Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Where to start...

I refuse to have writer's block during my first blog entry but the writer's block doesn't seem to be cooperating...

I have some exciting news that I hope to announce here very soon about the Rock & Roll Library. If you're not familiar with Rock & Roll Library I encourage you to check out RockLibrary.com. We're building a free online archive of music history along with some fun interactive features like This Day in Music History and Music Trivia.

Our goal is to include music from ALL genres and eras.

When we started adding to the Music Archive we started with some core rock acts complimented by some early influences, icons from other genres and a few of today's most popular artists. The archive still has a lot of growing to do but we continue to add artists, albums, songs, events, photos news and more on a regular basis. Eric Clapton is our current featured artist at RockLibrary.com and a great way to start exploring the Music Archive and see its potential for growth.

Beyond the Music Archive and features for music fans we also create educational programs that integrate popular music into all subjects; for example, if students are studying the American Civil War, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (written by Robbie Robertson and recorded by The Band) could be used to stir student's interest and raise interesting questions for discussion.

For example, the line: "Stoneman's Cavalry came and they tore up the tracks again" raises several questions for students:


Who's Stoneman? (George Stoneman was a Union cavalry general in the American Civil War and later Governor of California)
What's a cavalry? (military troops that fight on horseback)
Why did they tear up the railroad tracks? (destroying railroad tracks halted supply shipments across the south and made the war more difficult for the Confederacy)

This song can also be used in English classes to teach a wide range of topics including poetry, theme and narrative voice.

That's an overview of the Rock & Roll Library and I guess that it's as good a place as any to start this blog. I'll post more about our programs later.


Feel free to submit questions or comments and I'll try to be good about responding and definitely check back for blog updates as they'll be coming fast and frequently for the next few weeks.

Peace,
Anne

http://www.rocklibrary.com/

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Music history all in one place! I love it! Amazing!

Unknown said...
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