Overview
The lessons below offer a guitar-focused exploration of the history of Rock and Roll, and have been curated to allow guitar performance classes to meet prevailing state standards in English Language Arts and Social Studies. They may work equally well as part of a general music course, or as a way to reach out to that student in class who is passionate about guitar and seemingly little else. The collection begins with the invention of the electromagnetic pickup, the electrification of guitar, and the development of the electric guitar as a dominant symbol in Rock and Roll. The lessons also examine how different approaches to the guitar have defined genres like Surf Rock to Heavy Metal, and how innovators like Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Link Wray, and Jimi Hendrix created pathways to entirely new styles and genres.
Lessons
lesson:
The Impact of the Electric Guitar
How did the electrification, amplification and design of the guitar facilitate its emergence as a dominant instrument of popular music?
lesson:
The Birth of the Electric Guitar
How did the electric guitar transform Blues music from the 1940s forward?
lesson:
The Rise of the Electric Guitar
What factors led to the rise of the electric guitar as the dominant symbol of Rock and Roll?
lesson:
The Musical Roots of the Surf Sound
What is the Surf sound and where did it come from?
lesson:
The Roots of Heavy Metal
What are the musical and cultural roots of Heavy Metal?
lesson:
Bo Diddley: The Grandfather of Hip Hop?
How were Bo Diddley’s recordings an anomaly in relation to 1950s Pop music, and how is his rhythm-driven sound and self-presentation a precursor to Hip Hop style?
lesson:
Chuck Berry
Why is Chuck Berry often considered the most important of the early Rock and Rollers?
lesson:
The Indigenous Roots of Rock and Roll
What does Link Wray’s biography say about how Native Americans lived in the first half of the 20th century, and what role did Wray’s upbringing have on his music?
lesson:
Jimi Hendrix: Introducing Hard Rock
In what ways did Jimi Hendrix help create a new "Hard Rock" sound while retaining a connection to the Blues and R&B of his past?