Resources for Teaching and Learning Popular Music

Understanding Popular Music

This book introduces the music’s cultural background, how it was composed, the studio production techniques and the performance styles of the artists involved in order to enhance the listening experience. Hit songs have been unpicked to explain the different components that come together to form a pop song, to demonstrate the evolution of the various musical styles over the decades, and to inform your own music-making. iTunes, Spotify and YouTube playlists have been created to accompany the book, and original video is available on a companion website to illustrate the various techniques and musical elements discussed. Accessible and engaging, this book will be an invaluable resource for musicians writing their own songs, and will prove a fascinating analysis of the genre for students and teachers of music, performing arts, and music technology courses that include popular music.

Rock Your GCSE Music: Teacher’s Book

Rhinegold Education and Rockschool have joined forces to create this innovative new series for teachers and students of GCSE Music. Devised to help with the group performing element (AO1), the resources also provide related activities for listening, appraising and composing, as well as key theory and technical language – all through the medium of great rock and pop music. Comprising a Teacher’s Book, Student Handbook and Ensemble Repertoire (which comes with a CD-ROM of backing tracks and additional parts), the series is suitable for all exam boards and features eight contemporary and classic tracks. This Teacher’s Book offers: – Six lesson plans based around the starter-main-plenary pattern for each of the eight song projects, designed to help you teach the elements of music and build up to group performances. – Practical composition and listening activities supporting the delivery of GCSE skills. – Specially-composed music providing opportunities for aural training. Supplementary resources – Exemplar score extracts and audio for use with your class are available on the CD ROM which accompanies the Ensemble Pieces book, and are indicated throughout the Teacher’s Book by a CD icon. – Videos, additional information and further listening recommendations are available for students at www.rhinegoldeducation.co.uk/rygm, indicated by a www icon throughout the Student Handbook. A YouTube playlist in the Rhinegold Education YouTube channel provides easy access to the main songs and extended listening.

Student Book

 

Ensemble Pieces with CD