Podcasts about k-12 arts education

As black slaves toiled in the fields, they often sang to communicate with each other and pass the time. These work songs, spirituals, and field hollers formed the basis of blues music as it became an important sound of the American South in the early 20th century. In the 1930s, faced with extreme poverty and laws that discriminated against and segregated them, thousands of African Americans migrated to northern cities, taking the blues with them— where both the songs and the singers adapted to their new urban environment. ArtsEdge, the Kennedy Center's arts education network, supports the creative use of technology to enhance teaching and learning in, through, and about the arts, offering free, standards-based teaching materials for use in and out of the classroom, media-rich interactive experiences, professional development resources, and guidelines for arts-based instruction and assessment. Visit ArtsEdge at artsedge.kennedy-center.org.

Blues musicians who moved north tailored their music to reflect their new urban surroundings. Acoustic guitars gave way to electric; drums and standup bass rounded out the sound. This "new" blues had a huge impact on modern music - influencing early rock and roll artists like Elvis Presley and 60s British artists like the Rolling Stones. Today, the innovative adaptations of the blues can be heard in the music of artists as diverse as Cat Power and Gnarls Barkley.

Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of blue notes—a note that is sung or played at a lower pitch than the rest of the song that gives the blues its characteristic, often sad sound. The lyrics usually have a predictable rhyme, and the music also has a repetitive pattern that typically follows a twelve-bar structure. While the blues may tackle serious subjects, it also brings joy to the singer and audience.

In this selection, Schwartz discusses the influences that Leonard Bernstein had on him, beginning with their collaboration in 1971 on the Mass that opened the Kennedy Center.

Stephen Schwartz's college experience.

Stephen Schwartz discusses how he began working with Disney and elaborates on the differences between writing for the theater and writing for the movies.

Get to know the musical beginnings of the aspiring composer.

In this insightful selection, Schwartz takes you through the genesis, adaptations, and final version of this Wicked hit song.

Stephen explains how he learned of the book, Wicked by Gregory Maguire, his quest to convert it to a musical and collaboration with librettist, Winne Holzman.

Stephen Schwartz discusses and performs Chanson, from The Baker's Wife.

Stephen Schwartz discusses and performs "Corner of the Sky" from Pippin.

Stephen shares the development of Pippin and advice from the legendary Hal Prince.

Texas has a rich tradition of troubadours—singer-songwriters who write, compose, and sing original songs. Grounded in the folk music tradition, singer-songwriters are recognized for their meaningful lyrics about real-life subjects as varied as social justice and family, war and love. Fueled by a strong sense of Texan identity and tried-and-true imagination, Texas songwriters tend to have a keen sense of place, revealed in the visual details of their lyrics. Texas troubadours Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clarke ushered in the Texas singer-songwriter movement of the 1970s with poetic, emotional lyrics and music shaped by country, blues, folk, and tex-mex. Today's troubadours are also greatly influenced by Willie Nelson's outlaw country music, a grittier version of the popular country music that was coming out of Nashville at the time. Backed by a tradition of independent spirit and grounded in multicultural roots, Texas singer-songwriters continue to imbue classic musical genres with new experiences and sounds.

Texas blues originated in the early 1900s alongside the sweat and tears of Blacks working on oilfields, lumber camps, and ranches. After a day of back-breaking labor, workers could unwind in nearby bars or on their own porches and listen to blues musicians who spoke to their own experiences. The Texas sound is known for being more relaxed than other blues styles, with breathier vocals and a swinging feel. Bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson put Texas on the blues map with his jazzy improvisation and percussive way of playing the guitar. Jefferson's technique of picking along a single string and hammering out repetitive figures in the lower register influenced generations of musicians. After World War II, blues went electric. With the advent of the electric guitar came increased volume and resonance—a sought-after sound among recording studios in northern U.S. cities. Although many musicians migrated north to join the booming recording industry, the blues still thrives in Texas today.

In 1920s rural Louisiana, ten cents granted admission to hours of rollicking music at a "La La" house party. La La party music—characterized by the use of accordions, fiddles, triangles, and washboards or rub-boards called frottoirs—formed the basis of zydeco. The French-speaking Creoles of southwest Louisiana added elements of blues and jazz to the party mix. The result was zydeco, a musical style dominated by the accordion, frottoir, and heavy syncopation (a rhythmic technique of shifting accents to weak beats). Accordion player and singer Clifton Chenier was credited with naming this musical genre. After a long history of hits like "Zydeco Sont pas Sale," Chenier was dubbed the "King of Zydeco." Zydeco is often linked with Cajun music, but it has a harder, faster sound and employs more electric instruments. In dance halls today, elements of soul, disco, rap, and reggae can be heard among the rhythms of the frottoir.

Follow behind a parade in New Orleans and you'll still be a part of the show. Whether a parade was organized for a celebration or funeral, honorees and others in the main procession would be followed by a "second line" of participants hoping to get closer to the rhythms of the brass bands. The term "second line" would come to be associated with brass band music and the fancy footwork that accompanies it. New Orleans has a long tradition of brass bands, dating back to the early 20th century. Consisting mostly of brass instruments like trumpets and trombones and percussion, brass bands played a blend of European military band music, African folk music, and jazz. The brass band tradition experienced a revival in the 1970s and 1980s when bands like the Rebirth Brass Band and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band laced traditional sounds with funk, hip hop, bebop, and R and B.

Louisiana-based Cajun music has roots in unaccompanied, narrative ballads brought by European settlers. Sung at weddings and funerals as well as informal parties, these ballads told stories of love and death, humor and nostalgia. Cajun songs, traditionally sung in French, fused narrative balladry, Irish and Anglo-American reels and jigs, and Black and Native American folk traditions. The earliest instrument that typified Cajun music was the fiddle. In dance halls and house parties called fais-do-dos, two fiddlers performed together-the lead playing melody, the other playing back-up. The powerful accordion sound soon joined the twin fiddles along with percussion inspired by Creole music. In the 1930s and 1940s, steel guitars, mandolins, and banjos entered the scene, bringing a country-western swing to Cajun music. (This strong country influence differentiates Cajun music from the closely aligned zydeco music.) The Cajun bands of today are incorporating electric guitars and amplified instruments, proving that the Cajun sound is continuing to evolve.

In the early 19th century, the fertile delta of northwest Mississippi gave rise to a thriving cotton industry. As White cotton planters turned profits, Blacks toiling in their fields turned to singing and hollering to lighten their load, pass the time, and communicate with each other. Early Mississippi Delta blues songs reflect Southern Blacks' struggle to cope with racial oppression, illiteracy, and poverty. As worksongs grew in length and complexity, blues music moved from the fields to juke joints. Musicians like Charley Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson accompanied their harsh, raspy vocals (sometimes spoken rather than sung) with powerful, driving rhythms on the guitar or harmonica. The Delta blues style continues to be characterized by raw vocalizing and rhythmic intensity. In addition, Delta blues musicians often employ slide techniques, meaning they move a glass or metal tube called a slide along a guitar's strings to change the notes.

In the 1600s, African-born slaves in the United States were prohibited from playing-or even possessing-musical instruments. Regardless, the plantation fields still swayed with music as Blacks sung a capella (without instruments) to the rhythms of work. Slaveowners strove to Christianize their slaves, and many Blacks sympathized with the struggle of Jesus and found comfort in the hope of heaven. Slaves were forbidden from gathering, but conducted religious services in secret. At these meetings, informal worksongs evolved into intricate songs of redemption, struggle, and Christian faith that came to be known as "spirituals." The multi-part harmonies of these spirituals set in motion a long tradition of Black choral music. In the late 19th century, Harry Burleigh-a protege of Antonin Dvorak-took the musical style to new heights with choral arrangements informed by his classical training. Modern choral music takes on many different forms, and is often accompanied by the piano, percussion, and bass.