Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Distance Learning - Schedule & Class Descriptions

On the Road

2007-2008 schedule and class descriptions

Cost: $100.00 per class
Each class includes:

Schedule:
Classes are available on demand.

Class Descriptions:
Ball of Confusion: Rock Music and Social Change in the 60s and 70s
Suggested grade level: 7-12
The history of rock and roll overlaps with some of the most turbulent times in U.S. history. In the 1960s and 1970s in particular, American society faced challenges stemming from the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, and the Women’s Liberation movement. During this time many people felt that the world was a “Ball of Confusion,” as described in lyrics of the popular Temptations song. This class features songs from the 1960s and 1970s and helps students identify ways that popular musicians have used messages of revolution, protest, and empowerment to question society, and effect change. Supplemental media includes recordings and videos of Hall of Fame Inductees.

Hip-Hop Technology: From Turntables to Computers
Suggested grade level: 4-12
Have you ever wondered how hip-hop producers develop their big beats? Have you ever wanted to know about the way music digital samplers or synthesizers are used in a song? This class shows students how music technology is an important part of hip-hop music and culture. It includes a live demonstration in which students help to create a new musical composition using the latest computer music software. Students also relate the musical techniques innovated in hip-hop production to larger social issues. Don’t miss this chance to learn about the creation of hip-hop music and culture and gain insight into the world of music technology and production.

Rock and Roll Reactions: Records, Radio and the Birth of Teenage Culture in 1950s America
Suggested grade level: 4-12
In the mid-1950s the rise of rock and roll prompted a range of reactions in American society. Teenagers fell in love with the music, listening to it on transistor radios and buying it in record stores on 45rpm records. Among their parents, however, many believed that this music was simply noise that had a negative influence on impressionable teens. No matter your position, it soon became clear that rock and roll was here to stay, bringing with it important changes. Young white and black audiences started to mix as they sought out the latest rock and roll bands. Teenagers openly rejected the values associated with their parents’ generation. In this class students will study the changes that took place in this remarkable era as they watch and listen to vintage performances by Hall of Fame Inductees such as Chuck Berry, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Hank Williams.

Ambassador to the Orchestra: The Arranger in Rock and Roll
Suggested Grade Level:  7-12
It often seems that the worlds of popular music and classical music are miles apart, drawing on different histories, different musical practices, and different instrumentation.  But the classical orchestra has played an important part in rock and roll culture.  Classically trained musicians such as Arif Mardin, George Martin, Van Dyke Parks, and Willie Mitchell became some of the most successful producers and arrangers in popular music, helping to bring the sounds of the orchestra into rock and roll.  In this class, students will listen to and examine the music of The Beatles, Al Green, Dusty Springfield, and U2, as well as viewing exclusive interview clips with arrangers.  The class concludes with an activity in which students help to arrange a piece of music using computer music software, after which they get to hear the results of their work.

Inductee Spotlight: Frank Zappa
Suggested Grade Level:  7-12
Frank Zappa was one of rock and roll’s sharpest musical minds and an astute social critic.  He bridged musical styles - rock, jazz, classical, and avant-garde - with masterful ease.  This class examines his music by focusing on the moments when these various musical styles merged, sometimes comfortably, sometimes with contention.  Students will explore Zappa’s music to see how he was able to bring his musical ideas into everything from rock and roll to full orchestral scores.  We will listen to examples from his rock music (Freak Out!), symphonic pieces (Orchestral Favorites), digitized extravaganzas for the Synclavier keyboard (Francesco Zappa), and satirical musicals (Joe’s Garage).  Special interviews with members of the Cleveland based group Red: An Orchestra help students to understand Zappa’s connections to the Western Classical tradition and composers such as Igor Stravinsky and Edgard Varèse.

Special Note: Teachers may select both Ambassador to the Orchestra and Inductee Spotlight: Frank Zappa as a two-class unit.  This allows your students to explore the connections between the world of popular music and the orchestra in even more depth.

Great Moments in Rock and Roll: Popular Music Through the Decades
Suggested Grade Level:  4-7 or 7-12
Take a journey through the second half of the twentieth century by exploring some of the great moments in rock and roll history.  Learn how Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees have used music to bring about important changes in the world around them.  Students will actively participate in discussions about shifting cultural values, conceptions of equality, and political activism.  The class is focused on key historical moments such as: Elvis Presley’s early national television appearances in 1956, the 1963 March on Washington, the 1969 Woodstock music and arts festival, the Ramones concert in London on July 4, 1976, the birth of MTV in 1981, and the fusion of rock and hip-hop in the 1986 video for “Walk This Way.”

And more to come…

On the Road


Little Richard's Black Jacket With Appliques

Photo by Design Photography