The Radio Hour: BMIA


The Evolution of Black Music in America
(suggested Grades 8 - 12)

The year is 1922 and you are listening to the debut performance of Louis Armstrong with King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band, or you are jitterbuggin' to an R&B tune by Louis Jordan, you pick up your harmonica and play a tune under a big old poplar tree, or maybe today is Just Another Day with Queen Latifah.

The Radio Hour: BMIA (The Evolution of Black Music in America) is an exploration of the struggles and musical contributions of freed slaves through the development of the urban music. It's about great musicians leaving their mark on history just like the musicians we listen to today. Students learn that these songs were an expression of pain, joy, frustration and triumph from 1900-2000 and why. Students are asked to find connections between music and the culture, politics, and people of twelve different musical styles from Blues to Rhythm and Blues, from Disco to Hip Hop..

The Radio Hour: BMIA curriculum covers the historical contributions of 40+ musicians and their music using resources from a variety of texts and interactive website activities. Students will analyze key representative works while identifying musical textures using my visual/aural pedagogy called call charts which actually helps students to "hear" with their eyes!

The Student Workbook has over 150 pages full of music analysis, facts, vocabulary, hands-on activities, review puzzles, rubrics for self-assessment and it is fully organized to keep even the most difficult on task. All of this is supported by my website which includes music analysis reviews, composer overviews, links to research sites, and on-line flash quizzes. Click here to try one.

The Teacher's Workbook contains all the lessons from the Student Workbook with all the answer keys.
In addition it comes wth a wealth of support
1. Lesson plans for Era Units, Unit Activities
2. Power Point presentations for Open House / Back to School Night.
3 . Unit introduction Power Points to open dialog with your students about what each era was about.
4 . Easy to locate and afford media (approximately $50) No need to spend hundreds on an extensive music library.
5 . A easy to Plug-in electronic gradebook on Microsoft Excel. Input grades and it will calculate your averages.
6 . Ready made Sub plans.

In other words, you receive the benefit everything that I have been teaching, testing, assessing, and modifying for the past nine years. I know how much time it takes to be a great teacher, but the most time consuming part is collecting the materials and organizing them into a usable, multi-level approach that will reach every child while meeting state and national standards.
Click on some to the sample lessons below.
Table of contents
Interactive Unit Review Crossword
Blues Harmonica lesson

Purchase The Radio Hour: BMIA

About the Author . . .
Steven Chetcuti is a Instrumental/General Music teacher in Somers, New York (USA), where he conducts two middle school concert bands, a jazz ensemble, the high school marching band, and teaches two to three sections of General Music to seventh and eighth graders. Recently a presenter at the 14th Annual International Music Technology Conference and Workshop at School of Music, Indiana University at IUPUI, he has also been an invited clinician at the International Association of Jazz Educators(IAJE) Conference, as well as presenting for the Summer and Winter Conferences of New York State.

Mr. Chetcuti was formerly the Director of Summer Winds for the Danbury Music Center, where he conducted elementary through high school ensembles. A Graduate of Western Connecticut State University, Steven completed his administration degree from the College of New Rochelle with a concentration in Staff Development. He is a member of MENC, the New York State School Music Association, the Westchester County School Music Association, Phi Mu Alpha, Pi Lambda Theta, and IAJE.