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If the vocal track is the heart of a song, the rhythm track––the beat––is its body. It is the sonic element that taps into the most primal part of us and makes us want to move.
Four on The Floor breaks the beat down, and examines the endless experimentation that has taken place at its core, the very bedrock of all music. Charting the progression of the beat from drum and bass to beatbox and beyond––from Little Richard and James Brown to disco and EDM
lesson:
The Beat as an Object of Celebration and Concern in Segregation-Era America
Grades: High
Subjects: General Music, Social Studies/History
How has “the beat” been an object of both celebration and concern in the history of popular music?
lesson:
Rhythm as a Representation of People and Place
How does “the beat” of popular music reflect the histories of multiethnic populations and places?