Week 10

African influence on "American" music


Music from Africa - especially West Africa - arguably has influenced the modern music industry and forms of popular music in the US more than music from any other world area. This is in part because of the transatlantic slave trade; slaves brought to the US from West Africa brought with them their music traditions, which in turn formed a cornerstone for "American" styles of music like the blues, jazz, R&B, rock, hip-hop, etc. This is so influential that we're spending a week on "African influences on 'American' music."  

You'll notice some crossover this week with topics we've covered in previous weeks. This week, focus on the ways that the music styles we learned about then are influenced by music styles and practices we learned about last week from Africa. 

The Lesson

Click each title to link to material, click each drop-down arrow for a description.

Once again, there are less options than usual in the lesson so that you can explore them in-depth. Please explore the information in the e-reader, at least two of the videos, and preferably something from the blues site, even if you explored it previously. You don't need to go through everything in the e-reader, but please choose one section to read in-depth. 

There are three sections of the e-reader related to this lesson. The link above will take you to the main page. At the bottom of that page are two sub-sections: “African Traditions in Early African-American Genres” and “Evolution and Hybridization of African American Music.” I’m not expecting you to read everything, but at least skim all three sections and choose one to read in-depth. 

Much of our music industry is tied to Black history, largely due to migration and evolution of music through the transatlantic slave trade. Slaves - largely from West Africa - brought their musical traditions (such as call and response, as we learned last week) to the US. Aspects of music from their homelands created the cornerstone of much of the modern music industry. Think of how music evolved and migrated because of slavery: Slaves might sing while loading cotton onto a ship, a sailor hears them, incorporates their song into a sea chantey on board the ship, and then everyone on board that ship disperses at a new port, taking bits of the song with them. It is important to understand that music we listen to exists in part because of that dark piece of history. The modern music industry would be a LOT different otherwise. 

I'm including three videos here. Plan to watch at least one. Any of the things mentioned in these videos could make up a whole lesson.

The blues...Again

In Unit 2 we learned about the blues. If you missed it, I highly recommend checking out the resources on the PBS Blues Classroom, linked in that lesson and again here. 


For those who wanted to learn more about reading music: 

The section of the PBS Blues Classroom called "Understanding the 12-Bar Blues" (linked here) is a great introduction to the 12-bar blues form. Listen to the song mentioned - "Dust My Broom" performed by Elmore James (link included in the blues classroom article) - to get a sense of how that 12-bar format works. Those three chords and the order they are played in serve as a musical road map; when you're driving or even taking the MTA, a map shows you how to get from destination to another. Similarly, the 12-bar blues form shows you how to get from the beginning to the end of the chord progression used in many (but not all) blues tunes and some jazz music.

If you play an instrument and would like to learn to play the blues, feel free to reach out. This is one of my favorite musical forms to teach. 

Video: Call & Response Jazz Dispute

Last week we learned about call and response. It's fairly easy to identify call and response when there are words in music; one person "calls" and another "answers," such as when a performer sings something and someone else repeats it or sings something else. Here is an example of Cab Calloway using call and response in his famous tune, "Minnie the Moocher."

But...did you know call and response also happens in music without vocals? Here is a great example from the jazz bebop tune "Leap Frog" by saxophonist Charlie Parker. In this video, comedian Jeremiah McDonald personifies the musical conversation happening between Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and, if you watch long enough, even drummer Buddy Rich. I love this video because of how clearly it shows how instruments can create a call and response conversation. It's like the instruments saying "How are you? "I'm okay, how are you?" etc. and making music by listening and responding to one another. I hope you like it!

tasks this week: 

Week 10 Quest: Soundwalk

It's easy to go through our days staring at our phones. It doesn't help when we get a notification, interrupting our focus on whatever we were doing. This week's quest is a chance to unplug. Many of you requested strategies for managing burnout, stress, & anxiety. A soundwalk is one activity that can help us refocus.

Note: A few of you specifically requested strategies for processing everything happening in the world. This activity is not for running away from or ignoring events and situations, but refocusing our buzzing brains and giving ourselves a moment of calm, so we can better process information we choose to consume when we return to social media, news outlets, etc. Our brains and eyes need breaks from information consumption, for our physical and mental health. 

Instructions:
1. Turn your phone on airplane mode (or at least on silent) and put it somewhere you can't see and preferably can't feel it, such as a backpack. Why?  When we see or feel our phones (even if you feel it in your pocket or see it on a table), research suggests our attention is partly focused there (this is why it's good to put a phone away when you're eating, instead of putting it on the table next to you). Here is a 2-min. NPR story summarizing a series of experiments on how the distance a phone is away from us affects our focus. 

2. Choose an outdoor area where you feel safe and go for a walk for at least 15 min. Pay attention to the sounds around you. What story do the sounds tell you about the area, the time of year, the people who live there, etc.? Really focus on what you hear and the stories behind those sounds. Are there birds? Tree leaves? 

3. Fill out this form (a different form than usual!) after your soundwalk. 

Complete by Sunday, 11:59 PM