lesson:
Funk Asserts Itself
How did 1970s Funk respond to African-American life in the decade following the Civil Rights movement?
lesson:
Rhythm as a Representation of People and Place
How does “the beat” of popular music reflect the histories of multiethnic populations and places?
lesson:
Artists Protest McCarthyism
How were musicians and artists affected by McCarthyism in 1950s America?
lesson:
Music and Political Movements
How did Sixties Soul help give voice to the Civil Rights movement?
lesson:
Divergent Paths in the 1990s: Gangsta Rap and Conscious Hip Hop
How did Gangsta Rap and Conscious Hip Hop respond to the social and political conditions of the 1990s?
lesson:
Latin Music in Postwar New York City
How did the growth of New York City’s Latino population in the 1940s and 50s help to increase the popularity of Latin music and dance in American culture?
lesson:
Punk as Reaction
How was Punk Rock a reaction both to the commercialization of Rock and Roll and to the social climate in late 1970s Britain?
lesson:
How to Study Rock and Roll
How can teachers help students analyze and understand Rock and Roll?
lesson:
The Blues and the Great Migration
How did the Great Migration spread Southern culture, helping to give the Blues a central place in American popular music?
lesson:
The Blues: The Sound of Rural Poverty
How do the Country Blues reflect the challenges of sharecropping, racial injustice, and rural poverty in early 20th-century African-American life?
lesson:
Dan Penn
How did black artists and white songwriters and musicians interact in the Soul era, and what contributed to that interaction?
lesson:
The Evolution of Sound Recording
How did multitrack recording technologies enable musicians to create a form of music that could only be realized in the studio?
lesson:
Multitracking in the Countercultural 1960s
How did The Beatles’ use of cutting edge recording technology and studio techniques both reflect and shape the counterculture of the 1960s?
lesson:
The Beat as an Object of Celebration and Concern in Segregation-Era America
How has “the beat” been an object of both celebration and concern in the history of popular music?
lesson:
Sampling: The Foundation of Hip Hop
How is the re-use and re-purposing of existing music at the heart of the Hip Hop recording experience?
lesson:
Reagan and the Cold War: A Document-Based Question
Did President Ronald Reagan’s Cold War policies serve to heighten or to reduce tensions with the Soviet Union?
lesson:
Learning Rhythm through Gospel
How can Gospel music help students identify the musical concepts of beat, meter, backbeat, subdivision, and syncopation?
lesson:
100 Years of Dance
Why might people dance, and how have dance trends changed in America since the 1920s?
lesson:
Making Music Videos with a Homemade Projector
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:
The Gospel Origins of “Chain of Fools”
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:
Celebrating Community with Art and Poetry (Elementary School Version)
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)
What different types of communities exist, and how do the people in our communities impact us?
lesson:
“Hound Dog” and 1950 Race Relations
How does the story of “Hound Dog” demonstrate music culture’s racial mixing as it differed from mainstream American life in the 1950s?
lesson:
The Beatles and American Segregation
How did the Beatles take a stand against segregation while touring America? And what did it mean for popular music culture?
lesson:
World War II and the Shrinking of the Ensemble
How did wartime restrictions and other factors cause popular music ensembles to shrink in size during the 1940s, helping to set the stage for the small “combos” of Rock and Roll?
lesson:
Glam: The Return of the Teenager
How was Glam Rock part of a new teenage culture in the 1970s?
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:
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:
From the Stage to the Studio
What caused The Beatles to cease touring in 1966 and how did the innovative music they then created during their subsequent immersion in the recording studio both reflect and influence the world at that time?
lesson:
The Birth of the Microphone
How did the development of microphones in the 20th century change the way people make and listen to music?
lesson:
Producing the Sounds of a Changing South
How did the recordings Sam Phillips produced at Sun Records, including Elvis Presley’s early work, reflect trends of urbanization and integration in the 1950s American South?
lesson:
Sound Waves, Analog Synthesis and Popular Culture
How did synthesizers allow musicians to create new sounds and how did those sounds reflect American culture throughout the 20th century?
lesson:
Debating Dylan’s Nobel Prize
What are the arguments for and against Bob Dylan receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature?
lesson:
The Musical History of the Cajuns
How did the Acadians, or Cajuns, use music and dance to maintain their communal bonds after being displaced during the French and Indian War?
lesson:
Debating Cultural Appropriation
What is cultural appropriation, how does it affect Native American communities, and should it be regulated by law?
lesson:
The Banjo, Slavery, and the Abolition Debate
What is the relationship between the banjo and slavery, and how did music making by slaves influence the abolition debate during the 18th and early 19th century?
lesson:
Singing Democracy During the Second Great Awakening
What was the Second Great Awakening, how did it change American society, and how does Sacred Harp singing exemplify its ideals?
lesson:
Designing Album Covers with Color Theory
What is the science behind color theory, and how is it used in fashion and album cover design?
lesson:
Muddy Waters, the New Kid in Town
How did Muddy Waters’ music change after he moved to Chicago, and what does that say about the relationship between place and self-expression?
lesson:
Sun City: A Musical Force Against Apartheid – Part 1
What was South African apartheid, and how did musicians unite to challenge it?
lesson:
MTV and the Disruption of Gender Norms
How did MTV help create a visual space in which artists could, inadvertently or not, challenge established ideas about gender?
lesson:
The Cassette Tape Offers New Possibiliies
How did the cassette tape change the audience’s experience by allowing the listener to record, compile and disseminate music?
lesson:
Recording and Producing the Voice
How have singers responded as advances in studio recording techniques have enabled increased technological “perfection”?
lesson:
How Records and Radio Shaped American Culture
How did changes in the technology of record manufacturing effect popular music, radio, and the people who consumed both?
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 Ethics of Sampling
What makes a work of art “original,” and how does the use of “sampling” technology in Hip Hop challenge perceptions of “originality”?
lesson:
The Many Roles of a Music Producer
What does a music producer do and in what ways does one hear the sound of a producer’s work in recordings?
lesson:
The Beatles, a New Kind of Star
How did The Beatles establish a new paradigm for the image of "the star," and how did that image support their global success?
lesson:
The Leadership Skills of a Music Producer
How do successful music producers practice positive leadership skills?
lesson:
The Teamwork Behind the Beatles
How did the input of manager Brian Epstein and record producer George Martin help The Beatles develop and refine skills that aided the band in presenting their music and personalities to a mass audience?
lesson:
The Beatles and Teen Culture
How did the Beatles’ image as a “rock band” affect young people in America?
lesson:
The Beatles Work Towards Success
How did The Beatles' rigorous work schedule during the years 1960-63 build their strengths as performers, as musicians, and as a band?
lesson:
The History of Music Videos
How has the relation between sound and image shifted through the history of recorded music, and how did the rise of MTV bring that relationship to a culmination of sorts?
lesson:
Singer-Songwriters and the Environmental Movement
How did the singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 70s address the concerns of the environmental movement?
lesson:
Radio Before Rock and Roll
How did radio influence American life in the years before the birth of Rock and Roll?
lesson:
Thematic Lesson: Love Songs
Why is the Pop song such a common medium for expressing feelings about love, and how do individual songs relate to their historical moments?
lesson:
The Music of the Civil Rights Movement
How did popular music reflect the values of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and help the movement convey its message?
lesson:
Birth of the American Teenager
How did teenagers become a distinct demographic group in the 1950s?
lesson:
Liverpool: The Birthplace of the Beatles
How did growing up in post-WWII Liverpool influence the Beatles?
lesson:
Considering the Future of Rock and Roll
How is Rock and Roll's power, at least in part, a result of its being born on the margins of society?
lesson:
Rock and Roll Goes to the Movies
How did movies help to introduce Rock and Roll culture to mainstream audiences in the 1950s?
lesson:
Dion and the Teen Idols
What role did the so-called "teen idols" of the late 1950s play in bringing Rock and Roll into mainstream American culture?
lesson:
Rock and Roll and the American Dream
What is the American Dream and how did Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash personify its ideals?
lesson:
Folk Music, Rock and Roll Attitude
How did Bob Dylan’s early experiences with Folk and Rock and Roll music influence his songwriting?
lesson:
Elvis and Race in 1950s America
How did Elvis Presley’s early career reflect race relations and racial tensions in mid-1950s America?
lesson:
The Rolling Stones: Giving America Back the Blues
How did the early Rolling Stones help popularize the Blues?
lesson:
Mainstream Metal, Parental Advisories, and Censorship
How was Heavy Metal involved in the 1980s controversy surrounding the creation of parental advisories for “offensive” music?
lesson:
The San Francisco Scene, 1967
Why did nearly 100,000 young people descend upon San Francisco in 1967 for a “Summer of Love"?
lesson:
The Rise of the “Girl Groups”
Were the Girl Groups of the early 1960s voices of female empowerment or reflections of traditional female roles?
lesson:
Dancing the Twist on Television
How did teen dance shows and the Twist influence American culture?
lesson:
Female Singer-Songwriters in the Early 1970s
What did the success of the female Singer-Songwriters of the early 1970s reveal about the changing roles of women in the United States?
lesson:
The Impact of 1960s Antiwar Music
How did antiwar protest music provide a voice for those opposed to the Vietnam War?
lesson:
The Rise of Black Pride
How did Social Soul reflect a new vision of African-American identity in the late 1960s and early 1970s?
lesson:
The Roots of Progressive Rock
How did Progressive Rock’s incorporation of classical traditions and countercultural values help to forge a unique Rock genre in the late 1960s?
lesson:
The American Blues in Britain
In what ways did American Blues affect English musicians in the early 1960s?
lesson:
The Emergence of Folk Rock
What is Folk music? To what extent did Folk Rock sustain the spirit of Folk music?
lesson:
Introducing New Wave
What did Punk Rock provide that opened the door for New Wave acts? And what are some among the defining attributes of New Wave?
lesson:
Introducing Glam Rock
How was Glam Rock a reaction to the "seriousness" of popular music at the time?
lesson:
The Influence of Rhythm and Blues
What did R&B bring to early Rock and Roll, and how was early Rock and Roll different?
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?
lesson:
The New York City Underground
How did New York bands interact with the city's art scene to create something new?
lesson:
Seventies Soul: The Soundtrack of Turbulent Times
How did changes in the Soul music of the early 1970s reflect broader shifts in American society during that time?
lesson:
The Roots of Country Rock
How did Country Music influence Rock and Roll and the musicians who made it?
lesson:
Italian-American Vocalists Before Rock and Roll
How did the careers of Italian American vocalists in the first half of the 20th century reflect the experiences of Italian American immigrants and attitudes toward them in the wider American culture?
lesson:
The Vietnam War: A Document-Based Question
In what ways and to what extent did the Vietnam War change American culture, society, and values?
lesson:
Chuck Berry
Why is Chuck Berry often considered the most important of the early Rock and Rollers?
lesson:
Rhythm and Blues Hit the Airwaves
How did Dewey Phillips and Hunter Hancock help bring Rhythm and Blues music to mixed race audiences?
lesson:
The Sound of Blue Collar Detroit
How did Rock and Roll serve as an expressive tool for the working-class youth of Detroit?
lesson:
The Birth of the Electric Guitar
How did the electric guitar transform Blues music from the 1940s forward?
lesson:
The Memphis Sound and Racial Integration
How has Memphis music culture provided one example of art’s capacity to challenge the racial boundaries that have so often structured American life?
lesson:
Car Culture in Postwar America
How did car culture intersect with and inspire Rock and Roll?
lesson:
Soul Music and the New Femininity
How did Aretha Franklin represent a new female voice in 1960s popular music?
lesson:
“Praying” and the #MeToo Movement
In what ways might Kesha’s legal battle and her song “Praying” reflect larger issues present in the #MeToo movement?
lesson:
Mining and Union Songs in the Early 20th Century
How do Nimrod Workman’s songs and stories about his life as a coal miner illustrate the struggles of working class people during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era?
lesson:
The Sound of the Suburbs
How did the music of the Beach Boys reflect the suburbanization of postwar America?
lesson:
The Latin Rhythms of “Despacito”
What Latin American genres inspired Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s hit song “Despacito”?
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:
The Music Behind the Red Power Movement
What was the Red Power movement, and what role did Folk and Country music play within it?
lesson:
Negotiating Native Identity through Art and Music
How have Native American musicians and visual artists negotiated their identity, and what role does physical space play in these negotiations?
lesson:
Indigenous Music from Wounded Knee to the Billboard Charts
In what ways did the music of Native Americans mark them as outsiders from the developing narratives of “American-ness” in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and how did the federal government attempt to use music as a tool to force assimilation?
lesson:
Heroes and Mortals in “Something Just Like This”
Who are the gods and superheroes referenced in “Something Just Like This,” and what are the connections between them?
lesson:
Sun City: A Musical Force Against Apartheid – Part 2
What was South African apartheid, and how did musicians unite to challenge it?
lesson:
Confronting the Climate Crisis
How can society lower the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere?
lesson:
Little Kids Rock Charts: “Hound Dog”
How does understanding the structure and context of the song "Hound Dog" inform its performance?
lesson:
“Here”: Managing Peer Pressure and Anxiety
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:
“Twist and Shout” and Post-War Britain
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
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:
Little Kids Rock Charts: “Blowin’ in the Wind”
How does understanding the structure and context of the song "Blowin' in the Wind" inform its performance?
lesson:
Little Kids Rock Charts: “Chain of Fools”
How does understanding the structure and context of the song "Chain of Fools" inform its performance?
lesson:
Little Kids Rock Charts: “Twist and Shout”
How does understanding the structure and context of the song "Twist and Shout" inform its performance?
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:
“See You Again”: How We Mourn with Music
How does music help us remember people we are close to, or those we have lost?
lesson:
Designing a Band Logo
What is a logo, what are the elements of effective logo design, and how have musicians and bands used logos to brand themselves?
lesson:
Fame and Judgement in “Funny”
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:
Ritchie Valens (Elementary School Version)
How did Ritchie Valens meld traditional Mexican music and Rock and Roll?
lesson:
“Seneca Falls, Selma, Stonewall”: The Stonewall Riots in the Fight for Equality
What were the Stonewall Riots, and what role did they play in ongoing struggles for LGBTQ+ equality in the United States?
lesson:
Art, Music, and the AIDS Epidemic
How did the LGTBQ+ community creatively respond to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s, and protest government inaction in addressing the epidemic?
lesson:
The Journey to Marriage Equality in the United States
How did same-sex marriage become legal in the United States?
lesson:
The Science and Civics of the Flint Water Crisis (High School Version)
What is the Flint water crisis, and why did it occur?
lesson:
The Science and Civics of the Flint Water Crisis (Elementary/Middle School School Version)
What is the Flint water crisis, and why did it occur?
lesson:
“Y’all Better Quiet Down”: Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ Pioneers
How did Black and Latinx people in the LGBTQ+ community take initiative in the Stonewall Inn rebellions, Gay Liberation Movement, and in the preservation of LGBTQ+ history?
lesson:
Counterculture in the 1960s
How did the counterculture movement of the late 1960s challenge traditional American behaviors and values, and how did the Grateful Dead reflect these changing views of life and society?
lesson:
Singer-Songwriters and the Environmental Movement (Elementary Version)
How did the singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 70s address the concerns of the environmental movement?
lesson:
Beat Culture and the Grateful Dead
How did beat writers like Jack Kerouac influence the Grateful Dead’s music?
lesson:
Blues, Poetry, and the Harlem Renaissance
How does Langston Hughes’ Blues-inspired poetry exemplify the ideals of the Harlem Renaissance?
lesson:
Deadheads and Reagan’s America in the 1980s
Who are the Deadheads and how did their lifestyle contrast with the conservative values promoted by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s?
lesson:
Feeling the Vibrations
How did the Grateful Dead make their concerts more accessible to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) community?
lesson:
Loudspeakers, PA Systems, and the “Wall of Sound”
What is a PA system, how does it work, and how were the Grateful Dead pioneers in live sound technology?
lesson:
Third Wave: Women’s Rights and Music in the 1990s
What was Third Wave Feminism, why did it occur, and how did musicians address some of the movement’s demands?
lesson:
Jerry Garcia, Addiction, and Intervention
How can you help someone struggling with addiction?
lesson:
Debating the Apollo 11 Moon Landing
What was NASA’s Apollo program and why was it controversial?
lesson:
The Guitar: A Musical Transducer
How can the guitar help us understand the scientific principle of transduction?
lesson:
#BlackLivesMatter: Music in a Movement
How have musicians responded to the Black Lives Matter movement?
lesson:
Drawing to Music
How might visual artists use music as a tool for inspiration, and how might sound be reflected through art?
lesson:
New Perspectives on The Great Gatsby’s Daisy Buchanan
Does Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” help humanize Daisy Buchanan of The Great Gatsby?
lesson:
“Glory” and the Continuing Civil Rights Movement
How does John Legend and Common’s “Glory” signal Civil Rights movements of the past and the present?
lesson:
Cleaning up the Plastic Beach (Middle School/High School Version)
How is plastic made, how does it affect our marine environments, and how can plastic waste be eliminated?
lesson:
Cleaning up the Plastic Beach (Elementary School Version)
What is plastic, how is it harmful for the environment, and how can it be used more responsibly?
lesson:
The Civil Rights Movement: A Document-Based Question
In what ways did the Civil Rights Movement mark a turning point in United States history?
lesson:
Designing an Electric Guitar with Shapes
How can shapes be used to design an electric guitar?
lesson:
“Alright” and the History of Black Protest Songs
How have black artists throughout the 20th century used music to speak about racial injustice in America?
lesson:
Kanye and Katrina: Environmental Racism in New Orleans
What was Hurricane Katrina, and how did black Americans articulate the frustrations they felt in its aftermath?
lesson:
9/11: Country Music Responds
How did country musicians’ responses to the September 11th terrorist attacks speak to the feelings of the American people after the tragedy?
lesson:
What Walls Can’t Hold Back: Musical Resistance in Cold War Berlin
How did music help people resist what the Berlin Wall symbolized?
lesson:
Musical Reactions to the Vietnam War
How were American’s divisive opinions over the Vietnam War articulated by musicians in the 1960s and early 1970s?
lesson:
Exploring Shapes in Pablo Picasso’s “Guitar, Sheet Music, and Glass”
What shapes did Pablo Picasso use to create his piece Guitar, Sheet Music, and Glass and how can similar shapes be used to create other instruments?
lesson:
Distortion: The Sound of Rock and Roll’s Menacing Spirit
What is distortion, and how did it become a desired guitar effect in Rock and Roll?