Bandslam

This short 3-minute video introduces students to Genre with the cast of BANDSLAM. Use it with the Bandslam Activity 2 “Understanding Music Forms” to create a complete lesson that’s fun, hands-on and unique!

In this video, the cast of BANDSLAM explores how songs and songwriting employ poetic devices like rhyme, metaphor and simile. Aly Michalka of the pop duo Aly and AJ discusses her own songwriting process and challenges students to write their own song. Use this video with the entire BANDSLAM Educator Guide, or as a unique accompaniment to a Creative Writing or Language Arts lesson.

This video offers students an introduction to music recording with the cast of BANDSLAM and a real life sound engineer. It asks students to research how many people work on one individual song. Use it with the BANDSLAM Educator Guide Activity 6 “Revolutions in Recorded Sound” or as a fun accompaniment to your own unique lesson plan.

The complete Ed Guide featuring all 6 fantastic activities:

“It Starts with a Song”

“Understanding Music Forms”

“Music Epicenters/New York City”

“Spotlight on the 1970s/Be a Music Critic Like Will”

“Culture Shock: 1950s-2000”

“Revolutions of Recorded Sound”

“It Starts With a Song:” An introduction to the history of American Songwriting, and a fill-in-the-blank activity page.

“Understanding Music Forms” offers an in depth description of several prominent music forms (otherwise known as genres). The activity page asks students to compare and contrast different forms of music with Rock & Roll.

“Music Epicenters” invites students to explore how music and genre has a geography. It uses New York City as an example of how different neighborhoods and cultural environments can birth different genres and cultural movements. The Activity page asks students to research other music epicenters and the genres and movements that were created there.

“Spotlight on the 1970s” is an activity that encourages students to describe, compare and contrast the different genres of music that were popularized in the 1970s.

“Culture Shock: 1950-2000” explores how different genres of music can affect the pop culture of its day. The activity pages invite students to compare and contrast different genres and their cultural impact.

“Revolutions in Recorded Sound” offers a history of Recorded Sound with ‘How It Works’ sections that explain how each different technology functions.