Curated OER
Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson - Lesson 1
Appeal to your music lovers with this lesson. Middle and high schoolers listen to and describe music from contrasting styles. They identify the common elements between gospel and bluegrass music and have a class discussion regarding the...
Curated OER
Geography and World Music
Students are able to demonstrate the ability to identify, contrast and compare the music of different places and regions, and the ability to recognize music as a resource for information about places and regions.
Curated OER
B-A-N-J-O: A Bluegrass Version of Bingo
Students explain the history and relevance of the following instruments in bluegrass music: fiddle, guitar, dobro, banjo, mandolin and stand-up bass.
They identify the defining characteristics of each bluegrass instrument and participate...
Curated OER
Star Quest
Seventh graders follow a "star map" of websites to locate information about legendary stars of bluegrass. They use the information to answer worksheet questions and write paragraphs as directed. They demonstrate their knowledge by...
Curated OER
Musical Tapestry
Students explore the terms and structure of a bluegrass tune. They participate in a listening exercise that will challenge them to identify specific elements within a bluegrass musical arrangement.
Curated OER
Writing Lyrics
Learners examine the themes and structure of a bluegrass song and identify the common themes in bluegrass music. They practice songwriting by rewriting the lyrics of "Oh! Susanna" as a bluegrass tune.
Curated OER
Planning a Bluegrass Festival
Students explain how bluegrass music gained popularity across the country and around the world. They describe the roles of artists, patrons and music organizations in producing bluegrass music festivals. In addition, they
use a variety...
PBS
Pbs: American Roots Music
If teaching a unit about the history of popular music in America, this PBS web site supporting their four-part TV broadcast of a few years ago would make a great resource. Includes lesson plans and oral histories too.
Other
Banjo Tablatures
This comprehensive site covers many aspects of bluegrass banjo music. It includes bluegrass news, information, history, trivia, and multimedia. Also includes lesson plans for banjo, sample tablatures, bibliographies, workshops, and...
Other
The Bluegrass Guitar Homepage
Source of information about the acoustic flat-top guitar and the playing styles used in bluegrass music. Recommendations for instructional materials to learn to play; history of Doc Watson, discussion areas, links.
Other
Hardanger Fiddle Association of America
This Hardanger Fiddle Association of America site gives a brief history of the Hardanger Fiddle as well as those who play it.
Other
The Flatt and Scruggs Preservation Society: Earl Scruggs
This site from The Flatt and Scruggs Preservation Society gives a detailed biography of the North Carolina native, Earl Scruggs. As a legendary banjo player, scruggs had many accomplishments including making bluegrass what it is today.
Other
Bluegrass Net
A complete online music site that contains bluesgrass lyrics, news, festival information, and links.
Other
Folk Lib Index: A Library of Folk Music Links
Contains many links to information relating to folk music. The links go to artists pages, music genres, articles and folk music venues.