Music Appreciation or Summer School or Rock n Roll

Most of you don’t know that my Bachelor’s Degree is in Creative Arts. But what you really don’t know is that my minor was in MUSIC HISTORY. Not music. Music HISTORY. That’s right. I can tell a Verdi opera from Wagner (pronounced Vah’-gner). Can’t everyone?

Anyhoot. This crazy YouTube got me thinking: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CiBB10CrRvQ&feature=related

And then, one day, I needed an old-fashioned Journey fix. I did a search on You Tube and found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1zsUIosoA

This morning, Zach saddled up next to me and we started searching iTunes and YouTube for “Cheese,” “Pepperoni” and “Combination” Rock n Roll. It became a lesson in Music Appreciation. Then, I had a brainstorm.

My kids are well versed in the History of Music between the eras of Bach to Mendelssohn, but I usually spend summer introducing them to something a little different. Last year, they learned every song from Fiddler on the Roof and the summer before, they listened to 27 of the Beach Boys Greatest Hits. 2 summers ago we were all thanking God we were country boys while sitting around in our blue suede shoes. But this summer, I need some HELP!

Cheese Pizza can be really good. If the few simple ingredients are put together well and are of high quality, then Cheese is great. If a little Pepperoni is thrown on top, it gets spiced up a bit. The best pizza is Combo, when all the yummy flavors are well balanced and one bite doesn’t quite taste like another but each bite builds on the excitement of the one before it. That’s some good pizza!

However, if the crust, sauce and cheese are mediocre, then a Cheese pizza will fall flat on the tongue. If the Pepperoni isn’t crispy on the edges, it disappoints. If a Combo is just a bunch of stuff thrown together without rhyme or reason, it might look appetizing but taste like a mess.

So it is with music. I decided that Steve Perry’s “Don’t Stop Believing” is Cheese Pizza but “The Voice” really has some crisp Pepperoni quality, at least by Rock standards. Altogether, the song gets a good grade, because despite the simplicity, the ingredients all fit together well. In my humble opinion, I think Dvorak Symphony #9 is the best Combo ever. However, I appreciate that not everyone likes my version of Combo, not everyone has a music HISTORY minor and since this is really an article about Rock n Roll, let me return to the subject.

If you listen to “Smooth” by Santana and Rob Thomas, there are some really cool grooves and lots going on in the guitar and percussion lines alike. Rob Thomas’ vocal expression is as chameleon-like as Steven Tyler’s, who can literally scream musically! “Smooth” is a Combo Pizza. Just thinking of that song makes me want to crank it up and sit on the back deck with my umbrella cocktail. (Can’t do it, however, since I don’t want my kids repeating those lyrics!)

I need HELP. My homeschool-mom-brain has been provoked. I want to expose my kids to a course in “Rock n Roll and Pizza Appreciation” this summer. Who knows, maybe I’ll even write a Rock n Roll Music History curriculum that will fly off the shelves!

What songs would you choose for my curriculum? What story can be told between Elvis and Journey? What musical development occurred between Van Halen and Hootie? What do kids listen to today????.... that’s actually good?

I am looking for 20-30 good songs that will help tell the Rock n Roll History story. Can you help?