Mr. Bolduc’s 7A music class has spent the first weeks of school learning about different genres of popular music, and being introduced to some key periods and artists in rock history. We will be wrapping this up over the next two weeks by watching Jimi Hendrix’ classic performance at Woodstock, and then move on to an overview of the many rock styles that appeared in the 70’s. We will finish with an introduction to the biggest influences of the 80’s and 90’s. This will include watching Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and the impact of his contribution to ‘Pop’ music up to this day. The 90’s saw the beginning of the Alternative rock movement, and the rise of Rap into mainstream musical tastes. As the final project for this unit, students will be writing a biography on the artist of their choice. Biographies are due on Wed., October 21st.
As we wrap this unit up, we will begin to transition into our beginning guitar unit, which will take us to the end of the first quarter (and this music class). This lesson introduces students to basic guitar posture and techniques, and how to read and play ‘TAB’ notation and chord blocks. Students will also learn how to check the relative tuning of a guitar, basic blues chord progressions, and a few common bass lines and melodies.
Most of the supporting material for this class has been posted on Mr. Bolduc’s Blog site. Click on the link to the right and look for the rock history and guitar categories. Also included are links to useful websites for both Rock biography research, and beginning guitar lessons and information.
