the world of the teenager was made larger and more powerful through the music itself. As 60s Soul and the British Invasion demonstrated, it would be the teenagers, inspired by their music, who would define American life moving forward.

1. Italian-American Vocalists Before Rock and Roll
2. Dancing the Twist on Television
3. The Rise of the “Girl Groups”
4. The Musical Roots of the Surf Sound
5. The Sound of the Suburbs
6. Car Culture in Postwar America
7. The Memphis Sound and Racial Integration
8. Soul Music and the New Femininity
9. Music and Political Movements
10. The Civil Rights Movement: A Document-Based Question
11. The American Blues in Britain
12. British Invasion I: The Beatles
13. The Rolling Stones: Giving America Back the Blues
14. The Who’s Generation
15. Latin Music and Puerto Rican Migration to New York City
16. Ritchie Valens

Teachers are encouraged to allow students to select which of these assessments they would like to complete to demonstrate their understanding of Teenage Rebellion

1. Create an illustrated timeline which depicts the key events and people that you have learned about in this unit.
2. Select one artist or group highlighted in this unit and create an infographic which describes their impact and trajectory.
3. Write an essay which reflects on the rise of the teenager and the impact of teenagers in the development of Rock and Soul.
4. Create a Venn Diagram which compares and contrasts three artists that you learned about in this unit.