20th Century

(1900– Present)

A.                 Historical Events

1.                  1914 – WWI

2.                  1920 – Women get the right to vote

3.                  1929 – Stock Market crashes, Great Depression begins

4.                  1939 – WWII, Germany invades Poland

5.                  1959 – Alaska and Hawaii become states

6.                  1961 – First astronaut in space (Alan Shephard 1^st American)

7.                  1965 – U.S. sends troops to Vietnam

8.                  1969 – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon

9.                  1989 – Berlin wall is torn down

10.              2001 – September 11^th, attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon

B.                 General Facts

1.                  Technology is created and advances at an amazing rate

a.                   light bulb (electricity)

b.                  radio

c.                   television

d.                  computers

e.                   personal computers

2.                  Global communication and transportation

a.                   telephone

b.                  radio and television

c.                   computers – email and internet

d.                  automobile

e.                   airplane

C.                 Music Facts

1.                  World music is greatly influenced by global communication and transportation

2.                  Sound recording industry is created

3.                  Gap grows between classical and popular music

4.                  Electric instruments are created (main reason for gap)

5.                  All sounds are possible – very experimental (no rules)

6.                  Dissonance is added in great amounts to classical music

7.                  Strong interest in folk music is explored in classical music

8.                  America and Britain become a strong music influence

D.                Instruments

1.                  Player piano

2.                  Electric guitar

3.                  Electric keyboards (piano and organ)

4.                  Synthesizers (electric keyboards that imitate sounds)

5.                  Electric woodwinds

6.                  Mixers

E.                 Composers

1.                  Scott Joplin – father of ragtime

2.                  George Gershwin – took jazz to the concert hall (symphony)

3.                  Aaron Copeland – classical, orchestral, folk

4.                  Leonard Bernstein – orchestral, jazz influenced

5.                  Duke Ellington – father of swing

6.                  Igor Stravinsky – classical, orchestral

7.                  Rogers & Hammerstein - musicals

8.                  John Rutter - choral

9.                  Andrew Lloyd Weber - musicals

10.              Elvis – blues, early rock

11.              Beatles – rock ‘n roll

12.              Michael Jackson – rock/pop

13.              Madonna - pop

14.              U2 – rock

15.              Rolling Stones - rock

16.              B.B. King – blues

17.              Pearl Jam - grunge

F.                  Styles

1.                  Orchestral

2.                  Choral & vocal

3.                  Opera

4.                  Revolutionary

5.                  Folk – tells a story

6.                  Blues – African American

7.                  Gospel – African American Christian

8.                  Rock ‘N Roll

9.                  Jazz – African American

10.              Country

 Lesson Ideas

v     Listen to Copeland (Rodeo & Appalachian Spring), Gershwin (piano rolls), Rogers & Hammerstein (Sound of Music), Elvis (Hound Dog), Beatles (I Wanna Hold Your Hand), Tokens (Lion Sleeps Tonight), Aretha Franklin (Respect)

Prehistoric	Medieval	Renaissance
Baroque	Classical	Romantic
	20th Century