February is Black History Month. This is an excellent oppurtunity to teach your students some history of American Music. Our own American music style goes back to the days of slavery when Africans carried over their own folk music and merged it with the European classical and folk music that was brought here by the white folks. This is an awesome opportunity to teach a little history in your lessons.
I grew up in the southern part of the US, and Black History Month was always a very important time in our schools. Because of this, I grew up singing and playing many important songs from the pre-civil war era as well as the jazz age. I’ve compiled a list of songs you might want to consider teaching your kids this month, in honor of this special time:
Spirituals
“Follow the Drinking Gourd” (also presents an opportunity to teach about music’s role in social change)
“Go Down, Moses”
“We Shall Overcome”
“Eyes on the Prize”
“Mary, Don’t You Weep”
Jazz
“Strange Fruit”
“Bye Bye Blackbird”
“Lullaby of Birdland”
Modern
“What’s Going On?”
“Redemption Song”
“Lift Every Voice and Sing”
About the Author
When I was just a college Junior, I started teaching private guitar lessons in order to support myself. I was in a rock band, writing songs and performing on a regular basis, and I certainly did not plan on becoming a teacher. My plan was to graduate, get a job in social work, and just continue writing songs. Teaching surprised me. I ended up falling in love with the act of guiding a student from point a to point b. To watch someone go from knowing nothing about a subject, to simply performing in a recital, is such an awesome thing. I ended up scrapping that social work idea. I was doing more good as a teacher, minus the intense stress that most social workers go home with. I currently have a busy program that teaches private guitar, piano, and voice lessons in Los Angeles homes. I am also the creator of the music and service blog 38 Ways to Change the World Through Music.
by Ronnie — Tue Feb 2, 2010 @ 10:45 am
by Michelle Payne — Tue Feb 2, 2010 @ 11:05 am