February is my favorite month to teach, and it’s just around the corner. The reason is because February is Black History Month. This is when I focus primarily on Folk music, Jazz, Blues, and Rock and Roll. If you are interested in devoting the month to Black music history, here’s a list of resources to pull from. They will make your classes more interesting and you might learn a thing or two as well (as I did).
DVDs:
Ken Burn’s: Jazz
This amazing 10-part series covers everything a classroom music teacher needs to teach the history of African-American music. Starting from the early days of slavery and the creation of the “Spiritual”, it takes the viewer all the way up to the Jazz created in the 60’s. I especially love the disc about Swing, because my students get so into the dancing.
Martin Scorcese Presents: The Blues, A Musical Journey
The thing I liked most about this series was the real footage. Some of the film clips date all the way back to the early days of film making. Watching the prisoners in their stripes while working on the railroads is fascinating for my students when I teach them about “work songs”. This series is also good for illustrating the difference between city blues and country blues.
Follow the Drinking Gourd
This is a great movie for all ages, especially kids. It’s animated, narrated by Morgan Freeman, and based on the children’s book which is based on and named after the old spiritual. This movie is great for illustrating the creation of the African American Spiritual. Based on the song that gets credit for teaching slaves about the path to the underground railroad, students love to hear about how song was used to create a secret language for slaves in the south.
BOOKS
Jazz ABC by Wynton Marsallis
This is a beautiful book with great illustrations and easy to read descriptions of Jazz music and musicians. I’m planning on using it in my high school classes, but I think it would be great for all ages.
I’m not including any song descriptions. I figure you already know a lot about that. But I will include a few of my favorite songs titles to include in any black history month curriculum:
Strange Fruit, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, When Will I get to Be Called A Man?, Follow the Drinking Gourd, Go Down Moses.
Please post any other ideas you have. What are your suggestions for books, DVDs, or songs?
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.
Beethoven's Black violinist, George Bridgetower (1780-1860) premiered the Bridgetower Sonata with the composer. After a disagreement between the two, the work's name was changed to the now-famous Kreutzer Sonata. Among the first composers of string quartets in France was Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), a violinist and conductor as well. During the French Revolution he was Colonel of 1,000 volunteers of color who served bravely under his leadership. A total of 51 Black composers and musicians are profiled at my website, where over 100 audio samples can be heard. I am confident students will be significantly enlightened and inspired to learn of these distinguished classical artists of color.
by William J. Zick — Mon Feb 4, 2008 @ 9:07 am
by Michelle P — Mon Feb 4, 2008 @ 12:00 pm