Overview

The Rock and Soul Forever Foundation has partnered with Music Will to present a series of interdisciplinary lessons. Music Will is a national nonprofit that trains public school teachers to deliver Modern Band music classes and provides instruments to the schools at no cost.

This innovative series of lessons contextualizes specific songs from the Music Will songbook. Learning to play a song on guitar, on piano, on drums, or on any other instrument is an experience like no other. It’s powerful. But, by approaching music through a social and historical lens, learning to play a song can become a richer experience still. When the student who learns a Jimi Hendrix song or a Bob Dylan song approaches it as a living piece of history, as a cultural fragment with stories embedded in it, that student can build a deeper connection to the music.

Each of the following chapters is based around a song and includes Music Will Modern Band charts and a Rock and Soul Forever Foundation interdisciplinary lesson. Our approach is straightforward. We put the music in context. Every song and every recording belongs to a moment in time. In the lessons that follow, we explore the categories of person, place, and time as they relate to specific songs. This methodology serves as a launching pad, helping to situate a song historically, geographically, and socially.

Lessons

lesson:
“Hound Dog” and 1950 Race Relations

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: General Music

How does the story of “Hound Dog” demonstrate music culture’s racial mixing as it differed from mainstream American life in the 1950s?

lesson:
“Twist and Shout” and Post-War Britain

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: General Music

What role did cover songs like “Twist and Shout” play early in the Beatles's career, and how did their experiences growing up in post-WWII Liverpool and performing in Hamburg nightclubs help them to develop as a professional musical ensemble?

lesson:
“Blowin’ in the Wind” as a Rallying Cry

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: ELA, General Music

How does the song “Blowin’ in the Wind” use poetic devices to communicate an open-ended yet powerful message about the human condition, without ever losing its historical specificity?

lesson:
The Gospel Origins of “Chain of Fools”

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: ELA, General Music

Essential Question: How did Aretha Franklin’s foundation in Gospel music influence her recording of “Chain of Fools,” helping to establish a Soul sound and bringing black culture into mainstream America?

lesson:
“Here”: Managing Peer Pressure and Anxiety

Grades: All Ages, Elementary 4-6, High, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Social Emotional Learning

In what ways does Alessia Cara’s “Here” defy popular music conventions, and what does the song say about peer pressure in youth culture?

lesson:
Everyday Heroes: Beyoncé and United Nations World Humanitarian Day

How might Beyoncé's song “I Was Here” inspire people to serve their community and make a positive impact on the world?

lesson:
Heroes and Mortals in “Something Just Like This”

Grades: All Ages, AP/Honors/101, Elementary 4-6, High, Middle
Subjects: ELA

Who are the gods and superheroes referenced in “Something Just Like This,” and what are the connections between them?

lesson:
“See You Again”: How We Mourn with Music

Grades: All Ages, AP/Honors/101, Elementary 4-6, High, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Social Emotional Learning

How does music help us remember people we are close to, or those we have lost?

lesson:
The Latin Rhythms of “Despacito”

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Middle
Subjects: General Music

What Latin American genres inspired Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s hit song “Despacito”?

lesson:
Who is “Us” in P!nk’s “What About Us”?

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History

Who is the ‘us’ in P!nk’s song “What About Us?”

lesson:
Fame and Judgement in “Funny”

Grades: AP/Honors/101, Elementary 4-6, High, Middle
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History

How might Tori Kelly’s song “Funny” speak to the potential pitfalls of “superstardom,” and how does it relate to past songs written about the subject?

lesson:
“Glory” and the Continuing Civil Rights Movement

Grades: High, Middle
Subjects: Civics, Social Studies/History

How does Common and John Legend's “Glory” signal Civil Rights movements of the past and the present?

lesson:
Making Music Videos with a Homemade Projector

Grades: Elementary 4-6, Middle
Subjects: CTE, Science, STEAM

How can one reproduce the effects seen in the music video for Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey’s song “The Middle” using a homemade projector?

lesson:
Celebrating Community with Art and Poetry (Elementary School Version)

Grades: Elementary 4-6
Subjects: Art/Design, Social Emotional Learning

What different types of communities exist, and how do the people in our communities impact us?

lesson:
Celebrating Community with Art and Poetry (High School Version)

Grades: High
Subjects: Art/Design, ELA, Social Emotional Learning

What different types of communities exist, and how do the people in our communities impact us?