Learn History Through Rock-and-Roll

     "Rock-and-roll is a uniquely American art form.  We receive emotional information as well as intellectual information from it."

     So says Steven Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.  In fact, he is working with the National Association of Music Education to develop curriculum that ties the music genre to our nation's history.  He implies traditional music programs (choir, band, and orchestra) aren't all that's needed to demonstrate the importance music has played upon American culture.

     Would students take this curriculum seriously, though?

Comments

[Rachel Webb]

I'm a history nerd, but I think the classes where I came to understand the most about American history and culture and how we became the country we are were actually the music and art history courses I took.

When I took the Jazz, Pop and Rock class at MU, it was an interesting and engaging class, but it was no cake walk.

It was actually extremely informative to discuss the impact of popular music and expression on our culture, and conversely to understand how our culture, history and politics influenced that expression. Studying the full history of rock and roll takes you back to the days of the minstrel shows. It takes you back to Jim Crow. It takes you back to Selma. It takes you away from sterile government documents and helps you understand history as it happened in America's living rooms, cafes and workplaces.

I'm not saying that we should throw out our history textbooks. And I'm not saying that with the requirements of NCLB that Van Zandt is going to get very far, but it can be valid and challenging.