Though music permeates our lives, the basic “language” of music is often misunderstood. While music can be consumed without its knowledge, understanding what music is, and how it is produced, can profoundly enrich the experience of listening, moving it from a passive to a more active endeavor. This Study Unit begins with the smallest …
Though music has been a part of the American cultural fabric since its inception, prior to the mid-19th century, the idea of marketing music to the masses was an undeveloped one. This Study Unit explores the early roots of folk music and classical music in America and how each influenced the arrival of the …
The primary goals of folk music in the 19th century were utilitarian in nature: to entertain, inform of current events, and give expression to religious fervency. However, in the early 20th century, music created by the common man in the 19th century was collected, recorded, and documented for preservation. About the same time, folksong writers …
With its roots in the folk music of the Appalachian mountain states, country music has grown to find an evergrowing foothold in American musical culture. Through many sub-genres and variances in instrumentation, country music has evolved for almost a century. During that time, it has broadened to incorporate the sound of western music, popular, rock, …
Emerging first from the culture of New Orleans, then expanding throughout the world, the musical style of jazz has had a lasting impact on cultures as diverse as America, Japan, India, South Africa, and France. Beginning with the concepts of improvisation and swing rhythms, this Study Unit follows the history of jazz through various eras, geographical …
Behind the styles of folk, rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, and country & western music is the style of blues. Each of these styles have felt the passion and heartache of the blues during their early years of birth. Their pioneers were well-versed in the structure, melodic and harmonic characteristics of the blues, and utilized the …
In the years following WWII, a new demographic emerged in American culture: the teenager. This arrival helped set the stage for a new musical language: rock ‘n’ roll. This Study Unit traces the first decades of rock ‘n’ roll – from its rhythm & blues and country & western roots – in the 1950s through …
From the streets of American inner cities evolved a culture that was eventually called “hip-hop” and a music which was to be known as “rap”. This study unit traces the music and the culture from the early days of “scratching” and “break-dancing” through the Golden Age, the East Coast/West Coast rivalries, into the mainstreaming of …
The American stage form known as “musical theatre” descended from early American, British, and European musical stage forms. This unit explores the beginnings of music on the American stage in the 18th century, through the stage spectacles of the 19th century, and into the modern era of musical theatre. During the 20th century, major …
An Overview
Ch. 1: Understanding Pitch
Ch. 2: Understanding Musical Pulse
Ch. 3: Understanding Volume
Ch. 4: Understanding Tone
Ch. 5: Understanding Melody
Ch. 6: Understanding Harmony
Ch. 7: Understanding Rhythm
Ch. 8: Understanding Bass
Ch. 9: Understanding Countermelody
Ch. 10: Understanding Structure
Ch. 11: Understanding Instrumentation
Ch. 12: Understanding Tempo
An Overview
Ch. 1: 19th Century: Pre-Foster
Ch. 2: Folk Music by the People
Ch. 3: Popular Music in its Infancy
Ch. 4: Stephen Foster – “Father of American Popular Music”
Ch. 5: The Importance of Stephen Foster
Ch. 6: Scott Joplin – “King of Ragtime”
Ch. 7: The Player Piano – Automated Music
Ch. 8: John Philip Sousa – “The March King”
Ch. 9: John Philip Sousa – Recording Artist and Activist
An Overview
Ch. 1: John Lomax – Recording American Roots Music
Ch. 2: Woody Guthrie – “Father of Modern American Folk Music”
Ch. 3: Leadbelly & Pete Seeger: End of the First Wave
Ch. 4: The Kingston Trio – Beginning of the Second Wave
Ch. 5: Joan Baez – “First Lady of Folk Music”
Ch. 6: Peter, Paul & Mary – Balancing the Message
Ch. 7: Robert Zimmerman – The Beginning of an American Icon
Ch. 8: Dylan in New York City
Ch. 9: Dylan after Newport
Ch. 10: The Importance of Dylan
Ch. 11: Folk Music in the 21st Century
An Overview
Ch. 1: The Roots of Country
Ch. 2: Bristol Beginnings
Ch. 3: The Grand Ole Opry
Ch. 4: Cowboys and the Movies
Ch. 5: Western Swing
Ch. 6: Bluegrass: Hillbilly on Caffeine
Ch. 7: Honky-tonk: Merging Two into One
Ch. 8: The Nashville Sound: Country-Pop
Ch. 9: Rockabilly – Country meets R&B
Ch. 10: Country Feminists Find Their Voice
Ch. 11: The Bakersfield Sound
Ch. 12: Austin “Outlaw” Country
Ch. 13: Neo-Traditionalists at the end of the 20th Century
Ch. 14: Mainstreaming Country in the ‘90s
Ch. 15: Redesigning Country in the 21st Century
An Overview
Ch. 1: What is Jazz?
Ch. 2: Before It Was Jazz
Ch. 3: Jazz is Born!
Ch. 4: Early Jazz Musicians
Ch. 5: Louis Armstrong
Ch. 6: Chicago and Harlem – Hub of 1920s Jazz
Ch. 7: Big Band – Jazz Swing!
Ch. 8: Big Band Musicians and Singers
Ch. 9: Jump Blues and Bop
Ch. 10: Cool Jazz
Ch. 11: Hard Bop
Ch. 12: Free Jazz – Breaking the Rules
Ch. 13: Fusion – The Jazz-Rock-Funk Experience
Ch. 14: Third Stream and World Jazz
Ch. 15: New Age & Smooth Jazz
Ch. 16: Summary – Jazz Lives!
An Overview
Ch. 1: Blues – The Granddaddy of American Popular Music
Ch. 2: Where Did the Blues Come From?
Ch. 3: What Are the Blues?
Ch. 4: How to Build the Blues
Ch. 5: Classic Blues – The Early Years
Ch. 6: Delta Blues – Authentic Beginnings
Ch. 7: Blues in the City – Migration and Power
Ch. 8: Blues in Britain – Redefining the Masters
Ch. 9: Contemporary Blues – Maturity and Respect
Ch. 10: The Relevancy of the Blues Today
Ch. 1: Timelines, Cultures & Technology
Ch. 2: Pre-Rock Influences
Ch. 3: Rock is Born!
Ch. 4: Rock is Named
Ch. 5: Doo-Wop
Ch. 6: Independent Record Labels
Ch. 7: Technology Shapes Rock ‘n’ Roll
Ch. 8: The Plan to Mainstream Rock ‘n’ Roll
Ch. 9: Payola – Rock ‘n’ Roll’s First Scandal
Ch. 1: Crafting Sound in the Studio/Producers and Hit Songs
Ch. 2: West Coast Sound: Beach, Surf, and Teens
Ch. 3: The British Invasion: Two Prongs – Pop & Blues
Ch. 4: Motown and the Development of a Black Pop-Rock Sound
Ch. 5: Soul Music: Gospel and R&B in the Deep South
Ch. 6: The Sounds of Bubble Gum Pop-Rock
Ch. 7: The Arrival of Folk-Rock
Ch. 8: Psychedelic Rock ‘n’ Roll
Ch. 9: Early Guitar Gods of Rock
Ch. 10: Rock Festivals: The Rise and Fall of Music, Peace, and Love
Ch. 11: Anti-Woodstock and Shock Rock Movements
Ch. 1: Technological Breakthroughs
Ch. 2: Electronic Dance Music
Ch. 3: Hip-Hop & Rap – An Introduction
Ch. 4: The Beginnings of Rap
Ch. 5: Old School Rap – Up From the Streets
Ch. 6: Rap’s Golden Age
Ch. 7: East Coast – Political Rap
Ch. 8: West Coast – Gangsta Rap
Ch. 9: The Fragmentation of Rap – Pop, Party & More
Ch. 10: Further Fragmentation – Different Directions
Ch. 11: The Importance of Rap
Ch. 1: Musical Stage Productions in America before the 1800s
Ch. 2: Minstrel Shows and Melodramas
Ch. 3: Stage Presentations in the Late 19th Century
Ch. 4: Early 20th Century: Revues and Operettas
Ch. 5: The Arrival of the Modern American Musical
Ch. 6: Great Partnerships in Book-Musicals
Ch. 7: Musical Theatre Composers in the mid-Century
Ch. 8: Fresh Voices on the Stage in the 1960s
Ch. 9: Two Dominant Forces at the End of the Century
Ch. 10: New Voices at the End of the Century
Ch. 11: New Voices, New Sounds in the New Century
Ch. 12: Musical Theatre Glossary
Ch. 13: Is it “Theatre” or “Theater”?
Study Units also have “Playdecks” – containing hundreds of chronologically organized audio examples of music in the study units, and “Study Qs” for unit chapters.