Keith Blake Portfolio Page

Navigation links: ETAP 623 Fall 2024 | Keith Blake's Mini-Course: Backwards History of Pop Music

About Me

I graduated from the University of Delaware in May 2022 with a BM in Instrumental Music Education with a minor in Jazz Studies. I started at UD in August 2017 as a Computer Engineering major, only to realize that my true passions were music and teaching. In my time at UD, I participated in a variety of ensembles, such as the UD Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, and Pep Band. I student-taught at various schools throughout Delaware, working in programs including high school band and general music, middle school band and orchestra, and elementary band and general music programs.

In 2022, I was hired for my first job as a high school general music teacher in Westchester County, NY. I teach a general music class for all grade levels, an upper-level general music class that focuses on music theory, recording, and songwriting, and this year, I became the director of our upper-level orchestra ensemble. I also teach lessons for a variety of instruments, such as saxophone, clarinet, percussion, and upright bass. In addition to these classes, I also run the Podcast Club, and I help out with the Pep Band and Jazz Band.

Outside of school, I can be found playing baritone saxophone with the Hudson Valley Symphonic Wind Ensemble, as well as the HVSWE Jazz Band. I am also the baritone saxophone player for the Norm Hathaway Big Band, a jazz band based in northern Westchester. In the spring, I will often help out with high school and middle school musicals around the county when they need a woodwind player for their pit orchestra.

My Topic and Purpose

My mini-course will be titled Backwards History of Pop Music. In this course, students will get to learn the history of popular music as it has changed through the last few decades and beyond. Each unit will be centered around a certain era or type of music that was popular at the time, such as Jazz from the 20s-40s, rock from the 50s-70s, grunge in the 90s, and electro-pop today. However, the course starts with today's music, so students would be able to begin the class listening to music they already know, analyzing it for rhythms, melodies, chord progressions, modulations, etc., and eventually creating their own compositions that follow similar compositional strategies. As students progress backwards through the different eras of popular music, they will learn what made the music popular, similar characteristics between the popular music of the time, and then explore ways to create their own music that reflects that music. This will also give students the opportunity to research famous musicians from the various time periods and be able to understand the similarities and differences to their favorite artists now.

I chose this topic for my mini-course because something I notice in my high school general music classes is that students are typically very judgmental of music they are unfamiliar with, even if it's music that was extremely popular at one point in time. I have noticed that many students don't understand that there were popular songs that were frequently played and listened to a hundred years ago just like we have songs like that today. Giving them an understanding and a stronger ability to actually analyze music rather than just listen passively allows them to understand that listening to popular music today is not much different than how people listened to popular music ten, twenty, fifty, or a hundred years ago. This course will give students the ability to more deeply connect with their favorite music and also be exposed to a large variety of new music.

Scope of Learning Outcomes and Content

In this class, there will be several units focusing on the different eras of music, including but not limited to:

Electro-Pop and Rap of the 2010s

Grunge and Hip-Hop of the 1990s

Rock and Roll of the 1950s through the 1980s

Jazz of the 1920s through the 1950s

Ragtime and Marching Music of the early 1900s

Parlor Songs and Orchestral Music of the late 1800s

This approach to the class will allow for each unit to circle back to the current popular music that students listen to daily, which will be more engaging for younger students. These units will provide students with a general overview of each genre, elements of the music that make it fall into the genre, musicians from the time period, and locations where the music was typically found. Students will learn about how certain types of music were created in specific locations based on migration of cultures, blending of cultures, social issues, or new technology. Students will gain understanding of how the music was composed, including instrumentation, technology, rhythmic patterns, chord progressions, chord substitutions, melodies, interval usage, etc. Once students have this understanding of what makes certain music fall in a certain genre, they will be given opportunities to electronically (or acoustically if possible) create their own music that falls under the genre of the music discussed. Students will sometimes work in groups, giving them the experience of collaborating on musical ideas with other members of a band. Sometimes students will work alone, giving them the experience of having to create all of the parts themselves and make sure the composition makes sense in context. Students will gain an appreciation and respect for all types of music that have been presented throughout history, allowing them to connect with other people, listen to a wider variety of music, and have intelligent discussions when it comes to the history of popular music.

Needs Assessment

The educational problem or opportunity
- The opportunity that this mini-course provides is an opportunity for students to connect with music that they already know and love and use it as a vessel for learning things like music theory and music history. The problem in our system is that many educators view popular music as an unserious type of music that is too repetitive, so they focus their classes on classical, orchestral, and other older styles of music, when this can often lead to unengaged students as they don’t feel any kind of connection to the music they are analyzing/creating in class. This mini-course provides them with an opportunity to analyze and create replicas of music they love, leading to more engagement and likely a better product.
The learners/participants involved
- The learners/participants can either be any secondary general music students or secondary general music educators. For students, the course is geared towards analyzing the music and replicating it. For educators, the course would be more steered towards how to teach theory and history through the lens of popular music.
Analysis of gaps in term of know vs. need to know (reality vs. ideal)
- Need to Know: notes on staff, major vs. minor scales, pentatonic scales, key signatures, triads and 7 chords, chord progressions and how they are built, basic guitar chords, basic drum patterns, instruments in various ensembles (rock band, orchestra, marching band, jazz quartet, electronic music, etc.), notes on keyboard, specifics on musical genres
- Nice to Know: Modes, various tetrachords and chords with 5 or more notes, bar chords on guitar, chord substitution techniques, how to play wind/string instruments
Existing efforts to address this gap
- Tagg (1982) discusses the process of studying popular music to gain knowledge about theory, but also approaches it from the lens of how many times, music educators don’t see the benefit of analyzing popular music. When discussing the student point of view, he states that we often teach students “pupils whose musical outlook has been crippled by those who present 'serious music' as if it could never be 'fun' and 'fun music' as though it could never have any serious implications” (p. 39). I think this mini-course tries to address a similar problem with the system we currently have in place by using popular music to not only engage the students, but also show them that there are things that can be learned from every kind of music, and that every kind of music can also be fun.
- In this study conducted by Walker (2005), he views the perception of current high schoolers vs. the perception of older people (70+) on music. Many of the high schoolers stated that they preferred popular music to classical, and the article explores how the pressures of the media and their peers may affect their view on music. The older generation tends to prefer classical music due to their upbringing and the way music was taught to them in school, mostly in formal settings learning technique and repertoire, which was heavily rooted in 18th and 19th century music. When discussing why popular music may be good to include in schooling, he states that it is “not so much the music but rather the context and level of engagement that might account for such choices” (p. 56). As the mini-course intends to challenge, using popular music may help to engage the students and will help them have a more accepting view on classical music when it can be compared to music they already know and enjoy.
Intent statement: how will this mini-course help your participants address their needs?
- This mini-course will help to show educators and students that popular music from all generations can have elements that can be educational. It will help to engage more students in their music classes and give them the music theory tools they need to express creativity by making their own music in the style of the popular music of other generations.

Analysis of the Learner and Context

For the learners in this course, the main focus will be high school students, but this could also be geared towards middle school students. The students as the learners should come in with some understanding of styles of music they like, current songs they enjoy listening to, and maybe a slight knowledge of music, but the class is suitable for students who have no prior musical experience. However, these students should have a slight interest in music as the class will heavily rely on listening, analyzing, and eventually creating music. This course will function as a daily class, which includes group and individual listening, guided listening, chord progression analysis, melodic analysis, and composition. The students will need access to a program such as BandLab, GarageBand, or some other Digital Audio Workstation they can use to create music. They should also have a software to record with if their DAW doesn't have, such as Audacity. Students may have to be taught to use this software if it is new to them. Students should invest in good quality headphones if they can, a small MIDI keyboard, and a decent microphone (these can be provided for the students if the school can). Most of the time spent on the units and assignments will take place in class, but students will sometimes have to work on compositions outside of class.

This course could also be targeted at music teachers, both current and in training, as it can help familiarize them with the musical tendencies in popular music, relate it back to the music theory that they have already learned, and learn how to apply it to their teaching at the middle or high school level. With the teachers as learners, they should come in with a strong understand of music theory, revolving mostly around things like chord progressions, chord changes, scales, and orchestration techniques. With this prior knowledge of music theory, they can deeply study previous examples of popular music, which will in turn allow them to clearly display, explain, and analyze examples with their students. Teachers as learners will need the same resources listed above.

Performance-Based Objectives

After completing this mini-course, learners will be able to:

After completing this mini-course, learners will be able to identify the genre(s) of popular music from every decade dating back to at least 1900. They will be able to identify things that were specific to each genre, such as chord progressions, instrumentation, vocal/instrumental techniques, or rhythmic patterns.
After completing this mini-course, learners will be able to analyze a piece of music for key, chord progressions, melodic ideas, and rhythmic patterns.
After completing this mini-course, learners will be able to utilize recording equipment and DAWs to create a recording with multiple tracks.
After completing this mini-course, learners will be able to compose original pieces of music based on the popular music of the time periods discussed in the course.

Task and Content Analysis

Before taking this course, the learner:

Should have a general interest or some background in music.
Have an understanding of how to use a basic Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
Should be willing and vulnerable to create and have their creations judged by peers.
(For educators) Should be a secondary general music teacher who is looking for ways to engage students and give them opportunities to create and analyze music.

Unit 1

Learning the History of Popular Music, Backwards

After this unit, the learner will:

Be able to identify all different eras of popular music dating back to the 1800s.
Be able to identify the elements of different eras of popular music, including things like rhythmic patterns, instrumentation, and use of scales/melodic ideas.
Be able to make comparisons between popular music of the different eras and find similarities and differences.
Be able to analyze the societal impact of popular music during the different eras.

Unit 2

Breaking Down Popular Music to its Theory Building Blocks

After this unit, the learner will:

Be able to analyze music for its structure (form).
Be able to utilize basic music theory principles, such as notes, chords, scales, key signatures, and intervals.
Be able to identify chord progressions, rhythmic patterns, and melodic patterns in popular music examples by ear or from notation.
Understand how chords and chord progressions are used and manipulated in the different eras.
Compare and contrast melodies, rhythms, and chord progressions from the different eras.

Unit 3

Creating Popular Music from All Eras

After this unit, the learner will:

Be able to utilize a basic DAW to create multi-track recordings either alone or with others.
Understand how to interpret stylistic choices from various popular music using an instrument.
Be able to utilize knowledge of theory and history to create music that would fit in with the popular music of other eras.
Be able to write melodies, drum patterns, and chord progressions that relate to a chosen era of popular music.
Be able to execute basic playing on guitar, drums, bass, and piano.

Curriculum Map

References and Resources

Tagg, P. (1982). Analysing Popular Music: Theory, Method and Practice. Popular Music, 2, 37–67. http://www.jstor.org/stable/852975
Walker, R. (2005). Classical versus Pop in Music Education. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 163, 53–60. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40311595