I’m trying to find a way to teach the history of rock music to kids…?
November 102009
I’ll be dealing with up to about 8 kids that are between the ages of 7 and 12. I really want to lead them through an activity that describes the evolution of rock. I was thinking of just playing some famous rock songs in chronological order until we reach songs from the present day (we’d talk about the differences between the songs of the different periods), but I don’t want to bore them. It’s really important that they have fun. Any suggestions for a lesson plan?
Something interesting might be this:
Play something like "Diana" by Paul Anka. Tell your students that songs like this were made the traditional way…the orchestration was all prearranged and rehearsed before the actual recording session. The singing came in, took his/her position, and everyone did there thing together….but it was all predetermined beforehand.
Then….play an early Elvis Presley song like "Trying To Get To You", "Just Because", or "Blue Moon of Kentucky". Have the class pay attention not only to the style of music, but to the musical arrangement. They should notice it sounds a little "raw"…and not very prearranged. This was because Presley was the first artist to be allowed to come into the studio and produce his recordings in an "ad hoc" fashion…where everything was tried and decided ‘on the spot’ in a spontaneous way that became the norm for all recording artists after. The style that emerged because of Presley’s early work became the dominant style for recording "pop" music for many successful artists such as The Beatles, The "Motown sound", and just about anyone who came after.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:53 am
start by mentioning the $5 hookers and intravenous drug abuse thats what had me sold.
References :
November 10th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Something interesting might be this:
Play something like "Diana" by Paul Anka. Tell your students that songs like this were made the traditional way…the orchestration was all prearranged and rehearsed before the actual recording session. The singing came in, took his/her position, and everyone did there thing together….but it was all predetermined beforehand.
Then….play an early Elvis Presley song like "Trying To Get To You", "Just Because", or "Blue Moon of Kentucky". Have the class pay attention not only to the style of music, but to the musical arrangement. They should notice it sounds a little "raw"…and not very prearranged. This was because Presley was the first artist to be allowed to come into the studio and produce his recordings in an "ad hoc" fashion…where everything was tried and decided ‘on the spot’ in a spontaneous way that became the norm for all recording artists after. The style that emerged because of Presley’s early work became the dominant style for recording "pop" music for many successful artists such as The Beatles, The "Motown sound", and just about anyone who came after.
References :