Social History of Rock & Rollsyllabus

Social History of Rock & RollSyllabus

Mr. Pietsch

Instrumental Music Director

Tahquitz High School

951.765.6300 ext 122

Fax: 951.765.6344

Course Description

Social History of Rock and Roll is a course for 9th,10th, 11th, and 12thgrade students. There are no pre-requisites and you do not have to be musically talented.

This course seeks to balance understanding the development and significance of Rock and Roll in its historical and social environment with maintaining a focus on listening to the music as the main mode of understanding. Through listening, analysis, discussion, music, and film students will explore the music and the culture and society of the day. Class assignments will be organized around song analysis, small group discussions, and in-class activities. The course begins with an overview of ancestors and influences: blues, boogie-woogie, jazz, swing, country & western, gospel and popular music, and the crossover success of rhythm & blues acts that marked the true birth of rock & roll. We will study the musical and social trends of the 1960s, including the influence of the British Invasion, which really signaled the arrival of rock’s second generation, the rock explosion and social upheaval of the late 1960′s, and the changes in Rock & Roll music during the seventies, eighties, and nineties. The course will culminate in an exploration of today’s current musical trends and icons including rap/hip hop.

There will be required reading assignments, music listening assignments, class discussions, reflections and multi-media presentations.This course reflects the belief that the TahquitzHigh School educational community fosters academic excellence and responsible citizenship in a positive, safe and respectful environment in order to develop productive contributors to society.

Topics Include:

The Blues, Rock-and-Roll, and Racism
Elvis and Rockabilly
The Teen Market – From “Bandstand” to Girl Groups
Surfboards and Hot Rods – California, Here We Come
Bob Dylan and the New Frontier
Motown – The Sound of Integration
The British Blues Invasion and Garage Rock
British Invasion of America – The Beatles
Folk Rock
Acid Rock
Fire from the Streets
Militant Blues on Campus
Escaping into the Seventies
The Era of Excess
Punk Rock and the New Generation
I Want My MTV
The Promise of Rock-and-Roll
The Generation X Blues
The Rave Revolution and Britpop
The Hip-Hop Nation
Metal Gumbo – Rockin’ in the Twenty-first Century
The Internet, Jam Bands and Three Shades of the Blues
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes

Student Expectations

Social History of Rock and Roll students are expected toenjoy learning about this material and to try and get an appreciation about this type of music, which is such an important part of your lives.

Here are some of the expectations that I have for you:

You are expected to take part in class discussions; nothing you have to say is wrong, and as such we will be respectful to each other at all times.
You are expected to do the reading assignments (see below). We will read the entire textbook, which is small, with a lot of pictures and only 390 pages. This amounts to an average for the year of about 2 pages per school night. This reading will be the basis for class discussion.
You are expected to do each song analysis (see below) assignment (there will be about 20 of these for the semester, approximately one per week.) This means listening to the song, reading the lyrics and completing a song analysis questionnaire. These will also be the basis for class discussion.
You are expected to do an oral presentation sometime near the end of the first semester.
Your final examination will be a longer oral presentation at the end of the second semester.

Important Course Considerations

Music, including rock and roll, affects behavior in both positive and negative ways
If we acknowledge that some aspects of Rock and Roll have good effects on society, we must also acknowledge that some aspects have bad effects.
Where is rock and roll headed in the future, louder? More sexually explicit? More outrageous?
Are all rock and roll musicians striving for success? How does that relate to being commercial?
Rock and Roll may be here to stay but individual artist and styles are not.
Rock is no longer counterculture, it is culture.
The audience for rock is getting both younger and older.
Not all music is art, much of it is just product – we will try and distinguish between the two.
Since lyrics are an important part of the course, we need to realize that some (but not the majority of) lyrics are objectionable. We need to keep this in mind as we choose, analyze and listen to music.
As we move through the history of rock and roll we find lyrics have become more explicit and deal with themes of sex, drugs, social and political Issues, violent behavior and suicide.

Course Objectives

The Student will be able to:

Answer the essential question: How has Rock & Roll reflected and been influenced by major social and cultural changes during the last fifty-five years?
To classify the subject of a song into cultural/social categories such as environment, peace/antiwar, sports, social upheaval, justice/injustice, civil rights, economics, gender roles in society, romantic love, sex, alienation, rock music, introspection, counter culture, etc…
To demonstrate an awareness of the major factors involved in the development of Rock and Roll from its roots to the present.
To acquire useful and relevant information by making connections between the artists and musical genres of yesterday and today.
To develop the necessary skills to gather further information about musical topics of interest.
To think critically about information sources, both primary and secondary, recognizing bias and viewpoint and separating fact from fiction.
To respect and appreciate one’s own musical culture and interests as well as those of others.
To develop an aural awareness of the changing sounds of Rock and Roll over time.
To recognize themes of violence, misogyny, and homophobia in music

Textbook

Current Textbook:–Pearson Prentice Hall – (Rockin in Time (7th Edition)byDavid P. Szatmary,Published July, 2009)

Internet Access

Email can be sent to me at . If you do not have Internet access, you will need to do some research in the school library or during the times that we are in the computer lab.

You are expected to bring the following materials to class every day:

-A binder with sections andlined paper

- A pen or pencil for jotting down notes
- Textbook -coveredat all times

General Classroom Behavior

You are expected to respect and value yourself, your school environment and the diversity of the THS community.
You are expected to contribute to classes and work cooperatively whenever the situation requires.
You are expected to come to class prepared and you are responsible for all missing work
Bullying of any kind is not permitted in this classroom
You are to be in your assigned seat when the bell rings. Otherwise you are late which may result in a being sent to OCR.
You are expected not to talk while I am speaking or interrupt while other people are speaking.
There will be no getting out of your seat or speaking without permission. If you want to speak or get of your seat during class, raise your hand and wait to be recognized.
There will be no leaving the room except for emergencies, which should not occur often.
If you need to leave the room, just take the pass and leave as quietly as possible.
Books should be covered at all times. If you lose your book, report it to me immediately.
The bell does not dismiss the class.
There is to be no foul language in class.
No eating or drinking(THIS INCLUDES GUM) in the classroom.
The Pass is to be used only in an emergency.

Semester Grading Policy

Your grade comes from point values assigned to tests, homework, cooperative group activities and projects. Triad grades will be calculated by dividing the total number of points that you have earned by the maximum number of points that you could have earned and calculating a percent. For example if you earned 600 points out of a possible 800 points, then you get 600/800 = 75%.

A90 -100

B80-89

C70-79

D65-69

F0-64

Weekly Song Analysis: 25%

Tests: 25%

Projects: 25%

Weekly Logs: 10%

Participation: 15%

Reading Assignments

You are expected to read the entire textbook over the course of the year. At the end of each chapter, there will be a written chapter test.

Song Analysis

You are expected to do two song analysis per chapter. That comes out to be about one every week to week and a half. An analysis consists of going to the or websites and listening to a song in the assigned time period, then completing a seven question form and attaching lyrics (edited for language). For Spotify you will need to create an account, if you have any questions I can show you how to do so. You may pick any song of the same time period by an artist in the chapter. For each chapter, you must choose two separate musicians. You cannot do the same musician for both song analyses.

First & Second Term Projects

Near the end of the first semester you are expected to give an oral presentation to the class using PowerPoint. There will be time in the computer lab for you to research and finalize your topic.You will choose an artist from a period in which we have studied and present their biography to the class. You must clear your artist with me ahead of time.

Make-up Work

If you miss a song analysis or a chapter test for any reason, you are expected to make it up or turn it in the day you return. If an assignment was given and due the following day you were absent, you will be given an extra day to make it up. Each day an assignment or test is late will result in 10% deduction from the earned score. For example, if an assignment is 2 days late and received a 94%, the final score will be 74%. Incomplete work, for any reason, will count as a 0.

Extra Help

If you are having trouble with any material, you are expected to seek extra help from me. I will be available after school in room 119 from Monday to Thursday and before school by appointment on any school day.

**Parents and students-please sign and return only the bottom portion of the syllabus to Mr. Pietsch by Friday August 16. This will be the first homework assignment.

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I ______(parent/guardian) and ______(student) have read the above syllabus and understand the requirements, expectations, and content for the course Music Appreciation-Social History of Rock and Roll.

Student Name: ______

Go to the following website and click on classes and go to “Social History of Rock and Roll” and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the syllabus.

(You can also just Google “Tahquitz High School Band”)

Student Name: ______

Go to the following website and click on classes and go to “Social History of Rock and Roll” and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the syllabus.

(You can also just Google “Tahquitz High School Band”)