Red Room: Music That Changed The World

We will start our tour in the 1930’s and 1940’s during the era of swing. Swing music started its rise in popularity after the Great Depression. During the 1930’s swing could be heard on records and the radio and had reached every city in America due to the amount of traveling around the U.S. the bands did. The swing era is considered by many to have been a cultural revolution where clothing, dancing and even speech changed to fit into the mold of the day. Jitterbug dancing also became hugely popular during the swing era. Popular artists included Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald (http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/hist409/swing.html, 2011).

Week 1 Sub Theme Objectives

1. Know the history behind the swing era including societal changes that were occurring at this time that may have contributed to the development of the music.
2. Be familiar with at least 2 musicians from the swing era.
3. Have created a piece of artwork inspired by the music of the swing era.

During week 2 we will continue on our tour of some of the greatest music eras in history. Week 2 will shift focus to the music of the 1950’s and the birth of rock and roll. There is an ongoing debate between music historians as to when the birth of rock and roll actually occurred. Some will cite it as being as early as the 1930’s while others claim that rock and roll wasn’t truly born” until the 1950’s. If you look at societal changes that influenced music (i.e. technology) you may come to the conclusion that technology and popular culture coincided to produce this new kind of music in 1948 (http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/1/1948-and-the-birth-of-rock-and-roll-music, 2011). Needless to say, with it rock and roll brought a whole new era of young culture which translated into new styles of dress, dance and speech.

Week 2 Sub Theme Objectives

1. Know the history behind the “ of Rock & Roll” including societal changes that were occurring at this time that may have contributed to the development of the music.
2.  Be familiar with at least 2 musicians from the rock roll era of the 50’s.
3. Have created a piece of artwork inspired by the music of the rock roll era of the 50’s.

Week 3 brings with it another musical adventure! Our tour continues onto the 1960’s, the Woodstock age. Music began to change and evolve at an incredible rate after the 1950’s. With the Woodstock age came many new and different approaches to music. It was during this time when the “ ritish Invasion” of American music occurred. However there were many other genres of music being created during this time as well such as: Motown Music, Classic Rock and “Message Music.” During the Woodstock age each of these genres developed their own unique sound and image contributing to the perceived chaos of this time in history.

Week 3 Sub Theme Objectives

1. Know the history behind the Woodstock age including societal changes that were occurring at this time that may have contributed to the development of the music.
2. Be familiar with at least 2 musicians from the Woodstock age.
3. Have created a piece of artwork inspired by the music of the Woodstock age.

During week 4 students will be ending their musical tour with the hip hop generation. Hip hop music developed as a “hip hop” culture began to emerge during the 1970’s. Hip hop is defined by four distinct elements: rapping, scratching, sampling and beat boxing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_music). Hip hop has evolved over the decades from Old School hip hop to New School hip hop to the Golden Age of hip hop. Each transition brought with it a new way of approaching this genre of music, however it is the hip hop of the 1990’s that caused hip hop to finally become an integral part of popular music. From this point on many American songs would contain components of hip hop for generations to come.

Week 4 Sub Theme Objectives

1. Know the history behind the hip hop generation including societal changes that were occurring at this time that may have contributed to the development of the music.
2. Be familiar with at least 2 musicians from the hip hop generation.
3. Have created a piece of artwork inspired by the music of the hip hop generation.

Dance (1st grade-level)

3.4 Identify where and when people dance

Music

3.4 Use developmentally appropriate movements in responding to music from various genres and styles (level K)

4.2 Describe how ideas or moods are communicated through music (1st grade-level) 5.2 Identify and talk about the reasons artists have for creating music (level K)

Music of the Month:

Music from Different eras in the 20th Century

Color:

Recognition & Primary vs. Secondary