Black History Series Part 1: Learning Black History through Music

February 5, 2019 David Childs Black History Month, Democracy & Me Blog, Lesson Plans 60

By Dr. David Childs, Ph.D.
Northern Kentucky University

A critical component in the success of the American democratic project is to embrace the diversity within the United States and its history. In this way, we can celebrate our differences, seeing diversity as a strength and an asset. Black history month is an opportune time to do so, in that it is a time to reflect upon and celebrate the complex history of African Americans in the United States. The study of Black history is a multi-faceted, varied and deeply complex subject. African American history is American history, in the sense that Black folks have been an integral part of United States history from its inception. One of the most commonly explored and researched aspects of African American history is slavery in America. Another topic that is explored often is the Civil Rights movement. Even though these aspects of Black history are of the utmost importance and have played a critical role in shaping history, other aspects of African American history must also be explored. A major back drop and cultural thread through every era of Black history has been music. It is important to understand how it has shaped Black culture and also how Black culture has been shaped by music. Music created by African Americans (Black music) is varied and complex, coming in many shapes and sizes. Indeed, African American music is a very broad phenomenon that describes a wide range of musical styles and genres.

Black music was shaped by historical conditions that was a response to a variety of emotions including happiness, joy, suffering, disappointment, despair, exhilaration and pain. Early black music from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was shaped by the terrible conditions and hardships brought on by slavery. The songs that were birthed from slavery were spirituals, work songs and folk songs. After the Civil War many African Americans became employed as musicians playing European classical music. When black musicians blended African culture and rhythms with the European classical music they developed the ragtime style of music. Ragtime would eventually become jazz; both forms of music are distinctly American, but specifically African American. Other styles of music stemming from African cultural roots included the blues and gospel, which led to more contemporary genres such as soul, rock and roll, rhythm and blues and hip-hop. Historic music from certain eras help us understand the way of life during the time it was developed.

Classrooms can come alive when teachers incorporate the rich reservoir of African American music that can now be easily accessed via a computer and the Internet. Below we share a wealth of musical resources that allow readers to explore the wide variety of music genres in black cultural history. We also include lesson plan ideas on how music can be incorporated into classroom curriculum in creative, effective and meaningful ways.

Lesson Plans

Lesson Ideas

Using spirituals to teach about African American slavery and the Civil War
Teachers can use Negro spirituals to teach about the challenges and hardships of slavery. Teachers can use the Internet to locate the words to the songs to accompany the videos, allowing students to do a text analysis of the lyrics. Students can write about the mood and tone of the songs, the religious themes, historical content, melancholy subject matter and even double meaning of the songs. Students can identify the time period in which the song was written and situate it historically, to tie it in to lectures, text book readings and primary source documents.
Hip-hop and the urban Black experience
Students can use various hip-hop songs to highlight the struggle of the urban poor and African Americans in the late twentieth century to present. Thousands of song lyrics are readily available for free on the Internet to supplement the music videos to allow students to take a closer look at the meaning behind the songs. Hip-hop is a great resource for language arts and social studies teaching because many artists address complex social, political, economic and historical issues such as poverty, abortion, racism, drugs and broken families.
Using the blues and gospel music to teach Black history
Teachers can use the blues and early gospel music to teach about southern rural black culture from the early twentieth century. Classrooms can address all sorts of topics such as the share cropping system, rural poverty, racism, southern cuisine, black families and even popular music as it relates to black musicians in the early twentieth century.

Sample Lesson Plans
Lead Belly and His Legacy of Southern Song- Lesson Plan
Blending African and Irish Sensibilities in Virginia’s Music
Songs, Sounds, and Stories from the Georgia Sea Islands A Smithsonian Folkways Lesson
The Vocal Blues: Created in the Deep South of the United States A Smithsonian Folkways Lesson
African American Music: Let’s Sing and Play Clapping Games A Smithsonian Folkways Lesson
African-American Gospel Music Lesson Plan
The History of Hip-Hop: Fresh Air Features Interviews with Some of the Greatest Names in Hip-hop

Please click on any of the links below to explore the various song selections in each genre.

Spirituals
Marion Williams – Mean Old World
Jubilaires- Noah
Black Delta Religion
Hold On” (Negro Spiritual)
Been In The Storm So Long [Full Compilation]

Ragtime
Maple Leaf Rag Played by Scott Joplin
Ragtime Piano : Scott Joplin “The Entertainer ” (1902)
The Definitive Jelly Roll Morton – Ragtime & Early Sounds from New Orleans
Scott Joplin – Ragtime (Full Album)

Jazz
Louis Armstrong – West End Blues 1928
Charlie Parker – I’ve Got Rhythm (Best jazz ever)
Charlie Parker – Anthropology
Miles Davis – So What
Blue in Green by Miles Davis
Herbie Hancock – Cantaloupe Island
John Coltrane – Equinox (Original)
John Coltrane – A Love Supreme [Full Album] (1965)

Work Songs
Negro Prison Songs / “Rosie” 1947
Work Songs in a Texas Prison

Blues
Etta James – I’d Rather Go Blind
Etta James – At Last
BB King on Ralph Gleason’s Jazz Casual 1968 Part 2
Howlin’ Wolf “Smokestack Lightning” Live 1964 (Reelin’ In The Years Archives)
Mississippi John Hurt – You Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley (Live)
Lonnie Johnson – Another Night To Cry
Muddy Waters, Memphis Slim, Willy Dixon, Otis Spann et al – Bye Bye Blues
Leadbelly – House of the Rising Sun
Lead Belly – “The Gallis Pole”
Lead Belly – Midnight Special
Leadbelly – Three Songs 1945 – The Only One Video File with Leadbelly
BB King Called This His Best Performance
Skip James- Hard Time Killin’ Floor Blues
“Devil Got My Woman” by Skip James
Lightin’ Hopkins pt 1
Soundies: Black Music from the 1940s
Robert Johnson- Crossroad

Gospel
Sister Rosetta Tharpe – This Train
Five Blind Boys of Mississippi “Lord, You’ve Been Good To Me” 1965 (Reelin’ In The Years Archives)
Mightly Clouds of Joy- I’ve Been in the Storm Too Long
The Soul Stirrers – “I’m a Soldier”
“Something’s Got a Hold of Me” (1959)- James Cleveland
The Swan Silvertones – Saviour Pass Me Not
The Swan Silvertones – Only Believe (Live)
Mahalia Jackson ~ How I Got Over
Donnie McClurkin- I’ll Trust You

Early Twentieth Century African American Music
Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come (Official Lyric Video)
Chuck Berry – Johnny B. Goode (Live 1958)
Little Richard Long Tall Sally – Tutti Frutti
Chubby Checker – Let’s Twist Again (lyrics)
Harry Belafonte – Banana Boat Song (Day-O)
Stand By Me, Ben E King, 1961
Little Eva – Loco-motion (1962)
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Hey Joe Live
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Foxey Lady (Miami Pop 1968)
Jimi Hendrix Live Full Concert 1969 Amazing Clear Footage
Jimi Hendrix “Wild Thing” 1967-05-11

Female Black Groups
Be My Baby – The Ronettes – 1963
The Shirelles Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow

Ray Charles
Ray Charles – Hit the Road Jack!
Ray Charles – (Night time Is) The Right Time
Ray Charles – What’d I Say Pts.
Ray Charles – Unchain My Heart HQ
Ray Charles – Drown In My Own Tears
Ray Charles – Drown In My Own Tears
Ray Charles – Hard Times
Ray Charles – I Believe to My Soul

Temptations
Temptations – I wish It Would Rain
Temptations – My Girl & Get Ready – (1965-66)
The Temptations Papa Was A Rolling Stone 1972 Single Version

James Brown
James Brown – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag Live 1965 (Remasterted)
Say It Loud, I’m Black & I’m Proud-James Brown
James Brown – Say It Loud, I’m Black And I’m Proud / If I Ruled The World (1968)
James Brown- The Famous Flames 1964
James Brown performs “Please Please Please” at the TAMI Show (Live)
James Brown – “Cold Sweat” (part 1 & 2)
James Brown – Out of Sight 1965 (Remastered audio)

Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean Live First Time Moonwalk
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Official Music Video)
Michael Jackson – Beat It (Official Video)

Funk Music/Early R and B
The Chi-lites “Have you seen her”
George Clinton – Atomic Dog [Atomic Mix Long Version]
One Nation Under A Groove – Funkadelic (1978)

Hip-Hop

References
The History of African-American Folk Music Understanding the Multi-genre Influences to American Folk Music
History of Ragtime
African-American Music
History of Jazz
Roots of African American Music
The Evolution of African-American Music
Howling Wolf Biography

Rachel Sherry
May 30, 2019 at 10:09 pm

I think learning about black history through music is a great idea. It’s so fitting for this topic as well because like it brought up in the article, if you think back to a long time ago when there was slavery black people used music and songs to express themselves which was one of the only ways they could. So, in many of their songs we can figure out their views on things and how they see their everyday lives. Music is also something everyone enjoys so it can make learning the topic fun.

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Dana Roberts
May 24, 2019 at 12:48 pm

I think music is one thing that we all have in common and is easily displayed in all cultures. The ideas set forth in this article show us how music truly is used as a form of expression in the African American culture and in other cultures as well. The ideas of using music as a history lesson can be very encouraging and provide a different avenue for learning. For me, I love music, and had I had a teacher who used music as an avenue of teaching me about American History, I may have enjoyed doing so and been more successful in school. I had the opportunity to take a Music History class in college and absolutely loved it. I think we can all agree that music is a great form of expressionism.

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Hannah Christine Staubach
March 13, 2019 at 5:10 pm

I think music is such a vital part of everyone’s lives but especially for growing students. From my experience in the classroom, I have seen that students light up when music is played for them. I love the idea of incorporating music created by African Americans into the classroom. This article also showed me the great amount of music that stemmed from African Americans. Such as,ragtime, which lead into jazz, and the blues and gospel, which led to more contemporary genres such as soul, rock and roll, rhythm and blues and hip-hop. I also loved that this article provided a lesson plan for teachers that incorporates music into the classroom. As a future teacher, I’ll definitely use this as a resource in my classroom.

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Caitlyn Watt
March 5, 2019 at 9:41 pm

I was interested in reading this article because I have a love for music and going through school my teachers would often use music to teach and I have always wanted to do that as well. I like how through the given lesson plans the different ways that I can incorporate historical music into my future classroom. When I am listening to music or music is being played in the classroom the atmosphere can be completely changed. This change is often causing the classroom to change into a positive environment and gives a welcoming and engaged learning feeling. I also enjoyed this article because I have listened to many of these songs before, even in some of my classes. Music is also a way for teachers to draw upon student experiences or feelings and connect students to that time period of music.

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Mike Prather
March 5, 2019 at 6:51 pm

this was a great passage. it made me look at the fact that black music is just as diverse now that it was then. the black community represented their thoughts feelings and other forms of expression in many different musical forms. it is interesting to think that there was so much pain and suffering that these songs are able to spread over a variety of different media in representing the message. this is also important because it is a first representation that black people think similar to white people and feel just like others. This will eventually help to bridge the gap to where we are now to where we were then.

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Allison Weyman
March 5, 2019 at 6:35 pm

This article is eye-opening to an aspect of culture that nearly everyone is exposed to and is taken for granted- music. Decades in American culture are even defined by the style of music that was prominent in popular culture during the time. The lesson plans provided are a great way to engage students in the aspect of culture that we are so often exposed to while engaging them in the historical context of the music.This is a very relatable method that will gain student interest while also expanding their personal cultural perspectives.

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Brittany Gardner
March 5, 2019 at 5:29 pm

I really love this article because it is so true – much of African American history shows through in the music they created. Music in the classroom is also a great resource because it’s interactive, and it’s something that all students can relate to in some sense. If I had been able to focus on elementary school levels, I most likely would have gone into music education, so I love the idea of incorporating any sort of musical interaction into my instruction – and this is one of the mot perfect ways to do so because of the rich culture that comes with it.

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Hunter Pracht
March 5, 2019 at 5:49 am

Music has been and will always be an essential part of peoples lives and cultures. This is a big reason why I believe incorporating it into the classroom is can make a difference. Music can open doors to connections and relationships with and among students. Not only can music encourage relationships, but improve student learning as well. In this context, during black history month allowing students to become aware of the music and the history behind it allows students to build on a better understanding of what was happening during a specific time period in African American culture. Music gives the writer the opportunity to express feelings, tell of an experience, or share a story and the listener with the opportunity to empathize and understand those same feelings and experiences as well. Even just the overall idea of music in education can set the mood or transition of the day to make a more lasting influence on how students respond and promotes students learning and engagement as a whole.

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Danielle Smith
March 4, 2019 at 2:37 am

Music is one of my favorite incorporations in the classroom. I think music is a great introduction or hook to a lesson. Music can increase engagement because most students have heard music in some form or another. Music is overall relatable for every student. Not only is music relatable, but it carries meaning to specific cultures. For example, if teaching a lesson about African American culture, a discussion can be had about what jazz meant and the historical attributes to the root of jazz and R&B. Another example would be Native American culture. Playing a traditional Indian song and showing the corresponding dance to signify the meaning of the song can show a stronger correlation of the culture.

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Abigail Schlagel
March 3, 2019 at 12:02 am

Using music in the classroom is a great way to increase engagement and help students remember important content in general. It can be especially important when teaching students about African American history. Music is an important part of any culture. Music, as stated in the article, will include important information about the culture. Having students listen to the music can help them learn about the culture and thus the history.

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