Season 7 Episode #5 Beat by Beat: Bringing African Music Into Your Classroom Without Missing a Note

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Music isn't merely entertainment—it's living history, powerful social commentary, and vital cultural preservation. For African and African-American communities especially, musical traditions have served as a lifeline connecting generations, preserving identities, and speaking essential truths when voices were systematically silenced.

The rich tapestry of traditional African music reveals profound philosophical concepts through its structure. Unlike Western traditions that often separate performers from audiences, African musical traditions emphasize community participation where every person has a role. The polyrhythmic nature—multiple rhythms occurring simultaneously—reflects concepts of balance and community, with each contributing element creating something greater than any individual could achieve alone. These traditions served as oral history, spiritual expression, social commentary, celebration of life transitions, and coordination for collective work.

When enslaved Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas, their musical traditions became both a connection to heritage and a survival mechanism. Elements like call-and-response patterns, polyrhythms, improvisation, body percussion, and emotionally expressive blue notes persisted despite brutal attempts at cultural suppression. From these roots emerged distinctly African-American forms that continue to shape global music: spirituals, work songs, blues, jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and hip-hop. Each generation has responded to changing social conditions while maintaining connections to ancestral traditions.

Ready-to-use resources are available to support this important work of connecting students with the profound musical legacies of African and African-American cultures.

Have you considered how music might transform your approach to teaching cultural perspectives? Share your experiences incorporating diverse musical traditions in your classroom!

Lesson Plans Featured in This Episode:

1) African Musical Icons Lesson Plan: https://jebehedmunds.com/shop/reading/african-musical-icons-lesson-plan-grades-9-12/

2) Music Of Africa Unit Plan: https://jebehedmunds.com/shop/lesson-plans/music-of-africa-unit-plan/

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to the Cultural Curriculum Chat podcast
, where we explore innovativeapproaches to teaching diverse
cultural perspectives.
I'm your host, jeba Edmonds,and today we're diving into the
transformative power of music asa gateway to understanding
African and African Americanculture.

(00:28):
We'll be examining practicalways educators can integrate
these musical traditions intotheir lesson plans and
highlighting some exceptionalresources to support this
journey.
Music isn't just entertainment.
It's living history, socialcommentary and cultural
preservation all in one.

(00:49):
For African andAfrican-American communities,
music has been a lifeline,connecting generations,
preserving identities andspeaking truths when voices were
silenced.
By the end of today's episode,you will have concrete
strategies and resources to helpyour students connect with

(01:09):
these rich traditions inmeaningful ways.
The historical significance ofmusic in African cultures is
about understanding thefoundation.
In traditional Africansocieties, music was never
separate from daily life.
It was woven into the fabric ofexistence.

(01:30):
Unlike Western traditions thatoften separate the performer
from the audience, africanmusical traditions emphasize
community participation.
Music has served on multiplepurposes as oral history,
preserving our stories andgenealogies through generations.

(01:52):
As a spiritual expression,connecting communities to
ancestors and deities.
As social commentary, offeringcritique and guidance.
And as celebrations of lifetransitions, births and

(02:13):
coming-of-age ceremonies,marriages, deaths.
As work songs, creating rhythmfor coordinated labor.
The polyrhythmic nature ofAfrican music has multiple
rhythms occurring simultaneously.
It reflects philosophicalconcepts of balance and
community.
Each drum, each voice has itsplace, creating something
greater than any individualcould achieve alone.

(02:36):
When teaching about traditionalAfrican music, it is crucial to
emphasize that African musicisn't monolithic.
The continent encompassesthousands of distinct cultures
and musical traditions, from thecomplex talking drums of West
Africa to vocal harmonies ofSouth Africa.

(02:58):
Each tradition carries its ownsignificance.
With the evolution ofAfrican-American musical
traditions, when the enslavedAfricans were forcibly brought
to the Americas, they broughttheir musical traditions with
them.
These traditions became both alifeline to their heritage and a

(03:20):
means of survival in brutalcircumstances.
Some African musical elementsthat persisted despite attempts
to suppress our culturalexpression were call and
response patterns, where aleader sings a line and the
group responds.
There's one example that I canremember.
There's an old Liberian playsong and it starts out with the

(03:44):
caller saying churren, churren,I call y'all, and the children
in the yard would say mama, mama, we don't care.
That was the response.
It'd be a forward and back, andI remember doing this call and
response game to line up mystudents to get ready for lunch,
you know, trying to maketransition time easy.
And it goes like this It'd belike the mom, which would be

(04:07):
kind of me as a play mom, andthen the children would be my
students and we would do thisback and forth, back and forth,
just to get them ready to lineup for lunch.
And I have to just apologizeright now to my Liberian
relatives.
My Liberian English is not ascrisp because I grew up in the
United States, so we usually saythat, siri, like, oh, it's

(04:30):
watered down Liberian English,so bear with me.
But this call and responsepattern goes like this Chirin,
chirin, I call y'all.
And the kids would say mama,mama, we don't care.
Chirin, chirin, I call y'all.
Mama, mama, we don't care, I'llsend my dog behind y'all.
Mama, mama, we don't care, I'llsend my goat behind y'all.

(04:53):
You send it, we will cook it.
I'll send my chicken behindy'all.
You send it, we will eat it,I'll send my.
Then we would say switch.
But I wouldn't say switch inthe classroom, I don't want to
get fired.
But they would say I send myswitch behind you, the
traditional way, and the kidssay you send it, we will break
it.
And then she'll say I'll sendmyself behind you.

(05:17):
Mama, mama, we're sorry.
So I do that.
I'd skip the switch part andthen I would say I'll send
myself behind you and then thestudents would go mama, mama,
we're sorry.
And that showed me that we wereall set, lined up, with our
lunch bins, ready to go forrecess and lunch.
So that is just an example of acall and response pattern.

(05:41):
We also have in traditionalAfrican music polyrhythms
pattern.
We also have in traditionalAfrican music polyrhythms, that
is, multiple rhythmic patternshappening simultaneously with
drums and different instruments.
There is a African instrumentcalled well in our traditional
instrument, called the sasa,which is a hardened calabash
with beads on the end, and mygrandmother, the late Mahaja

(06:06):
Sesemetsker, used to make these.
And in traditional Liberiansettings with the polyrhythms
the men would play the drums,the women would beat the sasa.
And I'm going to just kind ofplay the sasa just to describe
it for you listeners thecalabash, it kind of looks like
a gourd.
It is a gourd and they woulddry it out in the sun to get it

(06:28):
nice and hardened.
They'd bore a hole to make ithollow and then they would bead
and weave some beads on theouter shell and then it is tied
down kind of in like a net typeof a pattern and it is tied at
the end with knots.

(06:49):
This instrument is so near anddear to my heart because my
grandmother gifted me this sasathat she made and gifted it to
me when I was in the eighthgrade.
So it's got these beautifulyellow beads.
That yellow is one of myfavorite colors.
But I'm just going to play it alittle bit so you can kind of
hear it.

(07:09):
But you kind of pull at thestrings or you could even pat
the top.
Countries, like in Ghana andNigeria, they call the same
instrument a shekere, but inLiberia we call it the sasa and
it goes really loud and thewomen pull it and tug it to

(07:31):
those poly rhythms togethersimultaneously and that also
helps lead.
The dancers dance their dance.
Improvisation is another form ofmusical elements in the African
music.
Improvisation with, you know,spontaneous musical creation
within a structure.
You know.

(07:52):
That's kind of where jazz canbe derived from.
When you hear people scattingand doing those types of things
With African music, you wouldsee different songs and chants
and different ways ofspontaneously improvving drum
solos or improvving sasa rhythms.
So those are the types of thingsyou would see.
Body percussion is a way ofusing your body as an instrument

(08:15):
when drums were forbidden, youknow, still beating on your body
and still keeping the beat, youknow, because that's important.
And then blue notes, which Iwant to explore more, but it's
flattened notes that createemotional expressiveness.
So songs of despair, I wouldsay, would be from that.

(08:36):
So from these roots, we see thedevelopment of distinctly
African-American musical forms.
So you're going to seespirituals, religious songs that
often contain coded messages,work songs, rhythmic songs that
coordinated labor and pass thetime.
Blues expressing personalstruggles and resilience.

(08:57):
Jazz, complex improvisationalmusic emphasizing individual
expression within collectivestructures.
Gospel music ecstatic religiousexpression music, r&b, rhythm
and blues if you're not aware ofwhat R&B stands for soul and
funk music and that continuedthis tradition throughout the

(09:18):
20th century.
And then hip-hop, you know.
Oral storytelling giving socialcommentary and rhythmic
innovation.
Giving social commentary andrhythmic innovation.
These musical traditions don'texist in isolation.

(09:40):
They represent a continuousconversation across generations,
each responding to changingsocial conditions while
maintaining and connecting toancestral roots.
Now we're going to explore howeducators can bring these rich
traditions into their classroomsin respectful and engaging ways

(10:03):
.
I also have some wonderfulAfrican musical lesson plans for

(10:28):
you, educator, in mind that youcan download and get to it to
help your students learn moreabout Starting with the African
Musical Icons lesson plan.
It is derived for grades 6through 8 and also grades 9
through 12.
And this lesson plan includes abiography booklet of 10 famous

(10:50):
African musicians, fromAngelique Kijo to Tiwa Savage
Tijo to Tiwa Savage and yourstudents will explore these
famous musicians in the past andpresent, as well as getting
some ideas to find thesemusicians and play their music
in the classroom.
It's really fun and upliftingand upbeat.

(11:11):
You're also going to haveanother Music of Africa plan,
another Music of Africa plan,and this one is for grade four
and it's a five-day unit planthat will have your students
learn how to make their owndjembe drum, they'll learn how
to African dance and they'lllearn about the kente klop from
Ghana and the geography of Ghana.

(11:34):
So all of these you can find inour website website,
jebedmondscom forward slash shop, and you can also see the
direct links in the descriptionbelow.
Thank you.

(12:45):
Now I cannot wait to give yousome quick advice, educators,
when it comes to how do weincorporate African music and
African-American music into ourcurriculum.
Well, I have some lesson planson my website you can definitely
download and use.
Also see about asking yourstudents who is their favorite

(13:11):
African-American artist or theirfavorite African musical artist
.
Maybe you could incorporate thesounds of Fila Kuti during
snack break or the sounds ofHarry Belafonte while you're
getting ready to do a writingproject.
There's so many ideas andmusicians that can help

(13:32):
introduce the vibrancy ofAfrican music and African
American music into yourclassroom.
I am so excited for you toexplore and I'm so excited for
you to understand the rhythmsand the dancing that comes with
African music.
There also is a wonderful Readin Rainbow episode with LeVar

(13:55):
Burton.
I believe it was around.
I used to show this in myclassroom so for my primary
teachers.
There is the episode that talksabout the book Bringing the
Rain to Kapiti Plain with LeVarBurton.
Look it up on your ReadingRainbow archives.

(14:15):
That's a wonderful way ofshowing you even the African
instruments and how they make adrum from goat hide, and it's
really eye-opening and sorelevant to show your students.
So that's another favoriteepisode of mine on Reading
Rainbow.
But the title of the book thatthey featured was Bringing the

(14:36):
Rain to Kapiti Plain and Ibelieve it was James Earl Jones
that was the narrator of thatbook.
May he Rest.
So I hope this episode isimpactful for you, to give you
some ideas of the origins ofAfrican music, as well as the
artists that are there.

(14:56):
My favorite artists that I lovedancing to is Techno and Thames
oh, love me, jeje.
It sounds close to my name, sothat always gets me in a good
vibe.
So there's always lots ofartists that you can listen to
for fun and enjoy, and alsolisten to the melodies, the you

(15:18):
know, like I said, theimprovisation, the multi rhythms
, and see if you can pick upsome instruments of what you
hear in these songs.
So enjoy, explore and sharethis episode with an educator
who might be stuck in trying toincorporate African music and

(15:38):
global music in their classroomsetting.
So you don't have to wait foryour music specialist, but you
can also incorporate Africanmusic in your daily practice.
That's all that I have for youtoday and I cannot wait to see
you back here again same timenext week.
Bye-bye.