Ok, here's the thing. I want my kids to have a good musical education. We have a computer program that teaches Music Theory. My dh plays guitar & is trying to teach dd how to play (though getting her to practice is a bit of a fight). My mom recently gave us her piano & once we can afford to have it tuned & fixed, we hope to find a teacher for both the kids. We have materials dealing with teaching how to sing (I sang throughout most of school, but in all those years all they ever taught me was "Use your diaphram."). My problem is finding something for Music History & Appreciation. I can't seem to find anything that goes beyond the classical composers. DD has already studied Classical music; writing biographies on the composers & listening to their works. She's also spent some time studying early Folk music, Patriotic songs, and an intro to Jazz. We want to cover as much of music as we can. My plan was to study different genres, choosing a few of the more prominent musicians from each genre. She would do a bio on the musicians & listen to some of their music as well as other music from the genre. The problem I'm having, is that I don't know exactly how to go about this, how deep to go into each genre, or which musicians to study from each genre. So, I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions, ideas, or advice. What do you use or do for Music History & Appreciation? Which genres do you cover & why? Which, if any, genres do you avoid covering, and why? There's no problem with our kids being exposed to a wide range of music. Our music collection contains Classical, Blues, Rock (many of the sub-genres), Metal (some of the sub-genres), Country, Native American Music, Jazz, Folk, Christmas, Comedic, Irish & Scottish Celtic music, Industrial, Alternative, a little rap (though I don't know if we'll cover that one), and technically some Pop music. However, I'd like to do more than just expose them to the many different genres. I'd like them to know something of the style of music - the origins & influences, the music it influenced, etc. I welcome any advice, suggestions, or ideas you may have. TIA.
Ems takes piano and violin lessons. The music books she uses have a lot of information about the composers, when a song was written, and sometimes how or why a song came about. We also study the composers and style of music. We enjoy going to musicals which also opens doors to other areas in performing arts. Personally, I am a folk music junky. I love negro spirituals as well. I got hooked on them a while back.
IIRC the History channel did a series of specials on the history of various kinds of music. You might want to check out their website and look for the videos on google video or at the library.
I was looking at a course last night but couldn't find the composers listed - but it looked ok at first sight... Saw it at http://www.lamppostpublishing.com/music-history.htm
