Music students rarely see the value or have any interest in music other than their favorite popular artist or group. By showing connections and similarities between current music and 'classical' music, the teacher begins to break down...

Smithsonian in the Classroom presents The Music in Poetry. Teachers can download this comprehensive teaching package for exploring the rhythms in poetry. Includes background information, lesson extensions, student handouts, examples of...

Smithsonian in the Classroom presents The Music in Poetry. Teachers can download this comprehensive teaching package for exploring the rhythms in poetry. Includes background information, lesson extensions, student handouts, examples of...

This is an extensive website on other musical elements; but "accents" is thoroughly covered. You must scroll down to "dynamics."

An engineering design process project for students to create a regular rhythm of beats by spacing weights along a string and then dropping the string.

Like an actor's script, a sheet of music instructs a musician on what to play (the pitch) and when to play it (the rhythm). Sheet music may look complicated, but once you've gotten the hang of a few simple elements like notes, bars and...

Sam Cooke's influence on music, as the pioneer in cross-over from gospel to rhythm and blues, is described in this encyclopedia entry. His music was important to the African-American identity in the Civil Rights movement.

An overview of the value of notes. Includes many examples of rhythms and tempos.

Believe it or not, even babies can feel the beat of a rhythm. However, science has documented the first case of a person who could not dance to the beat. His name is Mathieu, and he is an intelligent, talented - even musical - guy with...

This lesson deals primarily with the number of rhythmic combinations that can be found in a four beat measure of music. Students will learn through trial and error and derive a mathematical formula to calculate the number of possible...

A look at what makes free jazz musically unique. Contains specific examples of free rhythm and tonality.

Explore the human body's need for a normal cycle of dark and light and apply this to an understanding of biological clocks in other animals. Test the effect of light on the development of mealworm larvae into adults.

Shakespeare sometimes gets a bad rap in high schools for his complex plots and antiquated language. But a quick peek into the rhythm of his words reveals a poet deeply rooted in the way people spoke in his time- and still speak today....

A brief look at the career Sam and Dave, one of the most influential soul acts of the 1960s. Links to other significant names in soul music, too.

When composing, it can help to add interest to your music by using time signature changes. This article touches on how to use different time signatures to give the music a little push in a new direction.

These resources can help children in foster care develop a sense of belonging. Visual reminders of belonging can build children's sense of comfort, safety, and security-and rhythm and music can help them remember important messages.

Guitar masters like Jimi Hendrix are capable of bending the physics of waves to their wills, plucking melody from inspiration and vibration. But how do wood, metal, and plastic translate into rhythm, melody, and music? Oscar Fernando...

This entry from Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Black History features Berry Gordy, Jr., an American businessman, founder of the Motown Record Corporation (1959), which became the most successful black-owned music company in the...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Lloyd Price, an American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. Price made his mark in rock music history with his exuberant tenor and his flair for recasting rhythm and blues as...

This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Solomon Burke, an American singer whose success in the early 1960s in merging the gospel style of the African American church with rhythm and blues helped to usher in the soul music era.

This introduction to the life and writing of Langston Hughes profiles the poet who emerged with the Harlem Renaissance to earn "a place amongst the greatest poets America has ever produced."

Provides biographical details on soul musicians, Ike and Tina Turner, 1991 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Includes a timeline of key events and essential songs list.